Participants of the session of the Council of Ministers Presidium discussed the concept of the bill on power engineering. The session was chaired by Prime Minister of Belarus Andrei Kobyakov, the press service of the Belarusian government reported.
The Prime Minister pointed out that it was the second time the matter had been submitted for consideration of the Council of Ministers Presidium this year. Andrei Kobyakov underlined that it as an important document, yet a complicated one.
“I think you will back me up if I say that the document has to stipulate the route towards creating a wholesale electricity market and a retail market that everyone will be able to understand. This is why if there are any questions, we should discuss them today and produce well-founded answers”, the head of government remarked.
Belarusian Energy Minister Vladimir Potupchik outlined what the bill WAs supposed to achieve. The goals include taking care of national energy security and the reliable operation of the national power grid. Apart from that, state administration in the sphere of power engineering needs to be improved. It is also necessary to identify monopolies and competitive kinds of business. Plans have also been made to raise investments, including foreign ones, with a view to develop power engineering industry while maintaining a balance between economic interests of power-generating companies and consumers. It is also necessary to harmonize Belarusian laws with the legislation of the Eurasian Economic Union member states among other parties.
The concept of the document provides for stipulating the main principles of state administration of the power engineering industry, the legal foundation for the electricity market. It will also delineate the authority of the Belarus president, the central government, and government agencies with regard to the power engineering industry, including the ability to perform oversight functions, regulate prices and adjust pricing practices on wholesale and retail electricity markets.
According to the Belarusian Energy Minister, the world’s most advanced approaches to building relations in the power engineering industry on the basis of economic effectiveness and competitiveness were used to put together the concept of the bill on power engineering.
Participants of the session approved the concept of the bill on power engineering. The document will soon be forwarded for consideration of the head of state. (BelTA/Business World Magazine)