THE INFLUENCE OF PUBLIC AND MUNICIPAL MANAGEMENT "PRIVATIZATION" ON THE QUALITY OF PUBLIC SERVICES (EXEMPLIFIED BY THE UTILITIES SECTOR)

Abstract

The article considers the possible squeezing of state and municipal enterprises out of the sector of providing public services to consumers and the transfer of public property to private investors through concession agreements. The aim of the research is to study the causes and consequences of the transfer of public and municipal property used for providing services in the field of public utilities through concession agreements. Forecasting the possibility of infrastructural renewal in the Russian utility sector with reducing the state and municipal unitary enterprises and increasing number of private providers of public services. The requirements of the sectoral legislation on heat and water supply, as well as best practices of concessions in the municipal sphere are analyzed with formal logical and statistical methods. The result of the research the existing practice of concession agreements in the municipal sphere cannot be unequivocally considered as having real positive effects, which would express in improving the quality and reliability of public services. Moreover, currently, there are almost no economic incentives or legal regulations contributing to the modernization of municipal infrastructure transferred to private investors. It seems preferable to choose models that do not require public authority delegation to individuals, but rather a symbiosis of public and corporate governance, involving individuals in exercising public authority, preserving the property ownership with the public entity and also bearing the responsibility for violations committed while exercising authority.