PRESS RELEASE *
The following issues are scheduled for discussion at the Government Presidium meeting on March 31, 2011
1. Amend Russian legislation on the procurement of goods, services and work performance for federal and municipal needs.
2. National metrology oversight
3. Draft federal law On Changes to Articles 4 and 57 of the Federal Law On the Central Bank of the Russian Federation (Bank of Russia) and Article 2 of the Federal Law On Official Statistical Recording and National Statistical System in the Russian Federation
This draft federal law has been submitted by the Ministry of Finance.
This law is designed to improve the Russian national accounts system.
The System of National Accounts (SNA) adopted by the United Nations Statistical Commission and other international agencies is an internationally agreed upon standard set for accounts describing the status and flow of all available resources. The current Russian SNA is limited to accounts that layout the flow of products and expenses. The indicators monitoring changes in financial assets or liabilities are not laid out in full for the purposes of the SNA financial account. Therefore, the task of assessing the amount and structure of a country’s financial resources or changes in their value adjusted for inflation and other variables becomes unfeasible. There are no indicators that would provide an all-encompassing tracking tool for monitoring the economic and financial condition of Russia or the behavior of residents of Russia’s economy.
As an aspiring member of several international organizations, including the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Russia is obliged to make available a certain set of statistical information, particularly financial accounting information.
Pursuant to a Federal Service for State Statistics (Rosstat) statute, Rosstat shall develop and approve the official statistical methods to conduct federal statistical monitoring and to compile official statistical information; secure compliance of the above methods with international standards and official statistical principles.
The preliminary analysis of the availability of information database shows that most of the information resources needed for building a financial accounting record are held by the Bank of Russia. According to international practice, national banks are generally responsible to generate such an account report.
Therefore, the draft federal law provides the Bank of Russia with the authority to participate in and facilitate the development of methods for compiling Russia’s financial account for further inclusion in the system of national accounts (SNA).
4. Draft federal law On Changes to Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation Related to the Definition of the Term “Small Vessel”
This draft federal law has been submitted by the Ministry of Transport.
This draft law seeks to amend the Inland Water Transport Code, Merchant Shipping Code, Tax Code and the Russian Code of Administrative Offences in order to standardize the use of the term “small vessel.”
Existing regulations fail to provide the universal definition of the term “small vessel.” The Tax Code calculations of the federal certification fee to be paid by operators of small vessels include many other terms in addition to the “small vessel,” such as pleasure boats, sailing boats, power boats, motor boats, un-powered vessels, etc. At the same time, the definition of a “small vessel” in the Russian Code of Administrative Offences is based on the provisions of the Merchant Shipping Code and Inland Water Transport Code, which define small vessels as self-propelled with a main engine capacity not exceeding 55 kW, and non-powered vessels with a tonnage below 80 metric tonnes.
This definition of a small vessel is based on the navigation procedures for inland waterways of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). These rules define a small vessel as any vessel with the hull under 20 meters long, except vessels built or equipped for towing, pushing or towing alongside vessels that are other than small vessels; vessels with a passenger capacity over 12; and ferry boats.
Another goal of this draft law is to define government agency authority with regard to inland water transportation and charge the Russian federal executive body that monitors and administers water transportation as well as the technical oversight and vessel classification bodies with the following tasks: Registration; safe vessel operation; technical oversight and vessel classification, including small vessels built or equipped for fishing, transport, towing or prospecting, exploration and development of mineral resources; construction, hydroengineering and other similar work; piloting and icebreaker assistance; and protection of water facilities against pollution and littering.
Pursuant to this draft law, a duly authorized federal executive body will be in charge of the official registration, oversight of safe operation of small vessels and technical oversight and small vessel classification, except small vessels built or equipped for fishing, transport, towing or prospecting, exploration and development of mineral resources; construction, hydroengineering and other similar work; piloting and icebreaker assistance; and protection of water facilities against pollution and littering. The Russian government resolution charged the State Inspectorate for Small Vessels at the Russian Emergencies Ministry with performing these functions.
5. Draft federal law On Ratification of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants
This draft federal law has been submitted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.
The Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants was signed on behalf of the Russian Federation on May 22, 2002, but hasn’t been ratified so far.
The Convention, subject to ratification, is designed to reduce the use of and production of and eventually fully ban the chemical substances that are persistent organic pollutants and are listed in the addendum to the Convention.
Persistent organic pollutants are widely used in industry and are either by-products of the manufacturing processes or products themselves, such as pesticides, etc. Such pollutants are hazardous, resistant to degradation, bioaccumulative and are subjects of transboundary transport by air, water or migrating species of fish, animals and birds. They tend to accumulate in the ecosystems and cause significant adverse effects in humans and in the environment.
The Convention bans the use of a number of chemicals such as Aldrin, Dieldrine, Chlordane, Endrin, Heptachlor, Hexachlorobenzene, Mirex, Toxaphene, and PCBs (Polychlorinated Biphenyls); the use of Dichlorodiphenyl Trichloroethane (DDT) is restricted.
The Convention is subject to ratification by virtue of subparagraph “a,” paragraph 1, article 15 of the Federal Law On International Treaties of the Russian Federation.
6. Changes to and voidance of certain legislative acts by the government of the Russian Federation on improving targeted planning in federal executive bodies
This draft law has been submitted by the Ministry of Economic Development.
This draft law proposes to approve the revised wording of the Statute for reports on results and key areas of activities conducted by budget planning entities in order to simplify the presentation procedure for the report on results and key areas of activities and its integration with government programmes under development, as well as exclusion of the provisions on the preparation of a summary report on results and key areas of government activity.
In this connection, it is proposed to amend the standard regulations governing the internal setup of the federal executive bodies in order to establish mandatory consideration of the report on results and key areas of activities at the end-of-year session of the federal executive body’s collegium. Other proposals include amending the Statute on the Ministry of Economic Development in order to remove its authority during preparation of the draft summary report on results and key areas of government activity.
Revision of the Statute for reports on results and key areas of activities conducted by budget planning entities is driven by the need to exclude the duplication of information contained in the reports on results and key areas of activity conducted by budget planning entities and information contained in the reports prepared for the end-of-year session of the federal executive body’s collegium, integrate both documents and improve the strategic planning quality at the institutional level, with the transition to the development of national programmes taken into account.
Therefore, the draft resolution seeks to transform and simplify the report presentation, namely, to cut the number of steps involved in its preparation and greatly reduce the number and volume of attachments featuring support information.
7. Changes to the legislative acts by the government of the Russian Federation related to the procedure governing the establishment and use of the railway rights-of-way and protected areas
This draft resolution has been submitted by the Ministry of Economic Development.
Pursuant to paragraph 2, article 90 of the Land Code, vacant plots of land located along a railway right-of-way may be transferred to individuals or corporations for agricultural use, provision of services to railway customers, building warehouses, loading docks, off-track warehouses (except fuel and lubricant warehouses, gas stations of any type, or hazmat warehouses), or other purposes, when they meet traffic safety requirements. However, according to the rules governing the use of these plots of land, the latter can be used only for the purposes of placing and operating of railway transport facilities.
This proposal calls for amending the rules governing the use of plots of land and rules governing the establishment of railway rights-of-way, making it possible to build non-railway-related facilities on the plots of land within the limits set forth by the Land Code.
Subject to part 4, article 36 of the Urban Development Code, the urban development regulations do not apply to plots of land under transport, communications or utilities lines. Subject to part 7, article 36 of the Urban Development Code, the use of the plots of land that are exempt from the provisions of the urban regulations or not regulated at all shall be determined, inter alia, by the duly authorized federal executive body. The duly authorized federal executive body that would have authority over such plots of land remains to be determined. The draft resolution provides for assigning such authority to the Federal Agency for Rail Transport (Roszheldor), which is a federal executive body implementing government policy, providing public services and managing state property in the area of railway transport.
8. Changes to the Statute on the Russian Ministry of Economic Development
This draft resolution has been submitted by the Ministry of Economic Development.
This draft seeks to implement the provisions of the federal law On Non-Profit Organisations introduced by the federal law On Amending Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation Related to the Support of Socially-Oriented Non-Profit Organisations. The draft is designed to identify the authorized federal executive body that would establish the procedure for the maintenance of the register of socially-oriented non-profit organizations – recipients of the support, safekeeping of the documents provided by them, requirements for technical, software, linguistic, legal and organizational tools supporting the use of the above resources.
9. Changes to the Statute on the Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology
This draft resolution has been submitted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
This resolution was drafted in pursuance of the Customs Union Commission’s Decision On Technical Regulations in the Customs Union.
The above Commission’s decision approved the regulations on the procedure for entering the certification agencies and test laboratories (centres) into the Consolidated register of certification agencies and test laboratories (centres) of the Customs Union, as well as the development and maintenance, and Regulations governing the procedure for development and maintenance of the Consolidated register of issued compliance certificates and registered compliance declarations completed according to a single standard. Subject to the above documents, the responsibility for the development and maintenance of the national part of the Consolidated register of certification agencies and test laboratories (centres) of the Customs Union and the national section of the Consolidated register of issued compliance certificates and registered compliance declarations completed according to a single standard, should lie with the duly authorized agency of the member country of the Customs Union.
Pursuant to the government resolution On Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology, the latter maintains, inter alia, the single information system for technical regulation; a register of compliance declarations; the consolidated register of issued certificates; and the national register of accredited organizations engaged in product compliance evaluation.
Pursuant to the above, it seems expedient to assign a similar authority as exercised by the Customs Union to the Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology.
10. Approval of the Statute on the Coordination Council for Improving the Transport System in St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region
This draft resolution has been submitted by the Ministry of Transport.
St Petersburg is Russia’s second-largest economic, transport, and logistical hub that handles about 20% of all foreign trade and transit cargo in Russia. The St Petersburg transportation industry includes all types of transportation facilities. The number of vehicle owners increases by 5% - 7% each year. Today, there are over 1.7 million cars and 120,000 lorries in St Petersburg.
The St Petersburg transportation hub is critical to proper functioning of the federal and regional motor road network and integrates significant internal, external and transit passenger and cargo traffic.
The St Petersburg municipal authorities, government of the Leningrad Region, and the Federal Road Agency are taking certain measures to improve traffic conditions. In order to secure concerted efforts by the federal executive bodies and the St Petersburg and Leningrad Region executive bodies in the area of improving the St Petersburg transportation hub infrastructure, the Russian President directed the consideration of establishing a special coordination council. The council will comprise members representing the Transport Ministry, Interior Ministry, Regional Development Ministry, Finance Ministry, Emergencies Ministry, Federal Customs Service, Federal Agency for the Development of State Border Infrastructure, St Petersburg government, government agencies and institutions, public, scientific and other organizations.
11. Progress in the expert analysis of the Russian socio-economic strategy until 2020
Moscow,
March 30, 2011
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.
