A review of electricity markets and reforms in Russia

The power industry in Russia has undergone one of the most ambitious reform programs implemented in the world. This paper reviews the background, targets, and measures taken in the major stages of the reform, outlines the current state of the Russian power sector and analyzes the results of the reform. It is concluded that given the current economic situation to provide large investments, Russian authorities had to undertake some market intervention, which had some side effects on the competitiveness of the market. By 2018, the urgent need for the investment was removed. The authorities have improved some important regulations, while some of the key non-market mechanisms are still maintained.