PRESS RELEASE*

The Presidium of the Government of the Russian Federation at its meeting on September 2, 2010, adopted the following decisions on the items on its agenda:

I. The state of competition in the Russian Federation

Reports by the Ministry of Economic Development and the Federal Antimonopoly Service on this issue were examined at the meeting. The Government of the Russian Federation instructed the Ministry of Economic Development, the Federal Antimonopoly Service and the relevant federal and local executive agencies to take additional measures to implement the provisions set out in the Competitiveness Improvement Programme, in particular:

-     the development of the national system of evaluation of competitiveness and its implementation   on the basis of the annual monitoring of the competitive environment in the Russian Federation;

-     the development of regional competitiveness improvement programmes and the evaluation of the            efficiency of regional competition policy;

-     the introduction of a system evaluating the impact made by regulatory acts over the current        competitive environment.

The results should be reported before December 15, 2010, in accordance with the established procedure:

The following orders were also made:

• The Ministry of Economic Development and the Federal Antimonopoly Service shall develop the draft regulatory acts for the 2009-2012 Competitiveness Improvement Programme and submit them before December 1, 2010, to the Government of the Russian Federation in accordance with the prescribed procedure, in particular:

- the improvement of the laws on antimonopoly and natural monopolies;

- the definition of the rules for free access to services provided by natural monopoly entities;

- the establishment of standards for information disclosure by natural monopoly entities.

• The Ministry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Energy, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Regional Development, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Healthcare and Social Development, Ministry of Communications and Mass Media, Ministry of Education and Science and the Federal Antimonopoly Service shall prepare proposals on high-priority measures to improve competitiveness in corresponding areas with regard to the previously issued directives and send them to the Ministry of Economic Development in three weeks.
• The Ministry of Economic Development shall compile the proposals made on the basis of the priority industries and markets and report the results to the Government of the Russian Federation before October 15, 2010.
• The Federal Antimonopoly Service and the Ministry of Economic Development shall finalise the report on the current competitive environment in the Russian Federation with regard to the discussion that has been held. The final report must also take into special consideration the additional analysis of the current state of competition on the gas market, in housing and public services, the construction industry and on the market for basic food products (including wheat, bread, baked goods, grains, sunflower oil, juices and meat). The finalised report shall be posted on the official web site of the Federal Antimonopoly Service before October 1, 2010, and the results should be reported to the Government of the Russian Federation.
• The heads of local executive agencies shall pay special attention to creating conditions for improving competitiveness on agricultural markets when preparing regional competitiveness improvement programmes.

II. The implementation of the federal budget in the first half of 2010

The government studied the report made by the Ministry of Finance on this issue, approved the report on the implementation of the federal budget in the first half of 2010 and instructed that it be submitted to the State Duma, the Federation Council and the Accounts Chamber.

III. The amendment to the technical statute on the safety of wheeled vehicles

The Government of the Russian Federation approved the draft resolution on this issue.

IV. The approval of the Rules for Development and Implementation of the Federal Targeted Investment Programme

The Government of the Russian Federation approved the draft resolution on this issue.

V. Draft federal law on Amending Particular Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation (regarding the application of the notification requirements when crossing the state border of the Russian Federation by fishing vessels)

The Government of the Russian Federation approved the draft federal law on Amending Particular Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation with regard to the discussion held and instructed that it be submitted to the State Duma in accordance with the prescribed procedure.

VI. Draft federal law on Amending Particular Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation (regarding the transportation of precious metals and gem stones between the Customs Union and third countries)

The Government of the Russian Federation approved the draft federal law on Amending Particular Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation with regard to the discussion held and instructed that it be submitted to the State Duma in accordance with the prescribed procedure.

VII. Change in the number of external bond loans issued by the Russian Federation in 2010

The Government of the Russian Federation adopted the draft executive order on this issue.

VIII. Change in the number of state securities issued with a nominal value expressed in Russian roubles in 2010

The Government of the Russian Federation adopted the draft executive order on this issue.

IX. Providing financial aid to the Republic of Kyrgyzstan

The Government of the Russian Federation adopted the draft executive order on this issue.

X. Participation of the Russian Federation in financing the Global Environment Facility

The Government of the Russian Federation adopted the draft executive order on this issue with regard to the discussion held.

Moscow,

September 14, 2010

* Decisions on the items on the agenda are made with due account of the remarks and proposals expressed at the Government meeting and are issued as official documents of the Government.