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MOSCOW. (RIA Novosti economic commentator...
has started controlling fuel prices. In 2006, when gasoline prices went up to $1.3 per liter, Congress approved by a 389-34 vote a bill on criminal penalties and fines of up to $150 million for "unconscionable pricing" and "false price reporting."At first glance, Russia should resist encouragement to raise domestic gas prices. Nearly a third of Russia's GDP is ensured by cheap gas, making it a pillar of state power. If gas prices rise, Russian industry will lose its competitive edge. Besides, the growth of tariffs for ordinary people would disrupt the country's much-vaunted stability.
Yet the government has been advocating the liberalization of the gas market, at least until recently.
The first signs of resistance to the idea appeared on May 5, when Deputy Economic Development and Trade Minister Andrei Klepach said gas prices would not be fully liberalized in 2011.
"We have not abandoned the idea [of liberalization], but propose a smoother
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