Head of the International Best Practices Analysis Department at the Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy Antonina Levashenko commented for Nezavisimaya Gazeta on the Russian government’s plans to introduce a new system for regulating the fuel market.
Russian authorities intend to implement a mechanism of individual agreements with oil companies aimed at stabilizing prices and ensuring fuel supplies to the domestic market. As Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak stated, such agreements will be concluded in the near future. In effect, this amounts to a return to elements of manual control over the industry, whereby the state, through agreements with businesses, will be able to influence supply volumes and, indirectly, price dynamics.
The new approach seeks to balance companies’ export interests with the domestic economy’s needs, particularly given the volatility of global energy markets. Experts note that such measures may increase market predictability in the short term but raise questions about long-term effectiveness and the level of market competition.
“It is important to consider the terms that will govern such agreements—whether they will cover only maximum export volumes or also influence exchange prices, for example, whether prices will be determined by market forces, and to what extent the nature of these ‘recommendations’ will ultimately become binding on companies,” noted Antonina Levashenko.