News / Article by Claude Ménard, Alexander Kurdin and Andrey Shastitko "Out by the door, in through the window: Politics and natural gas regulation in Russia"

 Article by  Claude Ménard, Alexander Kurdin and Andrey Shastitko "Out by the door, in through the window: Politics and natural gas regulation in Russia" published in Utilities Policy journal (V. 64, 2020)

Abstract

This article deals with the regulation of the natural gas sector in Russia through the lens of institutional economics. It proposes a framework in which ‘meso-institutions’ bridge the gap between the macro-institutions shaping the ‘rules of the game,’ with the Kremlin at the core, and the micro-layer within which firms operate. We argue that the slow reform process comes from conflicts of interest embedded in these meso-institutions, specifically: the Federal Antimonopoly Service, the Ministry of Energy, and the Ministry of Economic Development. Based on official documents, data from various public sources, and semi-directive interviews and discussions, our analysis shows that parties are locked in a sub-optimal equilibrium.

Key words

Natural gas, Institutions, Regulation

The article is available by this hyperlink