MOSCOW, December 26. /ITAR-TASS/. Russia's government is busy developing measures to stimulate the use of domestic-made equipment in electric power engineering. An appropriate assignment to the relevant agencies has been given by Vice-Premier Arkady Dvorkovich.
The Izvestia newspaper writes that it is planned to allocate 17.25 billion rubles in 2014-2018 from the Federal budget under a Subprogram aimed at developing load-bearing equipment and power engineering.
Other suggested measures include a directive to the natural monopolies, state corporations, and state-run companies to give priority to Russian manufacturers through arranging tenders for power engineering products delivery.
Dvorkovich also suggested that all electrical power companies establish rules for the use of domestic innovative equipment by analogy with alternative energy forms, the paper writes.
In this segment, the following norm applies: the higher the level of the localization of equipment under the green-energetic project, the higher the chances for a business to get guarantees of the sale of electric power.
The Vice-Premier said power engineering organizations must have an opportunity to lay claim to a subsidizing of credits obtained from the Federal budget for a technical re-equipment, while the Vneshekonombank must be provided with resources for an easy-term financing of the manufacture of domestic power engineering products.
Experts link the problem situation in the sector with a decline in the financing of research and development efforts in the post-Soviet period. According to estimates made by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, an almost one-hundredth of resources are allocated from the budget of the Russian Federation for these purposes every year than in the United States — less than $15 million, as against almost $1.07 billion.
Agencies must submit their proposals on the development of the sector before the end of the first quarter of 2014.