Rossiiskaya Gazeta reported that it was no secret that the Kyoto Protocol has become a token of a series of interstate economic and political issues that have nothing to do with environment. Certainly, these issues are not mentioned at the top level. Fairly serious demands must be standing behind the ratification. Many experts believe that one of the main trade-off questions is the price of energy on Russia's domestic market. In other words, Russia will ratify the protocol, but the EU, in turn, should not demand that it balance domestic and international prices. This is critical for maintaining Russian enterprises' competitiveness.
According to Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, "the discussion of the Kyoto Protocol has started, and perhaps, the debates in the State Duma will not be so smooth." Supposedly, the discussion will not only be about the simple aspects of the law, as the government expects this discussion to yield specific proposals. According to experts, there is still time to adjust the protocol to Russia's economic conditions. This will concern Russia's prices for gas emission quotas and the development of the legislative base to implement the Kyoto Protocol. It is also important to consider compensation for the damage that the world economy does to Russian forests. According to experts, the main thing is to secure all these amendments during the ratification process, as it will be far more difficult to do after all Russian agencies have approved the document.
