#6
Izvestia
October 25, 2001
AKESNENKO'S CASUS
Prosecutors initiate restructuring of natural monopolies
Author: Semyon Novoprudsky
[from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html]
CHARGES HAVE BEEN ISSUED BY THE PROSECUTOR GENERAL'S OFFICE AGAINST RAILROADS MINISTER NIKOLAI AKSENENKO. THE NATURE OF THE ACCUSATIONS SHOWS THAT THE GOVERNMENT HAS BECOME THE BATTLEGROUND FOR THE RIGHT TO RESTRUCTURE NATURAL MONOPOLIES. WILL THIS WORK, AND WILL THEY EVER BECOME EFFICIENT COMPANIES?
We have obtained a copy of the charges issued by the Prosecutor General's Office against Railroads Minister Nikolai Aksenenko. The nature of the accusations shows that the government has become the battleground for the right to restructure natural monopolies. That means battles over power and money.
This is what prosecutors accuse Aksenenko of:
- he increased the staff of the central apparatus of the ministry by 250 officials on the government's permission;
- he established special foundations and part of the dividends of 17 Russian railroads ended up there (the foundations were established on the decision of the Board and don't collide with its status of a federal structure allowed to earn money as specified by governmental resolution of 1996); and
- in 2000, railroads failed to pay 11 billion rubles in taxes to the treasury.
Along with that, the Prosecutor General's Office doesn't think there were fiscal interests in Aksenenko's actions or that he harmed the transport infrastructure in any way.
Apart from the so-called 11 billion rubles - a laughable sum for the colossal company the Railroads Ministry has become thanks to the government - all other accusations defy common sense. They lack evidence.
It doesn't look as though prosecutors had been given the task of jailing Aksenenko. They are merely needed to clear the space. Russia is on the threshold of a radical reorganization of three basic monopolies - Gazprom, railroads, and the joint energy system. Programs of reforms of the latter two adopted. Program of reforms of the former one is being discussed. Formally, Gazprom is not a ministry of course, but it owns all gas pipelines in Russia. There are plans to split up Russian Joint Energy Systems before March 2004, and it is time the decision was made about who will own the networks until then. And of course, the government is not indifferent about who will own and control railroads. These days, every railroad is a unitary state enterprise controlled by the Railroads Ministry.
Transforming the natural monopolies is the major economic objective of Putin's regime. In scope, it may be compared to establishing free-market economy institutions, the major task of Yeltsin's regime. Under the existing legislation (which is actually absent), the state could easily jail all the senior executives of the Railroads Ministry, Gazprom, and Russian Joint Energy Systems. Unfortunately, that wouldn't make the monopolies in question more transparent. "Cutting them into pieces" is much easier. What is difficult is turning them into transparent and efficient companies. It is not a task for prosecutors, certainly.
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