A new system to control the power engineering industry will be created in Belarus, Belarusian Energy Minister Vladimir Potupchik told BelTA in an interview.

The official said: “Belarus has undertaken to synchronize all the approaches in power engineering industry as part of the efforts to create a common electricity market in the Eurasian Economic Union. Belarus has also undertaken to do the work that our partners in the EAEU did much earlier. I am talking about separating electricity generation into competitive businesses and monopolies, the creation of the relevant wholesale market and retail market structures, and a new system to manage the country's energy industry as a whole.”

This work will be done within the framework of the law on electrical energy industry. The relevant bill has been drafted, public hearings have been held. The Council of Ministers is now perusing the document.

At present the Belarusian power engineering industry comprises the vertically oriented national electrical company Belenergo and local power plants, which do not belong to the company. The industry will be transformed into a two-tier electricity market — a wholesale one and a retail one — where commercial entities will operate — electricity producers, a power grid operator, a managing company to operate the wholesale electricity market and the retail electricity market, and municipal electricity suppliers. The separation of the constituent units will allow enabling transparent conditions for the development of competition among producers. It will allow consistently advancing the efforts meant to improve relations in the area of electrical energy.