Legal Support Of Transparency Of Activities Of Governing Bodies Of Companies Of The Fuel And Energy Complex

In accordance with the Energy Strategy of the Russian Federation for the period of up to 2035, the enhancement of corporate governance is classified as a strategic task for the development of the fuel and energy sector. Legal support of corporate governance in companies with state participation in the energy sector, including companies in the power grid complex, is of great importance. The problems related to the legal support of transparency in the activities of the governing bodies of energy companies in the power grid complex are also of particular relevance. A significant problem of transparency of the governing bodies of energy companies, which still exists, is the identification and bringing the final beneficiaries to subsidiary responsibility. Within this work, the author identified the key problems that arise in case of transparency of activities of the governing bodies of companies of the power grid complex. The expediency of bringing the final beneficiaries of these organizations to subsidiary responsibility is justified, and proposals to improve the transparency and efficiency of the governing bodies of organizations of the power grid complex are made.

Keywords

energy law, legal support of energy security, legal status of power grid companies

Received

06.11.2020

Publication date

05.12.2020

Number of characters

19566

Cite Download pdf

GOST	Gorshkov M. Legal Support Of Transparency Of Activities Of Governing Bodies Of Companies Of The Fuel And Energy Complex // Energy law forum – 2020. – Issue 4 C. 93-98 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://mlcjournal.ru/S231243500022537-8-1 (circulation date: 05.05.2024). DOI: 10.18572/2410-4396-2020-4-93-98
MLA	Gorshkov, Mikhail S "Legal Support Of Transparency Of Activities Of Governing Bodies Of Companies Of The Fuel And Energy Complex." Energy law forum 4 (2020):93-98. DOI: 10.18572/2410-4396-2020-4-93-98
APA	Gorshkov M. (2020). Legal Support Of Transparency Of Activities Of Governing Bodies Of Companies Of The Fuel And Energy Complex. Energy law forum (4), pp.93-98 DOI: 10.18572/2410-4396-2020-4-93-98


1	The fuel and energy complex (hereinafter referred to as the “FEC”) as a key sector of the Russian economy contributes significantly to the formation of the budget of the Russian Federation (about 40 %) and socioeconomic development of the state. Within this context, the FEC needs enhanced legal protection, both against external (the use of “contractual arrangements” with foreign states to harm the FEC, discrimination of the Russian FEC organizations on the global market) and internal threats, which include the increasing number of crimes and offences in the energy sector (theft, corruption, etc.).
2	It should be noted that in accordance with the Energy Strategy of the Russian Federationfor the period of up to 2035, the improvement of corporate governance is classified as a strategic task for the development of the fuel and energy sector. Legal support of corporate governance in companies with state participation in the energy sector, including companies in the power grid complex, is of great importance. In this respect, legal studies of these problems are of interest. [1] A.G. Lisitsyn-Svetlanov notes that in the post-soviet period, the Russian energy law, as well as a number of other complex branches of law, is meant to regulate a number of relations of an interdisciplinary nature. The interdisciplinary links are mostly expressed with such branches of law as antimonopoly and corporate law, and it is emphasized that not so many works have been dedicated to special issues of corporate regulation, and therefore the monograph edited by LL.D. V.V. Romanova “Current Problems and Tasks of Corporate Law”, which highlights two problems: legal support of corporate governance in companies with predominant state participation and legal support of combating corporate blackmail, is of great interest. A.G. Lisitsyn-Svetlanov states that during the period of reformation of the Russian legislation in the area of both private and public law, the legal policy was aimed at providing a special status to relations with the state participation. At the same time, the current system of “special regulation” has serious gaps or does not take into account the specific features of relations in certain areas of the economy. This is largely the case with the energy sector. [2] When reviewing the problems of corporate governance in companies with state participation in the energy sector, V.V. Romanova notes that the regulations governing the activities of companies with state participation are not systematized, there are no unified principles of activity of these companies, approaches to evaluation of activity of companies with state participation taking into account the sector profile and the specific features related to it, including the need for proper maintenance of power infrastructure, its modernization, and construction of new infrastructure, have not been developed yet. [3]
3	It seems that the problems related to the legal support of transparency in the activities of the governing bodies of energy companies of the FEC are also of particular relevance.
4	The national security strategy of the Russian Federation, approved by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 683 dd. December 31, 2015, and the Energy Security Doctrine, approved by Decree of the President of the Russian Federation No. 216 dd. May 13, 2019, specify the following as the major threats to the energy sector economy:
5	defaults in payments;
6	corruption;
7	thefts;
8	It should be noted that corruption in the Russian legislation, in addition to passive or active bribery, also means power abuse or any illegal use by an individual of his/her official position in violation of the legitimate interests of the society and the state in order to obtain benefits, which can also be expressed in the form of money, property, and services (Federal Law No. 117-ФЗ dd. December 25, 2008, “On Corruption Combating”).
9	These circumstances can be implemented both through the withdrawal of assets through deliberate and fictitious bankruptcies, as well as by entering into mock transactions, transactions with organizations affiliated to officials, as well as employment contracts with inflated wages.
10	The objectives of this article are: to identify the key problems that arise in conditions of transparency of activities of the governing bodies of the FEC companies; to justify the expediency and necessity of bringing the final beneficiaries of these organizations to subsidiary liability; to develop proposals on enhancement of transparency and efficiency of the governing bodies of the FEC companies.
11	At the moment, the achievement of these goals is one of the most urgent tasks that the state authorities and the energy market face.
12	Regulatory control of enhanced transparency of the activities of the governing bodies of FEC companies undergoes certain changes every year, and the legislative state authorities and parties involved continuously work on its improvement. Thus, according to the original version of Federal Law No. 273-ФЗ “On Corruption Combating” dd. December 25, 2008, the information on income, property and property obligations (hereinafter referred to as the “Income Records”) had to be submitted by citizens who applied for positions of state or municipal service. Subsequently, by the revision of Federal Law No. 329-ФЗ dd. November 21, 2011, clarifications were adopted, and the specified obligation started to be implemented for citizens applying for the following positions: head, deputy head, as well as members of a management board or other collegial executive body at state corporations.

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2. Lisitsyn-Svetlanov A.G. On Trends in the Development of Corporate Regulation in the Russian Federation and Abroad / A.G. Lisitsyn-Svetlanov // Legal Energy Forum. 2020. No. 3. P. 5–6.

3. Romanova V.V. Problems and Tasks of Legal Support of Corporate Governance of Companies with State Participation in the Energy Sector / V.V. Romanova // Legal Energy Forum. 2020. No. 1. P. 8–15.

4. On Implementation of Orders of the Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation No. VP-P13-9308 dd. December 28, 2011 // Electronic Fund of Legal and Normative-Technical Documentation. URL: http:// docs.cntd.ru/document/456091585 (date of access: October 02, 2020).

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7. URL: https://ras.arbitr.ru/.

8. URL: https://ras.arbitr.ru/.