The government is proposed to ban the supply of imported electricity meters

Russian manufacturers of “intelligent metering systems” propose to ban the installation of foreign appliances in homes and introduce fines for violating this rule. Market participants claim that, despite the requirements for the use of Russian meters in force since January 1, 2022, guaranteeing electricity suppliers and grid organizations are buying cheaper Chinese ones. This is due to the lack of sanctions for violation, lawyers believe. Electricity suppliers consider the measures redundant, emphasizing that they are already switching to domestic products. Increased pressure, engineers are sure, will lead to higher construction costs and a shortage of equipment.

“Kommersant” got acquainted with the conclusion of an independent anti-corruption expertise of the law firm “Kachkin and Partners”, accredited by the Ministry of Justice, on the law “On the electric power industry” (taking into account the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of June 19, 2020 No. 890 “On the procedure for providing access to the minimum set of functions of intelligent metering systems electrical energy”). The bureau clarified that the examination was carried out by order of Russian manufacturers of metering devices, without disclosing the names.

By law, from January 1, 2022, guaranteeing suppliers and grid organizations are required to use only domestic metering devices. However, it follows from the document that due to the lack of fines enshrined in legislation and a direct ban on the purchase of foreign meters, “some companies continue to ignore the requirements.” Lawyers call it “corruption factor”.

Based on the results of the examination, the law firm sent proposals to the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Justice, the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to prohibit guaranteeing suppliers and network organizations from purchasing foreign meters, as well as to determine the amount of a fine for organizations that violate the law. The Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Prosecutor General’s Office and the Ministry of Energy did not answer Kommersant. The Ministry of Justice says that the letter has not yet been received.

The Association of Guaranteeing Suppliers and Energy Retail Companies assured Kommersant that in 2023, SE “install smart meters mainly from domestic manufacturers.” “The Russian government has already taken a number of economic measures both to localize smart metering devices and to create preferences for domestic metering devices when making purchases, so we consider punitive measures to be unnecessary,” the association stressed. The Rosseti group said that they purchase metering devices only from Russian manufacturers. Now, entries on electricity meters of NPO MIR, Bulat, MILUR IS, Electrotechnical Plants, Energomera and a number of others have been entered into the unified register of Russian radio-electronic products.

Kommersant’s interlocutor among equipment manufacturers notes that it is now impossible to track exactly how many Russian meters the energy company purchases, and “some use it.” “According to the law, the share of Russian meters in the total purchase should be at least 90%, but there is still no tracking mechanism,” he explains. According to a Kommersant source, domestic devices are more expensive than Chinese counterparts and “this creates a dependence on Asian electronics.” He believes that the fine for using foreign meters should be from 500 thousand rubles. up to 1 million rubles

However, there are now virtually no completely Russian smart meters, the entire component base is foreign, emphasizes another interlocutor of Kommersant among manufacturers of meters: “It is more logical not to prohibit buying imported meters, but to develop and invest in Russian microelectronics.”

The proposed measures look redundant and could lead to negative consequences, since the cost of metering devices will increase many times over, Stanislav Mityushin, chairman of the board of the Guild of Gas Equipment Engineers, is sure. According to him, in some segments, for example, in heat meters, Russian companies have just begun to develop, so developers use foreign ones.

Timofey Kornev, Alexandra Mertsalova, Daria Andrianova, Polina Smertina