21.   Most will be in Siberia, where the company has a natural monopoly.

22.   Some economists see Microsoft, having come to dominate the software industry through market forces, as perhaps an even more natural monopoly.

23.   The fact is, it is not a natural monopoly.

24.   The telephone business, previously considered a natural monopoly, turned into a fiercely competitive and innovative industry once the century-old walls of government regulation were removed.

25.   Windows is a natural monopoly, so let it be, this argument goes.

26.   With the new competition, it became increasingly clear that the provision of electricity was no more a natural monopoly than were railroads, or airlines, or telephones.

27.   However, Repsol-YPF and the utilities could suffer losses if the government goes ahead with expected price ceilings on basic goods and services from natural monopolies.

28.   Several issues remain unresolved, including regulation of prices of natural monopolies and the need to increase the proportion of cash payments for electricity and gas services.

29.   The Duma last Friday adopted an appeal to President Boris Yeltsin to abandon plans for restructuring such natural monopolies as Gazprom, Unified Energy Systems and the Railways Ministry.

30.   The government also plans to substantially tighten regulations of state-controlled natural monopolies, such as electricity, natural gas and railways.