Events

 
 
 

Background material for the February 7, 2013 Government meeting

 
 
 

The following issues are scheduled for discussion at the Government meeting on February 7, 2013:

1. Federal Property Management draft state programme and measures to ensure more cost-effective federal property management

The state programme will ensure economic growth and restructuring. The relevant changes stipulated by the programme will make it possible to expedite the transfer to socially-oriented innovation development, and to strengthen the position of Russian companies on global high-tech markets.

2. Draft federal law On Amending the federal law On Civil Status Acts

Under the draft law, offices of vital recordsshall transfer data regarding state birth registration to the territorial divisions of the federal agency implementing the relevant state policy in migration and enforcing the relevant legislation. At the same time, registry offices shall transfer functions as regards the control, oversight and rendering of state services in migration to the relevant territorial divisions of the Pension Fund and to territorial mandatory medical insurance funds.

These changes will make it possible to oversee the timely registration of newborns at the place of residence of their legal representatives, to issue individual account numbers to every newborn and to rule out violations of the provisions of the Federal Law on Mandatory Medical Insurance during healthcare payments due after state birth registration.

3. Draft federal law On Amending Articles 4 and 41 of the Federal Law On State Benefits for People with Children

The draft federal law proposes amending Articles 4 and 41 of the federal law. Under these amendments, federal powers as regards the payment of state benefits shall be transferred to the regional authorities from 2014. At the same time, Russian regions shall receive subventions for exercising this authority. This will make it possible to bring the relevant procedure for financing these payments in conformity with the Budget Code. Considering that these are not insurance premiums, the Social Insurance Fund shall be exempted from this uncharacteristic function.

The draft federal law's approval will not require additional federal budget allocations.

4. Draft federal law On Amending Chapters 21 and 25 of Part Two of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation

The draft law proposes that insurance payments received by the insurant in line with contracts insuring the possible failure to honour contractual obligations by the partner of the creditor’s insurer should not be included in the VAT applicable base if the specific contractual obligations insured stipulate the delivery of products, works and services by the insurer in line with 0% tax rates, as stipulated by Paragraph 1 of Article 164 of the Tax Code. Currently, this clause is only applied to export-oriented products, on which 0% tax is charged, under the provisions of the code's Article 162.

The draft law also proposes including companies that render services and conduct operations in the insurance, co-insurance and reinsurance of export loans and investment from entrepreneurial and/or political risks, and that do not obtain licences in line with the federal law On Bank Development, in the list of taxpayers that do not have to compile invoices during operations exempted from VAT payments.

The draft law outlines how to calculate incomes and expenditures as far as corporate profit tax is concerned for these companies. For instance, the sum total of insurance premiums and contributions that have been transferred for reinsurance purposes in line with reinsurance risks and under reinsurance contracts signed with Russian and foreign reinsurers and other companies with the right to sign reinsurance contracts, as well as deductions to reserve insurance funds established in line with the procedure approved by the Government, shall be included in these companies' expenditures.

5. Draft federal law On Annulling Specific Provisions of the Taxation Legislation of the Russian Federation

The draft law calls for reinstating VAT payments during the sale of corporate products for the purpose of making payments in kind, issuing products in kind, and feeding agricultural workers at public catering facilities. This provision applies to agricultural producers, whose specific agricultural-product sales proceeds account for no less than 70% of their total incomes.

6. Draft federal law On Annulling Part 17 of Article 11 of the Federal Law On Banks and Banking Under Part 17 of Article 11 of the Federal Law On Banks and Banking, bank founders have no right to withdraw from the list of their shareholders within the first three years of the day of the registration of the bank. Draft federal law  lifts this ban.

The introduction of this restriction during the establishment of the national banking system was motivated by the need to create more reliable conditions for the activities of banks as special companies guaranteeing the interests of a large number of clients, to increase the responsibility of bank founders, and to ensure their interest in obtaining economic benefits from long-term banking operations.

This provision has now become irrelevant and formal because it does not prohibit founders from minimising their stakes throughout the duration of the restriction. At the same time, this provision only applies to investors involved in the establishment of a bank, without taking into account cases when bank ownership is changed

It should also be noted that the introduction of this amendment is motivated by Russia's position during its negotiations to join the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

7. Draft federal law On Amending the Federal Law On Communications

This draft federal law authorises the Government to provide for protection according to international law while allocating radio frequencies for radio-electronic systems of radio communications networks, including requests for these radio frequencies, their coordination and registration, and the relevant locations of geostationary satellites, at the International Telecommunications Union. Moreover, this document empowers the Government to stipulate the relevant procedure for using foreign satellite networks and communications networks in the Russian Federation. This will make it possible to protect national interests in the sphere of security and to integrate the Russian Federation into the international telecommunications network.

Moreover, the submitted draft law makes it possible to eliminate legal loopholes and discrepancies in this sphere, while taking due consideration of the international treaties and agreements of the Russian Federation, as well as in line with the Constitution and Convention of the International Telecommunications Union.

8. Draft federal law On Amending Article 23 of the Federal Law On Military Duty and Military Service

The draft federal law proposes retaining military service exemption for individuals who have completed their military service in another state, but only in those specific cases that are stipulated by international treaties and agreements.

The relevant agreement was signed with the Republic of Tajikistan on September 7, 1995 and with Turkmenistan on December 23, 1993.

9.  Draft federal law On Amending Article 3 of the Federal Law On the Anti-Corruption Expert Examinations of Legal Regulatory Acts and Their Drafts

The Federal Law On the Anti-Corruption Expert Examinations of Legal Regulatory Acts and Their Drafts authorises the Ministry of Justice to conduct anti-corruption expert examinations of draft federal laws, draft Presidential executive orders and draft Government resolutions, as well as draft concepts and requests to draft federal laws and draft Government amendments to draft  federal laws.

The draft federal law proposes omitting draft concepts and requests to draft federal laws from the list of documents subjected to anti-corruption expert examinations because these documents do not contain legal provisions. This will make it possible to improve the procedure of anti-corruption expert examinations and to reduce the number of comments prepared by the Ministry of Justice.

10. Draft federal law On Amending Article 35 of the Federal Law On the Main Guarantees of the Election Rights of Russian Citizens and Their Right to Take Part in Referendums

The draft federal law proposes amending Article 35 of the federal law On the Main Guarantees of the Election Rights of Russian Citizens and Their Right to Take Part in Referendums. Under the draft law, federal executive agencies authorised to register public associations and political parties, as well as the territorial divisions of these federal agencies, should be allowed to post the lists of election blocs and associations online, without their mandatory publication in state or municipal printed periodicals.

The relevant procedure and deadlines for publishing the lists of election associations during elections to federal institutions of state authority shall be retained in line with specific provisions stipulated by the federal laws On Elections of the President of the Russian Federation and On Elections of Deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

11. Draft federal law On Amending Articles 32 and 152 of the Criminal Proceedings Code of the Russian Federation

The approval of this draft federal law will make it possible to bring the provisions of the Criminal Proceedings Code on defining the jurisdiction of private prosecution criminal cases as regards crimes committed by Russian citizens with regard to other Russian citizens outside the country in conformity with the legal position expressed by Constitutional Court Resolution No 22-P dated October 16, 2012 and to defend the constitutional rights of Russian citizens in court.

12. Draft federal law On Amending the Federal Law On Private Farm Holdings

Under the draft law, when the head of a private farm requests a land plot for farming activity from an executive agency or a local government, then he or she shall submit a document confirming the registration of the relevant private farm in line with the established legal procedure.

The draft law also allows individuals wishing to become private farmers to request land plots with the required specifications from executive state agencies or local governments. At the same time, land plots with the required specifications are allotted to the above-mentioned individuals in line with the procedure stipulated by the Land Code.

13. Draft federal law On Amending the Federal Law On the Public Civil Service in the Russian Federation

The draft law proposes standard requirements and conditions for creating a HR reserve in the Government service sphere.

The draft federal law proposes omitting provisions from the federal law On Public Civil Service in the Russian Federation that state expressly that HR reserve members are also public servants.

The draft law proposes omitting the federal law provision on holding a competition to appoint a civil servant to a civil public position from the HR reserve formed on a non-competitive basis. These amendments and editorial changes are linked with efforts to improve the certification mechanism as a legal ground for including civil officials in the HR reserve to fill in vacant civil service positions in their promotion.

Efforts to monitor the federal law by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security show that the relevant mechanism for terminating service contracts with the inclusion of civil public servants in the HR reserve is not used in reality. In this regard, the draft federal law proposes omitting the relevant provision as regards the termination of service contracts due to force majeure circumstances.

It is also proposed to declare null and void specific provisions making it possible to discipline civil servants, to dismiss them from their positions and to include them in the HR reserve to fill a vacant public service position on a competitive basis.

The new version of the federal law On the Public Civil Service in the Russian Federation makes it possible to include individuals in the HR reserve as a result of competitions and certification procedures by way of promotion.

14. Draft federal law On the Ratification of the Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Federal Council of the Swiss Confederation on the Mutual Recognition of Official Trademarks on Products of the Clock and Watch Industry Made Using Precious Metals

The agreement stipulates an equal amount of rights and obligations for either Party. For instance, the agreement states expressly that products of the clock and watch industry that have been made using precious metals shall be stamped with the manufacturer’s trademark and the official trademark of the Russian Federation or the Swiss Confederation. The relevant official trademark shall include the relevant hallmark standards. The relevant products shall not be assayed, analysed or stamped in the Russian Federation or the Swiss Confederation provided that these products meet the provisions of Swiss and Russian legislation and those of this Agreement.

Imported products of the clock and watch industry, which have been made using precious metals, and which lack official trademarks, manufacturers’ trademarks and/or legally stipulated hallmark standards, as well as those having stamps, which do not coincide with the samples, sketches and descriptions, which have been received by the concerned agency, and/or which have negative actual-hallmark deviations from legally stipulated hallmark standards, shall be returned to the bearer with a detailed description of the reasons for their return.

15. Amending the Projected Federal Property Privatisation Plan and the Federal Property Privatisation Guidelines in 2011-2013

The draft directive calls for excluding the federal-owned shares of the Pskovavia company from the Projected Privatisation Plan for the purpose of their subsequent transfer to the property of the Pskov Region.

The administration guarantees that investments worth at least 480 million roubles shall be attracted to the comprehensive reconstruction and modernisation of the property of the Pskovavia company and the development of the infrastructure of the Pskov airport in line with public-private partnership terms, provided that 100% of the Pskovavia shares are excluded from the Projected Privatisation Plan, and provided that a decision is made to transfer them to the state property of the Pskov Region. Moscow

February 6, 2013

Press releases by the Department of Press Service and Information are based on the materials submitted by the executive federal agencies for discussion by the Government meeting.

Адрес страницы в сети интернет: http://archive.government.ru/eng/docs/22688/