Energy supply in the Khabarovsk territory: intra-regional differentiation and problems of budgetary support

Economic Research Institute of Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Khabarovsk, Russia

^* Corresponding author: demina@ecrin.ru

Abstract

The article is devoted to measuring solvable demand of population for energy supply services and the level of budgetary guardianship in Khabarovsk Krai. The authors show the differentiation in availability of energy supply services for consumers, explained by the geographical contrasts and existing system of settlement. There are two sources of energy supply in Krai: “Far Eastern Generating Company” (AO “DGK”) and objects of public energetics. The population pays for only a part of actual producers’ costs for energy supply services; the remaining part is compensated by the state through budgetary means. There are two ways to compensate high tariffs on energy supply for population: subsidies and privileges for consumers and subsidies for producers. The population that gets its energy from AO “DGK” pays for energy supply services almost entirely, while population that uses the services of public energetics pays only partially, with the state taking the burden upon itself to compensate the producers’ costs. In case of transitioning to full compensation, the scale of social budgetary support will increase significantly, which contradicts the logic of institutional transformation, aimed at lowering the financial burden of the state.