9 february 2013

Government decisions adopted at the February 7, 2013 meeting

The following decisions were adopted at the February 7, 2013 Government meeting.

1. Federal Property Management draft state programme of the Russian Federation, Management of and measures aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of federal property management

The implementation of the state programme will promote growth and structural changes within the Russian economy. The changes envisaged by the state programme will speed up the transition to innovation-driven, socially oriented development and strengthen the positions of Russian companies on the world high technology markets.

Government decision:  

  1. To approve the Federal Property Management draft state programme of the Russian Federation.
  2. The Ministry of Economic Development (Andrei Belousov) shall develop and approve before September 1, 2013 methodological recommendations for determining the designated use of federal property for the economic management or operational management of corresponding organisations.

The federal executive bodies, taking into account the methodological recommendations referred to above, shall before January 1, 2015 determine the targeted use of federal property for the economic management or operational management of the corresponding organisations within their jurisdiction.

The Ministry of Economic Development (Andrei Belousov), based on the results of accomplished work, shall submit to the Government of the Russian Federation, under the established procedure, proposals on corrections of the forecast plan (programme) of privatisation of federal property for the corresponding period.

  1. The Ministry of Culture (Vladimir Medinsky), jointly with the Ministry of Economic Development, shall additionally study the issue of the use and protection of historic and cultural monuments that are federal property and, if necessary, submit corresponding proposals to the Government of the Russian Federation under the established procedure.

2. Draft federal law On Introducing Amendments to the Federal Law On Civil Status Acts

The draft law provides for the transfer, by offices of vital records, of information on state registration of births to the territorial federal executive body responsible for implementing state policy in the sphere of migration, and for performing law enforcement functions, control functions, supervision and delivery of state services in the sphere of migration, to the territorial body of the Pension Fund and to the territorial Mandatory Medical Insurance Fund.

The above changes would make it possible to monitor the timely registration of newborn children in the place of residence of their legal representatives, to provide each person from birth an insurance number of an individual personal account and to eliminate violations of the provisions of the federal law On Mandatory Medical Insurance in the Russian Federation when paying for medical assistance to children after state registration of birth.

Government decision:  

To approve the draft federal law On Introducing Amendments to the Federal Law On Civil Status Acts and to submit it to the State Duma according to the established procedure.

3. Draft federal law On Introducing Amendments to Articles 4 and 41 of the Federal Law On State Benefits for Citizens with Children

The draft law would introduce amendments to Articles 4 and 41 of the federal law, whereby beginning from 2014 the power of the Russian Federation to pay state allowances would be transferred to the state bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, with the regions receiving subventions for the implementation thereof. This would harmonise the procedure of financing the above payments with the Budget Code of the Russian Federation and, considering that such payments are not connected with insurance, relieve the Social Insurance Fund of the Russian Federation of a function that is uncharacteristic for its scope of  functions. The adoption of the law would not require any additional allocations from the federal budget.

Government decision:  

To approve the draft federal law On Introducing Amendments to Articles 4 and 4 1 of the Federal Law On State Benefits for Citizens with Children and to submit it to the State Duma according to the established procedure.

 

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 not to include, in the tax base for value-added tax, insurance premiums received by the insurer under agreements to insure the risk of failing to carry out contractual obligations by the partner of the creditor’s insurer if the insured contractual obligations envisage the delivery by the insurer of goods (services) taxed at 0% rate under clause 1, Article 164 of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation. At present this provision, in accordance with Article 162 of the Code, is applied only to export goods taxed at a 0% rate.

The draft law would also include, in the list of tax payers who do not present invoices on operations relieved of value-added tax, organisations that render services (engage in activities) of insurance, co-insurance and re-insurance of export credits and investments against entrepreneurial and/or political risks without obtaining permission (a license) in accordance with the federal law On Bank for Development.

The draft law sets forth the special features of determining income and expenditures for the purpose of determining profit tax for organisations of the above organisation.  In particular expenditures include the sums of insurance premiums against risks transferred for reinsurance in accordance with reinsurance contracts concluded with Russian and foreign reinsurers and other organisations that have the right to conclude a reinsurance contract, as well as the sums of deductions to insurance reserves formed under a procedure established by the Government.

Government decision:  

To approve the draft federal law On Introducing Amendments to Chapters 21 and 25, Part Two of the Tax Code of the Russian Federation and to submit it to the State Duma according to the established procedure.

5. Draft federal law On Declaring Null and Void Specific Provisions of the Taxation Legislation of the Russian Federation The draft law would lift the exemption from value-added tax of operations selling one’s own products as remuneration in kind, the issue of remuneration in kind as well as public catering for agricultural workers.

At present this provision applies to organisations that produce agricultural produce in whose total revenues the proceeds from the sale of such products account for not less than 70%.

Government decision:  

To approve the draft federal law On Declaring Null and Void Specific Provisions of the Taxation Legislation of the Russian Federation and submit it to the State Duma according to the established procedure.

6. Draft federal law On Declaring Null and Void Part 17, Article 11 of the Federal Law on Banks and Banking

In accordance with part 17, Article 11 of the Federal Law On Banks and Banking the founders of a bank have no right to withdraw from the group of participants during the first three years after the bank’s registration. The draft law would lift this ban.

The introduction of this restriction at a time when the banking system of the Russian Federation was being created was prompted by the need to provide safer conditions for the activities of a bank as a special organisation that caters to the interests of a large number of clients, enhances the responsibility of its founders and ensures that they are interested in deriving economic benefits from the functioning of the bank in the longer term.

Under present-day conditions, this provision has become irrelevant and is purely formal in nature, as it does not forbid, during the effective term of the restriction, diminishing the founder’s share to the minimum size, and it applies only to investors who take part in the creation of the bank while ignoring the possibility of changing the bank’s owners.

It should also be noted that the introduction of the said amendment is in line with the position of the Russian Federation in its negotiations on accession to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Government decision:  

To approve the draft federal law On Declaring Null and Void Part 17, Article 11 of the Federal Law On Banks and Banking and submit it to the State Duma according to the established procedure.

7. Draft federal law On Introducing Amendments to the Federal Law On Communications

The draft law vests the Government with powers of international legal protection of the awarding (assignment) of radio frequencies for radio electronic means of various radio communications services, including the work of declaring, coordinating and registering such radio frequencies and the corresponding position in the orbit of geostationary satellites with the International Telecommunication Union,  establishing the procedure of the use of foreign satellite systems (communications networks) on the territory of the Russian Federation, which would ensure compliance with national interests in the field of security and integrating the Russian Federation into the international telecommunications system.

Furthermore, the draft law submitted would fill the gaps in legislation in this sphere, with due account of the international treaties of the Russian Federation as well as in accordance with the Charter and Convention of the International Telecommunication Union.

Government decision:  

To approve the draft federal law On Introducing Amendments to the Federal Law On Communications and submit it to the State Duma according to the established procedure.

8. Draft federal law On Introducing an Amendment to Article 23 of the Federal Law On Military Duty and Military Service

The draft federal law would preserve the current exemption from military conscription for citizens who have done their military service in another state, but only if this is stipulated under international treaties.

At present such treaties have been concluded with the Republic of Tajikistan (September 7, 1995) and Turkmenistan (December 23, 1993).

Government decision:  

To approve the draft federal law On Introducing an Amendment to Article 23 of the Federal Law On Military Duty and Military Service and submit it to the State Duma according to the established procedure.

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

Under the federal law On Anti-Corruption Expert Examination Legal Regulatory Acts and Their Drafts, the Ministry of Justice conducts anti-corruption examination of draft federal laws, draft presidential executive orders and draft resolutions of the Government, as well as draft concepts and requests for development proposals of draft federal laws, and draft amendments of the Government to draft federal laws.

To optimise the procedure of anti-corruption examination and to reduce the number of statements prepared by the Ministry of Justice, the draft federal law proposes striking off the list of documents subject to anti-corruption examination draft concepts and requests for development proposals of draft federal laws, as they do not contain legal norms.

Government decision:  

To approve the draft federal law On Introducing an Amendment to Article 3 of the Federal Law On Anti-Corruption Expert Examination of Legal Regulatory Acts and Their Drafts and to submit it to the State Duma according to the established procedure.    

10. Draft federal law On Amending Article 35 of the Federal Law on the Main Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right of Citizens of the Russian Federation to Take Part in a Referendum

The draft law would introduce an amendment to Article 35 of the federal law On the Main Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right of the Citizens of the Russian Federation to Take Part in a Referendum by allowing the federal executive body authorised to register non-governmental associations and political parties and its territorial bodies to post lists of electoral associations on the Internet without mandatory publication thereof in state or municipal printed publications.

The procedure and timeframe of the publication of the lists of electoral associations in elections for the federal executive body remains in place, due to the norms envisaged by the federal laws On the Election of the President of the Russian Federation and On the Election of the Deputies of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation.

Government decision:  

To approve the draft federal law On Introducing an Amendment to Article 35 of the Federal Law on the Main Guarantees of Electoral Rights and the Right of Citizens of the Russian Federation to Take Part in a Referendum, and to submit it to the State Duma according to the established procedure.

11. Draft federal law On Introducing Amendments to Articles 32 and 152 of the Criminal Procedural Code of the Russian Federation

The adoption of the draft federal law would harmonise the provisions of the Criminal Procedural Code concerning the finding of the original territorial jurisdiction of criminal cases involving private charges of crimes perpetrated by citizens of the Russian Federation with regard to Russian citizens outside the country, the legal position set forth in the Ruling of the Constitutional Court No 22-P of October 16, 2012 and the promotion for legal protection of the constitutional rights of Russian citizens.

Government decision:  

To approve the draft federal law On Introducing Amendments to Articles 32 and 152 of the Criminal Procedural Code of the Russian Federation and to submit it to the State Duma according to the established procedure.

12. Draft federal law On Introducing Amendments to the Federal Law On Peasant (Private) Farms

Under the draft federal law when the head of a peasant (private) farm applies to a federal executive body or a government body for a plot of land in order to engage in farming activities, he must submit a document confirming the registration of the peasant (private) farm under the established legislative procedure.

The draft law would also permit citizens who have expressed a desire to engage in private farming to file an application with the federal executive body or local government body for the allocation of a plot of land with certain characteristics. Plots of land meeting the declared requirements shall be allocated to such citizens under the procedure established by the Land Code.  

Government decision:  

To approve the draft federal law On Introducing Amendments to the Federal Law On Peasant (Private) Farms and submit it to the State Duma according to the established procedure.

13. Draft federal law On Introducing Amendments to the Federal Law On the Public Civil Service in the Russian Federation

The draft law would establish uniform requirements and conditions for the formation of a personnel reserve in the sphere of public civil service.

The draft federal law would exclude from the federal law On the Public Civil Service in the Russian Federation the provisions whereby being a member of the personnel reserve is equated to being in civil service.

The draft law would drop the provision of the federal law on a competitive tender when appointing a civil servant to a civil service position from the personnel reserve, that was not formed on a non-competitive basis. The said amendments, as well as some editorial changes, have been prompted by the need to improve the mechanism of attestation as one of the criteria for including civil servants in the personnel reserve to fill a vacant civil service position by way of promotion.

The results of the monitoring conducted by the Ministry of Labour of the enforcement of the federal law hold that the mechanism of suspending the employment contract with inclusion of the civil servant in the personnel reserve is not applied in practice. In this regard, the draft federal law proposes dropping the provision on suspension of a contract due to circumstances beyond the control of the parties.

It also proposes annulling the provision whereby a civil servant may be disciplined by relieving that civil servant of his/her civil service position and including him/her in the personnel reserve to replace a different position in the civil service on a competitive basis.

The new edition of the federal law On the Civil Service in the Russian Federation would include citizens in the personnel reserve of a state body, not only based on the results of the competition, but also based on the results of attestation by way of promotion.

Government decision:

To approve the draft federal law On Introducing Amendments to the Federal Law On the Public Civil Service in the Russian Federation and submit it to the State Duma according to the established procedure.

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

The agreement grants equal rights and obligations to the Parties. In particular, the Agreement stipulates that watches made from precious metals which, when imported into the Swiss Confederation (or the Russian Federation), have an offset of the manufacturers’ hallmark and an offset of the official hallmark of the Russian Federation (or the Swiss Confederation), including a legally established standard of assay, shall not be subjected to a new test analysis of assay in the Swiss Confederation (Russian Federation), if such goods comply with the legislation of the Swiss Confederation (Russian Federation) and the Agreement. Imported watches made from precious metals that have no offsets of official hallmarks, manufacturer’s hallmarks and/or legally established standards of hallmarks, or having offsets that do not coincide with the specimens, sketches and descriptions received by the institution concerned, and/or having negative deviations of the actual assay from the legally established standard, shall be returned to the owner with a detailed statement of the reasons for the return.     

Government decision:  

To approve the draft federal law On Ratification of the Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Federal Council of the Swiss Confederation on Mutual Recognition of Official Hallmarks on Products of Clock and Watch Industry Made from Precious Metals , and submit it to the State Duma according to the established procedure.

15. Introducing amendments to the forecast plan (programme) of privatisation of federal property and main guidelines of privatisation of federal property in 2011-2013

The draft directive would exclude the shares of the federal Government in OAO Pskovavia from the Forecast Plan of Privatisation for subsequent transfer of the shares of that company to the ownership of the Pskov Region.

In the event that 100% of OAO Pskovavia shares are excluded from the Forecast Plan of Privatisation and a decision is made to transfer them into the ownership of the Pskov Region, the administration guarantees investment on the basis of public private partnership in the amount of 480 million roubles in the comprehensive reconstruction and modernisation of the property OAO Pskovavia and the development of the Pskov airport infrastructure before 2016.

Government decision:  

1. To adopt the draft directive of the Government on the issue.

2. The Ministry of Economic Development (Andrei Belousov) and the Ministry of Transport (Maxim Sokolov), with the participation of the executive bodies concerned, shall monitor the effectiveness of the management of the property of the airports earlier transferred into the ownership of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, as well as the federal property of airports regarding which requests for such a transfer have been submitted.

The results shall be reported to the Government of the Russian Federation in August 2013.