Gazprom proposes solutions to rising non-payment by Russian consumers
MOSCOW. March 12 (Interfax) - Gazprom proposes responding to rising non-payment rates among Russian gas customers by cutting management companies out of the chain of intermediaries in collecting payments for gas deliveries, including the gas component in heat energy, and conducting an audit of heating charges.
The proposal is contained in a press release Gazprom issued following a meeting on strengthening payment discipline and ensuring that regional administrations meet their commitments to make preparations for gasification in their regions.
The meeting, attended by representatives of profile departments at Gazprom and representatives of the regional administrations, was chaired by Gazprom board chairman Viktor Zubkov.
"The overall debt of end consumers increased 47% in 2012 to 143 billion rubles as of January 1, 2013. Of greatest concern is the negative trend demonstrated by organizations in the communal service complex. Although they receive just 12.6% of the gas, they account for 30% of the debt. The debt increased by more than 60% last year, to 42.3 billion rubles from 26 billion rubles, and the payment percentage declined from 95% to 88%, a level last seen during the crisis year 2009," the press release said.
The situation is unsatisfactory in 17 regions: Bashkortostan, Dagestan, Kalmykia, North Ossetia, Krasnodar and Perm territories, Arkhangelsk, Astrakhan, Bryansk, Vladimir, Volgograd, Leningrad, Moscow, Novgorod, Oryol, Penza and Tver regions.
The accumulated arrears are increasing due to management companies that fail to operate in good faith. "Money from household consumers is not arriving in full at the heat and resource supplying organizations, which to a large degree is the result of failing to spend the funds as intended," it said.
The solution to the problem lies in delinking payments for heat. That would make it possible to break out the gas component and transmit the payments through the regional billing centers directly to the gas suppliers.
Another cause for the rising indebtedness is private boiler operators working with leased property. "A frequent occurrence is creation of fly-by-night firms with minimal charter capital, who, while declining to pay for gas and having no liquid assets, declare themselves bankrupt. The equipment passes into the lease of new companies, which deprives the gas supplier of the ability to collect on the debt," the press release said.
Gazprom proposes that the regional authorities more carefully monitor the transfer of municipal property into lease, and toughen requirements on leaseholders in terms of the amount of net assets, providing for mandatory insurance to cover failure to meet commitments to resource-supply organizations.
"Another factor in the rising debt is the divergence between the actual tariff charged and the economically justified tariff. The administrations in the regions need to audit tariffs on heat energy and, if discrepancies are found, define the mechanism for compensating the shortfall in revenue to the resource supplier," it said.
Eliminating the accumulated indebtedness is an issue interrelated with the ongoing gasification effort in a number of regions, Zubkov said.
Gazprom allocated 180 billion rubles to gasification in the 2005-2012 period, not counting the more than 100 billion rubles spent on construction of gas pipelines and branch lines that are an integral part of the program. In the past eight years Gazprom has built over 21,800 km of rural gas pipeline, gasified roughly 600,000 apartments and homes and 3,623 boiler plants in 2,753 localities.
However, failure to meet commitments on the part of regional authorities left 120,000 apartments and homes, and roughly 850 boiler plants, still waiting for gas service. The number of regions not fully meeting their commitments had risen to 15 by the beginning of 2013.
Gazprom stressed that adjustments to gasification investment based on the results in the first half and allocation of funds in subsequent years, will take into account the degree to which local administrations prepare consumers for receipt of gas and the state of their debt for gas.
"The growth of indebtedness makes any further investment in gasification of debtor regions senseless, since gasification will only generate fresh debts," company said.
