The following issues are scheduled for discussion at the Government meeting on May 15, 2008:

1. Scenarios and major parameters for the forecast of the country's social and economic development for 2009 - 2011

Scenarios and basic macroeconomic parameters for 2009-2001 were developed with due account to the tasks set by the President in his speech at the meeting of the Russian State Council on February 8, 2008, as well as objectives and priorities of economic development stipulated by the draft Concept of Russia's Long-Term Social and Economic Development, the results of the country's social and economic development in 2007 and the first quarter of 2008, and the world market present condition and prospects.

Parameters for the forecast of the country's economic development for 2009-2011 were considered in two basic scenarios. The second scenario was proposed as the base for the 2009-2011 budget.

Two main scenarios include equal prospects for world oil prices: a moderate decrease in the average price of Urals oil, from $92 for a barrel in 2008 to $72 in 2011.

The differences can be explained by:

- changes in competitive dynamics of Russian companies,
- effective implementation of the measures taken by the Government to enhance innovativeness of Russian economy and its diversification,
- the level of support for social development.

The Inertial Scenario reflects the development of Russia's economy amid infrastructure limitations, a slowdown in hydrocarbon exports and reduced competitiveness of Russian products. The latter causes lowering of investment activity and relatively higher imports to satisfy domestic demand. The growth rate of the gross domestic product falls from 8.1% in 2007 to 5.0-5.4% in 2010-2011.

The Innovative Scenario stipulates that in 2009-2010, certain measures will be realised to switch to innovative development, and is geared to slightly improve the competitiveness of Russian business, keep high investment activity, implement some big infrastructure projects, develop the banking system and increase its contribution into economic growth. The innovative development scenario acts as an investment-oriented way of economic growth characterised by higher accumulation rate.

The realisation of the innovative development scenario under the same foreign economic conditions as in the first scenario will allow keeping average GDP growth rate for this period at 6.5%.

The innovative path includes increasing funding for research and development, education, and health, and faster growth of pensions, which will be one of basic factors in the transition to the innovative socially-oriented path of development, defined by the draft Concept of Russia's Long-Term Social and Economic Development until 2020.

According to the second scenario, people's real incomes will double in 2011 in relation to 2007, which will correspond to a 42.8% decrease in real expendable income in four years (according to the first scenario 36.8%).

The middle-term growth of salaries will also be supported by the implementation of measures to increase the minimal state guarantees for labour compensation, first of all, increasing the minimum wage to the minimum living wage.

Since January 1, 2009, the minimum wage will be increased to 4,330 roubles, which is equal to the minimum living wage for the 4th quarter of 2007.

The realisation of measures to increase pensions for Russian citizens will continue. The second scenario stipulates that increasing pensions to the minimum living wage and other additional measures will create conditions for an increase in replacement rate (correlation between average salary and retirement pension) from 23.4% in 2007 to 25.8% in 2011.

In accordance with the legal mechanism, the indexation of financial support for families with children will be conducted annually, taking into account the forecasted inflation rate set by the Federal Budget Law. This will allow compensating the reduction of federal benefits' purchasing power in advance. Apart from the indexation, measures to encourage people with children will be further implemented.

Apart from that, the proposed increase in tariffs on natural monopolies' services will demand the development and implementation of additional targeted measures to support socially vulnerable population strata.

Due to the increase in real incomes and targeted support for the vulnerable strata, the poverty rate will reduce from 13.7% to 10% in 2011.

2. The draft Federal Law On State DNA Registration in the Russian Federation

The draft law will set out the legal framework for receiving, storage and use of DNA samples of some citizens of the Russian Federation, foreign citizens and stateless persons, in order to increase the effectiveness of fighting crimes, including terrorism and extremism, identifying bodies, and finding lost Russian citizens, foreign citizens and stateless persons.

Personal identification by DNA analysis is a productive way of using scientific achievements in law enforcement, which helps to investigate serial and contract murders, rapes, and other felonies. Law enforcement agencies in Britain, the United States, Canada and other countries use DNA registration on a legal basis.

This will help to increase the efficiency of identifying those dead or killed whose bodies could not be identified by other means, preventing and investigating crimes, in particular, terrorist attacks, murders and rapes. The law envisages DNA registration for individuals convicted and serving sentences for grave crimes, for biological traces of unidentified persons found on accident scenes and unidentified dead bodies. The very fact of having a DNA data bank will help prevent crimes, because part of potential criminals will probably refrain from such acts knowing of the impending punishment.

The objectives of the law include defining the procedure and forms of state DNA registration in the Russian Federation, its objects and subjects, principles of its operation, and storage and use of biological samples and their processing.

The implementation of the law will require funding from the federal budget. This will include providing laboratories of state expert institutions with the needed equipment and providing relevant federal bodies of executive authority with expendable materials.

To implement the draft law, a Governmental Act will be needed. Such an Act should define the process of the state DNA registration, interdepartmental cooperation, and general requirements for storage and utilisation of biological samples and DNA data.

Apart from that, the Act should define the procedure of voluntary DNA registration and its cost, approve general requirements for storage and utilisation of biological samples, including those given voluntarily.

3. The draft Federal Law On Ratification of the Agreement Between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic on Settling the Rouble Debt Owed by the Lao Republic for Granted Loans

The adoption of the draft Law On Ratification of the Agreement Between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic on Settling the Rouble Debt Owed by the Lao Republic for Granted Loans will allow finishing domestic procedures needed for implementing the Agreement, which will make the Lao party fulfil its obligations. The adoption of this draft law is a positive factor in developing bilateral cooperation between our countries.

May 14, 2008
Moscow

* Press releases by the Department of Press Service and Information contain the materials submitted by the federal executive bodies for discussion by the Government of the Russian Federation.