Wage Arrears on Rise, Top $1Bln in March
By Alex Nicholson
Staff Writer After years of decline, wage arrears are on the rise again, hitting $1 billion in March, the Federation of Independent Trade Unions of Russia said Wednesday.
In all, more than 5 million Russians continue to receive their wages late, union president Mikhail Shmakov told reporters, Itar-Tass reported.
Reducing the salary backlog is seen as one of President Vladimir Putin's key achievements, and has contributed to popular perceptions of increasing financial stability in the country. It is also part of the fight against poverty, which has been a rallying call of the new government.
Shmakov said that although the arrears problem is not as acute as it was in the three years after the 1998 financial crisis, it is still a cause of deep concern.
"Wage arrears have begun to stagnate at companies," he was quoted as saying.
Particularly hard-hit were the sectors that take on state contracts, he said.
Last year, he said, wage arrears fell 20 percent to 24.43 billion rubles, but by March they were on the rise again, jumping past the 28 billion ruble mark.
State Duma Deputy Andrei Isayev, who chairs the Labor and Social Policy Committee, said law enforcement should be more aggressive in pursuing managers of enterprises that fail to pay their workers on time.
Isayev cited several successful prosecutions in the regions, including a case in Saratov where five people were charged under the Criminal Code for paying employees late.
Shmakov said unions across the country will call attention to the problem during May 1st demonstrations.
Over 1 million people will be marching under the slogan: "A good wage is the path to defeating poverty," he said.
He said that 25,000 people are expected to participate in Moscow alone.
More than 31 million people are working for wages that are below the official subsistence level of 2,134 rubles per month, Shmakov said.
.................................................
AO MOSENERGO fights non-payments among the population
19.04.2004
AO MOSENERGO focuses on service quality and optimization of sales among the population in the city and Moscow region. Efficient sales contribute to meeting deadlines in preparation for the winter season, maintaining equipment and creating necessary fuel stocks.
The number of «abusive» non-payers in Moscow (those who don't pay for one year and more) is around 4% of total customers. Most debtors among the population (15-18%) pay for electricity quite irregularly - once in several months. In 2003, AO MOSENERGO identified more than 65,000 individuals who had been late to pay for consumed energy. The Company advised all non-payers to pay their debts. In addition, AO MOSENERGO took legal action against non-payers who accumulated debts for more than 1.5 years. The Company filed around 19,000 claims trying to recover more than 53.5 m rubles. AO MOSENERGO also went to the Arbitration court claiming from non-payers more than 1.2 m rubles in back payments.
Low payments among the population result in lack of funds for AO MOSENERGO when it comes to capacity upgrades and annual maintenance. Thus, the irresponsible attitudes on the part of some individuals may harm interests of the whole population in the Moscow region.
In this situation, AO MOSENERGO has to take a tougher stand towards non-payers among the population. The individuals who don't pay for the electricity for a long period of time are cut off from the electricity supply on a temporary basis. In these cases AO MOSENERGO stresses that the cut off is an extreme measure that has to be taken after the failure of all other means. AO MOSENERGO aims to stick to the individual approach through cutting off the electricity in the case of abusive non-payers only.
AO MOSENERGO pays special attention to preventive measures.A temporary cut-off is based on communicating to the client the need of paying the debt. It is introduced as follows:
In case of debts older than one month, AO MOSENERGO reminds the non-payer by phone of the need to pay the debt.
If the debt is not redeemed in two weeks after the warning, the Company mails three notifications, each delivered at two week intervals
If the debt exceeds three months, AO MOSENERGO sends a cut-off notification with the date when electricity supply would be discontinued.
In the first quarter of 2004, AO MOSENERGO found 2,587 customers who failed to pay for electricity. They owed AO MOSENERGO nearly 5 m rubles. Out of those who were warned about a possible cut-off, 61% eventually chose to pay their debts, which points to the efficiency of AO MOSENERGO's efforts.
................................................
OAO DON-stroy continues to ignore AO MOSENERGO’s demands for payment
19.04.2004
OAO DON- stroy continues to violate payment discipline by refusing to pay for supplied heat. As of today, the debts of the construction company reached around 6 mn rubles.
As of late March 2004, DON- stroy’s heating debts exceeded 13 mn rubles. AO MOSENERGO repeatedly tried to reach a settlement on non-payment. However, AO MOSENERGO’s efforts did not bring about tangible results. On April 7, 2004, AO MOSENERGO had to use extreme measures and restricted power supply to the debtor.
As a result, within the next several days DON- stroy paid around 7 mn rubles. However, the management of this construction company sticks to a position that does not help to normalize the situation.
Thus, DON- stroy commented in its press-release that “principal differences” with AO MOSENERGO are caused “only by the issue of heating tariffs.” The construction company believes that it should pay AO MOSENERGO at the same rate set for the population (175 rubles/Gcal VAT inclusive), as it is “an operator that provides services to the population.” In turn, AO MOSENERGO charges DON- stroy on the basis of the signed agreement and rates that were set by the Moscow Regional Energy Commission for residential organizations (383.5 rubles/Gcal VAT inclusive). AO MOSENERGO’s position is confirmed by letters from the Ministry of Finance and the Tax Ministry of the Russian Federation.
Last year, DON- stroy turned to the Anti-Monopoly Ministry to try to challenge heating tariffs charged by AO MOSENERGO. The Ministry supported DON- stroy claims but on February 24, the Moscow Arbitration Court ruled to suspend this decision in the absence of legal grounds for the lighter tariff.
Today, all residential organizations pay for heat 383.5 rubles/Gcal while the rate for the population is 175 rubles/Gcal. The Moscow Government offsets the difference between the tariffs for municipal houses from the city budget. However, the construction and commercial organizations that own residential buildings don’t receive subsidies for heat that is consumed by the population and have to pay for the difference themselves.
AO MOSENERGO supports claims of non-municipal residential organizations and sent a letter to the Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov, asking him to apply heat subsidies to all residential housing in Moscow irrespective of the form of ownership. However, until the issue is officially resolved by the Moscow Government, AO MOSENERGO finds it unacceptable to subsidize a commercial organization and will proceed from the existing requirements. |
