NOVO-OGARYOVO (Moscow Region), October 19 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's president urged the Cabinet Thursday to draw up a comprehensive energy sector development program that would diversify sources of energy and provide equal access to fuel for all economic operators.
"We cannot make the entire national economy work on just one fuel - natural gas," Vladimir Putin said. "This is inadmissible, if only from the point of view of national security."
The president said the government should ensure production capacity is evenly developed all over Russia by providing "equal access to energy for all economic operators throughout the country's territory."
He proposed offering privileged prices for energy supplies to certain sparsely populated regions, from which people have moved out, partly due to the higher-than-average rates.
"We should consider privileged terms for certain territories if we want to develop them, sustaining Russia's presence there in the long term."
