Page 18 - RusRPTAug22

more regions are reducing their planned consumption volumes - since the beginning of July there are already 42 of them. The Kursk region (minus 20%) and powerful industrial regions - Tatarstan (12%), Samara (10%), Murmansk (8%), Sverdlovsk ( 2%), Saratov (6%), Chelyabinsk (4%) regions.
The Market Council (the regulator of the energy markets) told the publication that fluctuations in the peak in the specified range are a “normal situation”. In July, in the first price zone, there is a “slight decrease in demand” y/y, the regulator admitted, but demand increased relative to June. If we compare the period from the beginning of the year with a cumulative total, through July 15, the total planned consumption in the first price zone increased by 1.5% y/y.
2.6 Russian attempts at import substitution fail
New Deputy PM and Putin’s Daughter to Kickstart ‘Import Substitution’
Russia’s State Duma convened on July 16 to promote Trade and Industry Minister Denis Manturov to deputy prime minister. This is apparently one of the ways in which President Vladimir Putin hopes to accelerate import substitution and make Russian industry self-sustaining (a Kremlin ambition since at least 2014). Another way Putin is trying to make this happen is with his own daughter. It was announced last week that Katerina Tikhonova will play a leading role developing import substitution at the influential Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP).
The unscheduled meeting of the State Duma was announced last Sunday, just four days after the close of the regular session. The apparent urgency sparked speculation about general mobilization, the closure of Russia’s borders and even talk of a government reshuffle. Independent media outlet Meduza, for example, cited sources saying that Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin was going to be replaced by Alexei Kudrin, the head of the Audit Chamber.
All the speculation was wide of the mark. It emerged Friday that the Duma was gathering to rubber-stamp a new ministerial appointment — and one likely planned before the invasion of Ukraine (one of The Bell’s sources described it in detail before the war). Manturov was promoted to deputy prime minister and handed responsibility for the defense industry (in addition to civilian manufacturing). Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov, previously in charge of the defense sector, will head state space agency Roscosmos. That meant the Elon Musk-baiting former Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin was left without a job — although his credentials as an aggressively anti-Western official means he’s unlikely to be out of action for long.
The special Duma session was required as a result of 2020 constitutional reforms. The main aim of the reforms was to extend Putin’s presidential term through 2036, but for appearances’ sake (and in the interests of a balance of power) parliament was also given the final say over deputy prime minister appointments. The reason Manturov’s promotion wasn’t confirmed during
18 RUSSIA Country Report October 2020 www.intellinews.com