The expert explained why Putin’s idea to subsidize social gasification is very timely

Russian President Vladimir Putin promised large families, veterans, the disabled and low-income families to allocate subsidies for the purchase of gas equipment and work within the framework of social gasification. The money in the amount of 100 thousand rubles should be provided by the regions, the president said at the plenary meeting of the Russian Energy Week.

Economist, leading expert of the Center for Political Technologies Nikita Maslennikov believes that this idea logically fits into the program of social gasification, in addition, it will help Russia sell excess gas on the domestic market under Western sanctions.

Speaking at the Russian Energy Week forum, the head of state instructed to extend the social gasification program “beyond the horizon” of 2022, as well as to help poor citizens with the purchase of the necessary gas equipment and pay for the work of laying a pipe from the borders of the site to the house, now this service is paid. However, not all Russians can afford to pay for gas equipment and work in order to provide themselves with fuel.

“The amount of subsidies should be at least 100,000 rubles per connection,” the president specified. At the same time, the head of state acknowledged that the budgetary possibilities of the regions are different, so some territories will be able to receive support from federal resources.

– In my opinion, this is a very logical decision for the externally political situation in which we are now. Especially if we want to keep gas production at the same level, while external channels for exporting it are gradually shrinking,” says Nikita Maslennikov.

– Does this mean that we will soon have nowhere else to sell the produced gas except on the domestic market?

– Of course not – other proposals were made today, in particular, the president spoke about the idea of ​​creating a Turkish hub. But you must admit that a country that is a leader in gas production must first of all provide its population with this fuel, but so far this is far from it.

– Are there any other directions, programs where we could direct the missing gas supplies?

– Yes, it is necessary to develop the gas-chemical industry, this definition covers a huge range of industries – from pharmaceuticals to composite materials.

– Now we buy most of these goods abroad …

– Exactly, the talks about the development of the gas and chemical industry have been going on since 2012, and now is just the moment when it is time to move on to real steps. But there is no contradiction here with the first proposal for the development of a social gasification program, one does not interfere with the other.

– All this is very good, but where will the regions get the money to subsidize needy families in the amount of 100 thousand rubles for the purchase of gas equipment and the necessary work to lay a pipe in their area?

– Our authorities, the government and deputies, all the time say that social support should be targeted. The Ministry of Finance even named the exact figure that 40% of social payments should be targeted.

And here, please, a great idea – it has everything you need – both targeting and social support for the population. As for money, the surplus of the consolidated regional budget exceeds a trillion rubles. So the regions have money, not all of them, of course, but this is what deputies are needed to adopt the budget in order to decide who needs how much to allocate for the implementation of these tasks.

By the way, 500 billion rubles have already been allocated to the regions for the implementation of infrastructure projects, so someone will take money from there, someone will receive additional allocations, but the task, in my opinion, is quite real and absolutely logical. The President began to promote social gasification during the pandemic, and now, given external challenges, Western sanctions on the gas industry, it would be a very reasonable decision to let our gas into the domestic market.