THE REFORM OF TAP NATURAL GAS SECTOR IN RUSSIA

The Russian natural gas industry is undergoing deep changes despite its domination by Gazprom, a powerful state-owned company. In particular, the latter is being restructured; prices are being raised; and competitive practices, introduced so as to normalize Gazprom's comportment. This reorganization is not, however, following the example of the natural gas industry in the EU, which was restructured mainly by deintegrating vertically integrated monopolies and making the market competitive. Even though this example figured in the initial plan (discussed in 2002), it turned out to be impossible to apply it given institutional and economic conditions in Russia.