Public-private partnership in the utility and energy sector of Russia: achieved results, problems and challenges
Abstract The inefficiency of functioning of the utility and energy sector of Russia, accompanied by limited funds of the state (municipal) budget, actualizes issues of the use of public-private partnership (PPP), based on the involvement of financial, material, laborand other resources of a private partner, the division between public and private partners of risks and responsibilities. The purpose of the article is to study the Russian practice of using PPP in the utility and energy sector in the context of analyzingthe results achieved, identifying current problems and challenges. The methodological basis of the study was made up of general scientific research methods (observation, description, synthesis, analysis, historical and logical methods). The author defines and analyzes the achieved results of the use of PPP in the utility and energy sector of Russia, from 2016 to the present. This made it possible to identify relevant legal, organizational, economic and financial problems related to this process and to propose ways to solve them based on joint actions and efforts of the partnership participants. The author also highlights production, technological, managerial and economic challenges in the development of the utility and energy sector of Russia on the basis of PPP. The materials of the conducted research can be used in the development and implementation of management decisions to ensure the effective development of the utility and energy sector of Russia with the use of PPP.
Keywords: utility and energy sector, housing and communal services, public-private partnership, PPP, project, concession agreement, partner, state, business
Highlights:
♦ the increased need to prevent a crisis in the utility and energy sector of our country, supported by a radical change in the current legislation in this area, led to the expansion of the practice of implementing utility and energy PPP projects and, as a result, strengtheningtheir leading positions in the Russian PPP market;
♦ the success of the use of PPP in the utility and energy sector of Russia is largely associated with a comprehensive and high-quality solution by the partnership participants of a wide range of problems, among which the most relevant are legal, organizational, economic and financial ones;
♦ the development of the utility and energy sector of Russia on the basis of PPP creates new challenges that are directly related to the activities of the state, industrial enterprises, information technology companies and act as new opportunities in the effective functioning of this sphere.
Inna M. Shor - Volgograd State University, Volgograd, Russia