OREANDA-NEWS. March 18, 2011. The Government of the Russian Federation passed No.129 Decree approving standard contracts for technological connection for the enforcement purposes of Part 3 Article 10 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition”, reported the press-centre of FAS Russia.

Under the antimonopoly law, the rules for non-discriminatory access to the markets and (or) goods produced or distributed by holders of natural monopolies must include essential contract conditions and (or) the standard contract for providing access of economic entities to the markets and (or) goods.

Depending on the applicants categories specified in the Rules for technological connection of power-receiving devices of consumers of electric power, the standards contracts (except the contracts for technological connection under custom design) are approved for physical persons connecting power-receiving devices with maximum capacity up to 15 KW; legal entities or individual entrepreneurs connecting power-receiving devices with maximum capacity up to 15 KW; legal entities or individual entrepreneurs connecting power-receiving devices with maximum capacity from 15 KW to 100 KW; legal entities or individual entrepreneurs connecting power-receiving devices, the maximum capacity of which does not exceed 750 kVA.

Under Clause 4 Article 426 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, standard contracts are mandatory for network companies.

Their introduction will exclude imposing disadvantageous conditions in a technical connection contract, such as: mandatory full advance payment for the services, fixing tentative rates of payment, independent determination of the costs of technological connection and imposing these costs upon applicants, refusing the right of applicants to unilaterally terminate the contract if power suppliers breach the period for completing the works, refusal to pay late charges and accept the three-year payment by installments plan allowed by the Government of the Russian Federation.

Approving standard contracts is yet another measure to simplify consumer access to the services of network companies and exclude possibilities to deliberately (in breach of the established pricing procedures) set an excessive fee for technological connection.

“Regulating relations in the field of technological connection is an important factor for providing access of consumers, including small and medium business entities, and citizens to the power supply services. Introducing standard contracts is another important step towards this direction, which will be followed by similar measures in adjacent industries: heat-, water- and gas-supply”, said the Head of the FAS Russia’s Department for Electric Power Industry, Vitaly Korolyov.