MOSCOW, April 5 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's economics minister said Wednesday that raising tariffs for the services of natural monopoly would fuel inflation.
"[Electricity monopoly UES head Anatoly] Chubais views this as a way to extract money from the population and the government to resolve UES' current problems," German Gref said, commenting on Chubais' proposal to raise electricity tariffs.
"Our function is to maintain macroeconomic stability and protect the interests of Russian consumers," he said, adding that a decision on tariffs would be made "on the balance of these interests."
Gref said an administered tariff increase would be more significant for inflation given the lack of free-market pressure to change them.
He also said monopolies accounted for more than 50% of Russia's economy, and that a tariff increase would cause a crisis in the country in six months.
