OREANDA-NEWS. August 09, 2012. The Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation, Alexander Novak, had a meeting with the Head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia), Igor Artemyev, to discuss a package of measures towards supporting transparent and competitive markets of oil products in the Russian Federation, including measures towards developing exchange trading with oil products. The Heads of the federal agencies confirmed priority of developing competition on fuel-and energy markets and achieving high transparency of pricing for the key oil products, and agreed upon several joint initiatives aimed at strengthening competition, reported the press-centre of FAS Russia. 

The Head of the Ministry of Energy and the Federal Antimonopoly Service signed the Protocol, the main provisions of which determine the general priorities, including:

Establishing the Exchange Council for the exchange market of oil products, involving the Ministry of Energy, the Federal Antimonopoly Service, the Federal Financial Markets Service and the main market participants, to work out the common standards and rules of exchange market performance and to secure its further development;

Drafting some regulatory legal acts on developing exchange trading with oil products, particularly, revising and signing a Joint Order “On Setting the Minimum Quantity of Oil Products Sold through Exchange”;

Devising stimulating measures by the Ministry of Energy and FAS Russia to ensure mandatory registration of off-exchange transactions with exchange commodities, in particular, long-term contracts in accordance with No. 65 Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of 10th February 2011;

Control of economic concentration in access to mineral deposits;

Observing quadripartite agreements to modernize oil refineries;

Undertaking joint efforts under the framework of the agreements to establish the Common Economic Space.

The parties also discussed cooperation between the two bodies in the field of electric power industry. In particular, the parties addressed matters related to establishing technological conditions for developing a single federal wholesale market of electric power, drafting joint proposals for debottlenecking electric power networks , reducing the number of free power transfer zones and preventing unreasonable increase of prices for electric power.

The bodies also plan joint efforts towards simplifying and cheapening the procedures for technological connection to electric power networks in line with the scope of reference of the Ministry of Energy in corporate governance of power supply networks and statutory regulation and FAS Russia’s authority in control of the rules for non-discriminatory access and work of representatives of the Antimonopoly Service in the regional tariff bodies.