It has been announced today that energy providers OAO Mosenergosbit and OOO Rusenergosbit M signed an agreement. The agreement put an end to the so-called “energy experiment” conducted in the East and South-East of Moscow. In compliance with the agreement, Rusenergosbit M will collect payments for Mosenergosbit via a single payment document. Thus, the right of the citizens to pay by a separate bill to Mosenergosbit have been restored.
Such an agreement was urged by the actions of the YABLOKO party.
On May 13 the YABLOKO faction of the Moscow City Duma forwarded a deputy’s inquiry to the Mayor of Moscow asking him the change of the system of collecting payment for communal services.
On May 18 Sergei Mitrokhin sent a list of issues developed by YABLOKO within the framework of preparation to a meeting between the Mayor and deputies of the Moscow Duma. One of the key topics in YABLOKO’s list was the demand to abolish the “energy experiment”.
Yesterday at the meeting between the Mayor and deputies of the Moscow Duma Sergei Mitrokhin again raised the issue of the “energy experiment”. “The citizens should be granted the right to choose between the methods of payment for communal services,” said YABLOKO’s leader.
Mayor Yuri Luzhkov agreed with Mitrokhin and noted that the system of payment should be convenient for the people rather than bureaucrats. The Moscow Mayor said that the demands of the citizens should be met.
“I am satisfied that the Mayor’s order was implemented so quickly. However, the range of issues YABLOKO worked out together with the citizens’ initiative group is much broader than those solved today. We were also raising an issue of changing the system of payment collection and its transparency which would make such “experiments” impossible. After consulting with the citizens we shall decide how we should act so that to achieve implementation of other our proposals,” said Mitrokhin.
See also:
Housing and Utilities Reform
The Moscow City Duma to propose a way out of the “energy experiment”. Press Release. May 27, 2009
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