Ordinary russians Will Pay the North Caucasus’ Debts for Electricity Theft

russian authorities are preparing to raise electricity tariffs across the country in order to plug the financial hole in the North Caucasus’ energy system, where mass non-payments and electricity theft have been draining the state budget for years. This move will turn regional problems into a national burden, forcing ordinary russians – as the titular nation – to pay for someone else’s debts out of their own pockets, while the Caucasian republics continue to systematically steal from the entire federation.

The debt of guaranteed suppliers in the North Caucasus has reached 63.8 billion rubles, which is about 90 % of the total amount of electricity debts throughout russia. Local energy distribution companies are unable to collect payments from end consumers, while  “commercial” losses – de facto direct theft of kilowatt-hours – have reached absurd proportions. In the first seven months of this year, this figure was 47.95 % in Dagestan and 54.18 % in Ingushetia, turning the network into a veritable black market where electricity disappears without a trace and bills remain unpaid.

The kremlin has ultimately given in on the impossible task of collecting payments: subsidies for losses in the Caucasus will be paid for by the entire country. Last year, the total loss of the North Caucasus energy system amounted to 21 billion rubles, despite the existing compensation mechanisms, and without radical reform, this “hole” will only grow, absorbing the resources of other regions.

As a result, the tariff increase is not just a price adjustment, but a hidden transfer: russians from central and eastern provinces, who conscientiously pay for electricity, will finance the chaos in the Caucasus, where theft has become the norm. This model not only threatens the stability of the energy sector, but also undermines confidence in the federal center, which chooses collective sacrifice over real reforms.