PRESS RELEASE*
The following issues are scheduled for discussion at the Government Presidium meeting on July 19, 2010
1. Establishing reasonable charges for the use of federal and municipal land
Under the laws of the Russian Federation land use compensation is in the form of the property tax (local tax) and rent. The tax base is the registered (cadastre) value of the property, which in some cases is also the basis for determining the cost of rent.
The cost of property use is thus determined to a great extent by its cadastre value which has recently increased by tens and even hundreds of times, as revealed by a review of the state cadastre value of land for certain categories of land and its allowed uses in some constituent entities of the Russian Federation and in municipal entities.
At the same time, in setting property tax rates the municipal authorities mainly proceed from the needs of the local budget without taking into account the actual ability of the tax payers to pay the tax. They fix the maximum allowed tax rates which, as a result of a review of the cadastre value, are not always revised downward, and which significantly increases the tax burden.
Various approaches are used in calculating the amount of rent, in particular, the constituent entities of the Russian Federation use various adjustment coefficients which often are already included in the calculated cadastre value. The result is not only substantial differentiation of the amount of rent among various entities of the Russian Federation and municipalities, but a significant increase for tenants in rent and the costs of administering them. The main reason for this is that under current legislation regional and local authorities have the right to independently determine the procedure for calculating rent. And, general parameters for the procedure of determining an amount have not been put into law.
At the same time it should be noted that not all the plots of land in state and municipal ownership are used effectively, resulting in shortfalls in budget revenues of various levels.
Based on the above, measures need to be taken both to improve the state cadastre property assessment and to optimize the existing approach for determining land use compensation and to promote the bringing of this land into the economy.
As a result of the above measures a reasonable level of compensation must be established for the use of land. Land resources should become more accessible, as a result of which the revenues of corresponding budgets will increase and plots of land in state and municipal ownership will be used more effectively.
The implementation of the proposed measures will help create a favourable environment for entrepreneurial activity, make housing more accessible and develop the real sector of the economy, including small and medium-sized enterprises.
2. Draft federal law On Licensing Certain Types of Activities
The draft federal law has been submitted by the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia.
The draft law seeks to improve the system of licensing as a form of state regulation of economic activity in the Russian Federation and to reduce the administrative obstacles to entrepreneurship connected with licensing.
The draft law proposes a new version of federal law No.128-FZ of August 8, 2001 On the Licensing of Certain Types of Activities that unifies and simplifies licensing procedures, introduces licenses for an indefinite term, substantially reduces the list of activities subject to licensing and establishes a uniform procedure for license control.
The draft law spreads the goals and the task of licensing it determines the criteria of identifying types of activities subject to licensing, the concepts and principles of licensing, the powers of licensing agencies, the rights, duties and responsibilities of their officials, and the criteria of establishing licensing requirements to the licensing of the types of activities listed in the draft law and in other federal laws.
The draft law retains a provision to the effect that the procedure of licensing the activities of lending institutions, stock exchange activities, insurance activities, the activities of professional participants in the securities market, the activities of investment and non-government pension funds, the production and sale of ethylated alcohol, alcohol and alcohol-containing products as well as the activities involving the rendering of services in protecting state secrets is determined by the federal laws that regulate the relations in the above spheres of activity.
The licensing of activities in the use of nuclear energy, rendering of communications, television and broadcasting services, private detective activities and private security activities, educational activities which is at present carried out in accordance with the federal laws that regulate relations in the said spheres of activity, are to be included in the draft law and its list of licensed types of activities thus bringing these types of activities under the common licensing procedure. Special features of licensing in these spheres of activity concerning the terms of licenses, the procedure of granting, suspending or resuming licenses may be set by special laws.
The draft law envisages a further reduction in the list of licensed types of activities because other methods of regulation are available.
Among the types of activities for which licensing is to be abolished and a notification-based procedure of the start of entrepreneurial activities is introduced are: medical and pharmaceutical activities (as of January 1, 2013), exhibition and collection of weapons, activities to ensure aviation safety, the production and sale of gaming equipment, customized production of prosthetic and orthopedic equipment, the activities of manufacturing and repairing measuring instruments and the restoration of cultural monuments. There will be no licensing of production and technical maintenance of medical activities, carriage and reloading of water transport cargo because licensing will be replaced by other forms of regulation.
The draft law envisages changes in determining the names of many types of activities subject to licensing to rule out arbitrary interpretation of the content of such services. The name of major spheres of licensed activities (cryptographic activities, protection against unauthorized access to information, production and sale of certain types of products, etc.) indicate the services they consist in, a full list of which will be established by regulations on the licensing of concrete types of activities approved by the Government of the Russian Federation.
Thus, while the overall number of licensed types of activities is reduced, the business entity has a wider choice of services it plans to render when it obtains the license.
The draft law also introduces provisions aimed at improving licensing procedures.
Licenses will be issued for an indefinite period of time, which would make redundant the procedure of extending a license.
The draft law implements the provisions on the protection of the rights of legal persons and individual entrepreneurs in the process of state control (supervision) and municipal control and describes the specificities of license control.
To streamline paperwork in the process of licensing, the draft law determines that from the effective date of the law the license seeker and the licensee will have the right to file with the licensing agency applications and documents for obtaining or renewing a license as well as to receive notifications and other documents that are to be provided under the draft law in electronic form with an electronic digital signature under the procedure established by the Government of the Russian Federation. The electronic procedure of licensing is introduced for licensing agencies.
To ensure timely identification of problems with licensing, the draft law envisages annual monitoring of the effectiveness of the licensing activities of government bodies on the basis of uniform efficiency indicators and methods of calculating them, as established by the Government of the Russian Federation.
3. Draft federal law On Annulment of Paragraph 1, Clause 5, of Clause 7 and Clause 10 of Article 18 of the federal law On the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation
The draft federal law has been submitted by the Federal Migration Service of Russia.
The draft law repeals some provisions of Article 18 of the federal law On the Legal Status of Foreign Citizens in the Russian Federation whereby employers or users of services are to pay for the exit of foreign workers from the Russian Federation and employers or users of services are to be compensated for the advance payments thus made.
One has to bear in mind that the issues of guaranteed provision by employers or customers of financial resources for the exit of foreign citizens they have employed from the Russian Federation are sufficiently regulated by the laws of the Russian Federation, including the provisions of Articles 16 and 31 of the said federal law. The draft law is to improve the legal regulation of the issues of labour migration, preventing legal disputes, creating a favourable environment for the development of economic activity, especially by small and medium-sized enterprises, in particular by removing excessive financial encumbrance in hiring foreign workers.
4. Introducing amendments to the procedure for the creation, operation and use of artificial islands, structures and installations in internal sea waters and in the territorial waters of the Russian Federation and to sub-clause 5.3.13 of the Statute on the Federal Supervisory Service in the Use of Natural Resources.
The draft government resolution on this issue has been submitted by the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia.
Under Federal Law No. 364-FZ of December 27, 2009 On Introducing Amendments to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation the Government of the Russian Federation establishes the procedure for the creation, operation and use of artificial islands, structures and installations in internal sea waters and in the territorial waters of the Russian Federation.
The draft resolution makes Rosprirodnadzor responsible for the issue of permits for the creation, operation and use of artificial islands, structures and installations in internal sea waters and in the territorial waters of the Russian Federation for any purpose. Previously Rosprirodnadzor was authorized to issue such permits only for the purposes of the use of subsoil resources and recreation. Permits for the creation, operation and use of artificial islands, structures and installations in internal sea waters and in the territorial waters of the Russian Federation for the purposes of fish farming, transport, defence, and scientific research were issued by the corresponding federal executive bodies.
The "one-contact" principle as proposed by the draft would remove excessive administrative barriers in this sphere, simplify the procedure of examining requests for such activities and the issue of corresponding permits.
The draft would also introduce an amendment to the Statute on the Federal Supervisory Service in the Sphere of the Use of Natural Resources approved by Resolution No.400 of the Government of the Russian Federation of July 30, 2004 to formulate more clearly the powers of Rosprirodnadzor in issuing permits for the creation, operation and use of artificial islands, structures and installations for any purpose. That would rule out duplication of the functions of federal executive bodies in the issue of such permits.
5. Introducing amendments to the Statute on the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment of the Russian Federation
The draft resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation On Introducing Amendments to the Statute on the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment of the Russian Federation has been submitted by the Ministry of Natural Resources of Russia.
Under the Federal Law On Protected Natural Territories (Article 4) a state cadastre of protected natural territories is to be maintained and the objectives and content of such a cadastre are determined.
Under Government Resolution No. 404 of May 29, 2008 On the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment of the Russian Federation, the said Ministry is the government body responsible for the organization and operation of protected natural territories of federal status and is authorized to adopt the procedure of keeping a state cadastre of protected natural territories, the forms of report documents on protected natural territories and provide methodological guidance on filling them out as well as the procedure for publication of cadastre information.
However, the Statute on the Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment of the Russian Federation does not empower the Ministry to keep the state cadastre of protected natural territories of federal status.
The proposed draft resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation would vest the Ministry of Natural Resources with such authority.
Moscow, July 16, 2010
* Press releases by the Department of Press Service and Information contain the materials submitted by the executive federal bodies for discussion by the Presidium of the Government of the Russian Federation