As part of the President`s instruction to develop approaches to improve the gas pricing model, the Committee on Regulation of Natural Monopolies of the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan is working to identify a separate ninth group of consumers. This category includes "household consumers (population) receiving state targeted social assistance and (or) housing assistance".
The Committee managed to carry out this work by making changes and additions to the Pricing Rules in socially significant markets.
As a result, from April 1, 2022, as part of a pilot project in Taraz and Uralsk, citizens of the above group receive commercial gas at a reduced price by 20%, which is more than 3 thousand customers. Consumers of this group could see a new reduced gas price in April receipts.
At the same time, together with local executive bodies and organizations, the integration of information systems of «KazTransGas Aimak» JSC, a subsidiary of «QazaqGaz NC» JSC, with the automated information system «Social Assistance» of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the Republic of Kazakhstan through the gateway of electronic government is at work.
From July 1 of this year, consumers belonging to the category of "household consumers receiving state targeted social assistance and (or) housing assistance" will have the opportunity to receive gas at a reduced price in all gasified regions of the country.
To get a reduced gas price, the consumer needs to verify his status as a recipient of TSA and Housing assistance on the «Egov.kz» portal.
For reference:
State targeted social assistance in the Republic of Kazakhstan is provided to categories of people with an average per capita income not exceeding the poverty line (citizens of the Republic of Kazakhstan, oralmans, refugees, foreigners, stateless persons permanently residing in the Republic of Kazakhstan).
Housing assistance is provided to low-income families (citizens) permanently residing in the area.
According to the legislation on natural monopolies, a natural monopoly entity is obliged to fulfill the approved tariff estimate.
However, JSC "Intergas Central Asia" and JSC "KazTransOil" did not fulfill the approved tariff estimates for transmission and distribution services of the electric energy which is regarded as a violation of the above norm.
On this point, JSC "Intergas Central Asia" and JSC "KazTransOil" have been brought to administrative responsibility under part 4 of section 164 of the Codex of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Administrative Offenses with the imposition of a fine in the total amount of 9,801,600 tenge, which was paid by each entity in a reduced order of 2,450,400 tenge.
On the first day of summer we celebrate the truly brightest and kindest holiday – the International Children's Day!
Our children are our future, the future of the country, where they will make their integral contribution to its development and prosperity.
Mr President in his New Year's address to citizens declared 2022 as the Year of Children, where he indicated to pay special attention to children.
"Their well-being is a reliable guarantee of the successful future of our state,” - the President of Kazakhstan noted.
In honor of the Children's Day and the Year of Children in Kazakhstan, the Committee on Regulation of Natural Monopolies of the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan decided to hold a drawing contest "The World of Childhood" for young friends, where the children of the Committee's employees took part.
The kids in their drawings had to depict their dreams, how they see a happy life and how they feel in it.
Today, the winners of the children's drawings contest, who took I, II and III places, received memorable gifts on behalf of the management.
Pursuant to the instruction of the Head of State, a moratorium is being introduced on raising tariffs for regulated utilities for the population, namely water supply, sanitation, heat supply, gas supply and electricity. This moratorium is valid until July 1, 2022.
Today, on December 27, 2021, the Committee for Regulation of Natural Monopolies of the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan at a public hearing considered the draft tariff and tariff estimate of JSC "Center of Transport Service" for regulated service of access roads in the absence of a competitive access road for 2022-2026.
Taking into account the epidemiological situation in the country, all interested persons took part in the public hearing online.
Deputy Chairman of the Tariff Department Askhat Zhapsarbai presided at the public hearing.
Askhat Zhapsarbai welcomed all the participants of the hearing and familiarized them with the procedure for holding a public hearing, and also noted the need to actively express their suggestions and comments on the draft tariff and tariff estimates of JSC "Transport Service Center".
"Ensuring transparency, awareness, maintaining the balance of interests of consumers and natural monopolies, transparency of the application review procedure is the purpose of holding public hearings," the deputy said.
Today, under the chairmanship of Vice Minister of National Economy Azamat Amrin, a regular meeting of the Tariff Policy Council was held with the participation of deputies of the two chambers of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan, representatives of central state bodies, local executive bodies, the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs "Atameken", the leadership of the Committee on Regulation of Natural Monopolies, as well as non-governmental organizations.
"In order to ensure uninterrupted and high-quality provision of public services, significant investments are required, which can inevitably lead to an increase in tariffs. However, it is necessary to make decisions taking into account the maintenance of a balance of interests between consumers and subjects of natural monopolies," Azamat Amrin said.
Chairman of the Tariff Department Asan Darbayev told about the results of the activities of the Committee on Regulation of Natural Monopolies for 2021 and the projected cumulative contribution to inflation from tariffs in 2022.
The Chairman of the reported on the measures taken to contain and prevent the growth of tariffs for the population in the first quarter of 2021, as well as to ensure that the contribution to inflation from tariffs for regulated utilities remains at 0.11% by the end of 2020.
Aslan Darabayev also noted that the agency will continue to work in terms of a positive contribution to inflation from tariffs for regulated utilities in 2022.
In addition, the composition of 17 regional commissions has been expanded and updated once again, due to personnel changes in a number of organizations and authorized bodies, and their personal composition has been supplemented, in order to attract a larger circle of people to consider tariff issues.
The main tasks of the regional commissions are, inter alia, to discuss and develop recommendations for draft investment programs, to hear reports on the implementation of approved tariff estimates, to make proposals for determining the method of tariff regulation, etc.
Following the meeting of the Council, Azamat Amrin gave instructions for the Committee to continue its work in terms of fair tariff setting, ensuring high-quality and reliable provision of public services, as well as ensuring control over the targeted use of funds by monopolists.
The last public reception in the outgoing 2021 and the next one for consumers was held today by employees of the Committee for Regulation of Natural Monopolies of the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
The public reception was held under the chairmanship of Deputy Head of the CRNM Askhat Zhapsarbai.
Facebook reception was broadcast via the Facebook page of the Committee, as well as similar reception rooms were broadcast on the Facebook pages of territorial departments.
Specialists of the Tariff Department told live about the latest information on tariff formation for gas, water, heat, light, including the work carried out to prevent unjustified tariff increases, as well as reduced tariffs in a number of regions of the country due to the introduction of temporary compensating tariffs.
In accordance with subparagraph 15) of paragraph 2 of Article 26 of the Law of the Republic of Kazakhstan "On Natural Monopolies", a natural monopoly entity is obliged to fulfill the approved tariff estimate.
Based on the results of the analysis of the execution of tariff estimates for regulated services of «KazTransOil» JSC, non-fulfillment of the approved tariff estimates for the transmission and distribution of thermal energy for 2020 was revealed, where the total amount of unreasonably received income is 5.09 thousand tenge, taking into account the refinancing rate of the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan at the time of the decision
In addition, non-fulfillment of cost items for regulated services for the production, transmission and distribution of thermal energy of «KazTransOil» JSC was revealed, where the total amount of unreasonably received income is 98.23 thousand tenge, taking into account the refinancing rate of the National Bank of the Republic of Kazakhstan at the time of the decision.
In this connection, the Committee on Regulation of Natural Monopolies, in order to restore consumer rights, has taken measures in accordance with the legislation on natural monopolies, regarding the return of unreasonably received income by introducing a temporary compensating tariff.
The level of the temporary compensating tariff for the transmission and distribution of thermal energy of «KazTransOil» JSC for 1 year is 269.51 tenge/Gcal without VAT, with entry into force from January 1, 2022 with a decrease of 0.29% (from 270.29 to 269.51 tenge/Gcal without VAT).
The level of the temporary compensating tariff for the production, transmission and distribution of thermal energy for 1 year is 6018.38 tenge/Gcal without VAT, including with differentiation by consumer groups, with entry into force from January 1, 2022 with a decrease of 0.60% (average consumption - from 6054.65 to 6018.38 tenge/Gcal without VAT, to the population, budget and non-profit organizations, as well as enterprises providing utilities to the population, from 1723.29 to 1712.97 tenge/Gcal without VAT and industrial enterprises and commercial organizations from 11801.89 to 11731.19 tenge/Gcal without VAT).
At the same time, «KazTransOil» JSC has the right to appeal the decision of the authorized authority in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
It should be noted that the Committee conducts systematic work aimed at ensuring compliance by natural monopoly entities with the requirements of the legislation on natural monopolies.
The Regional Association of Energy Regulatory Authorities (hereinafter - ERRA, the Association) held a meeting of the Standing Committees and working group and a meeting of the Chairmen of ERRA members for two days in a row, from November 25 to 26 this year.
This time this event was held in a "hybrid mode" in Budapest (Hungary), after almost 2 years of online operation.
This decision was made by the Presidium of the Association in order to exchange information and expand access to the accumulated experience of energy regulation in the world.
The Committee on Regulation of Natural Monopolies, being a full member of ERRA, actively participates in technical discussions of current problems in the energy sector, following which constructive proposals are developed to change regulatory practices. This event was no exception.
On behalf of Kazakhstan, the Head of the Tariff Department under the Ministry of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan Asan Darbayev took part in this event.
The opening of the event on the first day was held with the traditional greeting of the Chairman of ERRA, Maya Melikidze.
On the first day of the event, a joint meeting of the Standing Committees and the ERRA working group on the regulation of smart accounting was held, as well as sessions devoted to topical issues of successful policy of transition to smart accounting, cost-benefit analysis, as well as the experience of countries.
The Association members were presented with the practices of implementing an intelligent accounting system in France, cost regulation in Austria, cost-benefit analysis in Georgia, cybersecurity in the EU, the introduction of smart meters on the example of Italy, problems on the way of phased introduction of smart electricity meters in Greece, the state of implementation of smart meters in Hungary from the point of view of the Distribution System Operator.
The participants were also informed about the main findings of the ERRA study on the state of intellectual accounting in ERRA member countries.
On the second and final day, a meeting of the Chairs of the ERRA members was held, which was divided into sessions.
During the first session "Price disruptions in wholesale markets", issues related to the factors determining prices in the wholesale electricity and natural gas markets, short-term policy prospects, as well as the reaction of regulatory authorities to price increases on the example of France and Romania were considered.
As a result, a panel discussion was held on the topic: "Price failures and regulatory tools to mitigate price increases", moderated by Pal Sagvar, Deputy Chairman of ERRA, Vice President of the Hungarian Energy and Utilities Regulatory Authority (HEA).
During the second session, the participants considered questions about the path to a hydrogen future, the integration of the electricity market: (interim connection project, implementation and results after commissioning).
The event also heard reports on the best practices of representatives of the Energy Regulatory Commission of France (CRE), the energy regulator of Austria (E-Control), the Agency for Interaction of EU Energy Regulators (ACER) and the National Commission for Energy and Water Supply Regulation of Georgia (GNERC), the regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and Environment of Italy (ARERA), the regulatory Authority in the field of energy of Greece (RAE), the Regional Center for Energy Policy Research.
At the end of the event, the participants were able to discuss the topics covered in the two-day event.
The event of this format undoubtedly allowed representatives of a number of countries to see each other live, and discuss many issues of energy regulation in more detail and constructively.
Today, on November 19, 2021, a meeting on prevention and intolerance to corruption was held under the chairmanship of the Deputy Head of the Tariff Department, Ethics Commissioner Askhat Zhapsarbai.
The meeting was held among the staff of the central office and territorial departments of the Committee as part of the implementation of the President's Address "Kazakhstan in a new reality: time for action" in the context of a new model of public administration and measures to eliminate the prerequisites of corruption.
The Deputy Head of the CRNM
began his speech with the words of the Head of State K.K. Tokayev, voiced in the Address to the people of Kazakhstan, about the duty of civil servants to ensure a decent life for citizens, protect their rights, strengthen the rule of law, strengthen the fight against corruption.
During his speech, Askhat Zhapsarbai reminded the staff of the department of the need to apply the CRNM Anti-Corruption Standard in the work, the purpose of which is to prevent corruption, reduce and prevent corruption risks, increase legal literacy and zero tolerance for corruption in the activities of the Committee and its territorial divisions.
The issues related to the analysis of the internal corruption risk for the first half of 2021, the procedures for passing a special inspection by newly and newly accepted civil servants, the annual submission of the declaration of income and property by civil servants, compliance with the rules of public procurement and other issues were also discussed in detail.
The Deputy Head of the CRNM also dwelt on the issue of considering the appeals of individuals and legal entities received daily by the Committee.
"When considering appeals, it is necessary to be guided by the legislation and each appeal should be comprehensively considered within the established time frame," Askhat Zhapsarbai stressed.
He also noted the positive dynamics in terms of the absence of complaints from service recipients about untimely and poor-quality provision of public services, as well as the absence of corruption risks in the activities of the Committee and its departments based on the results of an internal analysis audit.
The functioning of the all-republican anti-corruption project "Adaldyk Alany", implemented by the Anti-Corruption Agency together with government agencies, whose goal is to minimize everyday corruption, is briefly noted.
"I ask you to step up work to reduce everyday corruption and corruption risks in your work," the Deputy Chairman addressed the heads of territorial departments.
In conclusion, Askhat Zhapsarbai noted that the correct application of knowledge and the study of legislation in the areas of civil service, anti-corruption and the Code of Ethics will allow you to correctly prioritize activities and prevent corruption offenses.
And he reminded once again that everyone can contact him, as an ethics commissioner, by calling the helpline (listed on the CRNM
website), and report facts of abuse of official powers of an employee.