Commentary

Tatiana Gorovaya Department for State-Run Programs and Budgeting
The Regions Actively Use Project Management to Implement State Programs
Russian regions are ahead of the federal center when it comes to introducing project management. "While at the federal level project management is only just beginning to get integrated into state programs, a number of regions have already been using project management for several years and they have a lot to learn from them," Analytical Center expert Tatiana Gorovaya told the Budget magazine.

Daniil Nametkin Department for Expert Analytics
12 Major Banks Lack Stability
"12 of the biggest Russian banks lack stability, while 2 of them exhibit 3 vulnerability signs at the same time. Stricter supervision may result in regulatory measures having to be taken against them," writes Analytical Center expert Daniil Nametkin in an op-ed he penned for the Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

Tatiana Radchenko Deputy Head
Parallel Imports Must be Legalized in Stages
Parallel imports need to be legalized by gradually, in several stages, according to the Deputy Head of the Analytical Center Tatiana Radchenko. "We need to trial it on several products and see what the effect is going to be," she stressed in an interview with a Vedomosti journalist.

Vladislav Onishchenko Deputy Head
When there is enough money in the budget, employers can pay more
Vladislav Onischenko, the first deputy head of the Analytical Center, talked about increasing the minimum wage to the level of the living wage on RBC-TV.

Evgeniy Kislyakov Deputy Head
Traditional Branches of the Economy Transforms with Introduction of Digital Technologies
Mr. Evgeny Kislyakov, Head of the Project Management Office for the Implementation of the Digital Economy of the Russian Federation program, gave a detailed interview to PCWeek on digitalization prospects and objectives of the Project Management Office.

Alexander Amiragyan Department for Fuel and Energy Sector
The Infrastructure Is Not Enough for Widespread Switching to Gas Fuel
Gasoline and diesel fuel account for almost all fuel (99%) consumed by road vehicles in Russia. This figure remains unchanged for several decades, but the government has been actively promoting the shift of commercial and public transport to gas in recent years. The Analytical Center estimated that re-equipping of gasoline taxi cars will pay off in less than six months and it will be possible to curb the growth of ticket prices in the conditions of lower gas cost.

Grigoriy Mikryukov Department for Sectors of Economy
People in Russia are Not Fully Aware of the Energy Efficiency of Home Appliances
About 90% of Russians do not understand the energy efficiency labels on household appliances, according to the Rossiyskaya Gazeta. The newspaper believes that dirt cheap energy prices compared to, say, the EU, mean that Russians generally have no incentive to save electricity. In the meantime labels showing the energy efficiency class can be found on all household appliances from major manufacturers and in general they tend to be quite accurate.

Alexander Amiragyan Department for Fuel and Energy Sector
Installing Solar Power Plants on Individual Homes can Pay Back within 15–20 Years
"In Russia the main incentives that the state offers to support small-scale generation of electric power from renewable sources focus on the development of domestic technologies in this area, primarily solar and wind power as well as on increasing the role of green energy in the economy as a whole," Analytical Center expert Alexander Amiragyan said on RBC-TV.

Svyatoslav Pikh Department for Fuel and Energy Sector
Asia Pacific Remains Key for Sales of Russian LNG
"After 2020 there are plans for 3 major projects that no investment decisions have yet been made regarding the implementation of: the Baltic LNG (10 mln tonnes), the Arctic LNG (16.5 mln tonnes) on the Gydansky peninsula as well as the construction of the third stage of Sakhalin LNG (4.8 mln tonnes). Should all these projects be implemented, the total LNG export capacity may reach 25-30 mln tonnes per year (or about 35-40 bln cubic meters of natural gas), which is going to be exported primarily to Asia Pacific," Analytical Center expert Svyatoslav Pikh said in an interview for Russia 24.

Elena Razumova Department for Expert Analytics