The following issues are scheduled for discussion at the Government Presidium meeting on October 13, 2008:
1. Completing preparatory measures for the housing and utilities sector for the autumn and winter period of 2008-2009
For the purpose of completing preparatory measures for the autumn and winter period of 2008-2009, the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation (Minenergo) has performed the following:
• the creation of an interagency commission to monitor the development and performance of the housing and utilities sector in the regions of the Russian Federation for the autumn and winter period of 2008-2009; the establishment of a means of interaction between the aforesaid Commission and the Government Commission on Safe Power Supply (Federal Headquarters) whose composition has been approved by the Government of the Russian Federation;
• the development of criteria for assessing the performance of the executive power bodies of the Russian regions for preparations made for transition through the autumn and winter period of 2008-2009;
• the decision to allocate subsidies from the federal budget to the four regional budgets to compensate for the cost connected with increased prices for liquid fuel.
The Ministry of Regional Development and the Ministry of Energy held an away meeting to resolve the issue of supplying solid fuel to the power facilities in the corresponding regions on September 3-5, 2008..
In September 2008, meetings were held with the heads of the Siberian, Far Eastern, Southern and Volga Federal Districts of the Russian Federation to discuss preparations for the power facilities and the housing and utilities sector for the autumn and winter period of 2008-2009.
During the period from May 1 to September 1, 2008 the territorial bodies of the Federal Service for Environmental , Technological, and Nuclear Supervision (Rostekhnadzor) inspected 270 power plants, 16,788 heating and 3,173 heating-and-production boiler rooms and 420 power network
The Ministry of Regional Development, in joint cooperation with Rostekhnadzor, continues to work on certifying the maintenance of power facilities, and on the housing stock and power utilities in conjunction with the Russian regions. Operations in this regard are scheduled to be completed before November 15, 2008.
In October, 2008 the Ministry of Regional Development plans to hold an All-Russia conference call with the representatives of the Russian regions on the results of preparations made for the housing and utilities sector for the winter period.
According to the Ministry of Regional Development, a substantial amount of work to prepare the housing and utilities for the autumn and winter period of 2008-2009 has been completed and was conducted at a higher rate than last year. However, according to state statistical report data, as of October 1, 2008 some regions were behind schedule in preparing housing and utilities.
The creation of a Government Commission for Safe Power Supply (Federal Headquarters) has a significant role to play in preparing power facilities for the aforesaid period. This is of particular importance following the reform of the power industry management system.
The Ministry of Energy has approved an aggregate forecast of the fuel balance for power organisations during the autumn and winter period of 2008-2009. The ministry has identified those regions which suffer from high risks during peak energy consumption periods and has outlined the necessary technological and organisational measures to reduce the risks in the regions during peak load periods in the autumn-winter period (including the initiation, modernization and capital repair of the energy capacity of equipment and networks, as well as preventive measures to upgrade the skills of workers in dealing with adverse conditions, etc.)
All the contracts between generating companies and suppliers of fuel for the supply of coal and fuel oil (masut) for the 4th quarter of 2008 have been concluded.
On the whole, the level of preparation for Russia's residential stock, as well as the utilities infrastructure and the fuel and energy complex organisations, is higher than last year.
2. Reforming the housing and utilities sector of the Russian Federation
Notable changes in Russia's economic and social climate have necessitated a reform in the domain of housing and utilities which, in the period between 1997 and 2006, proceeded according to the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation On the Reform of the Housing and Utilities Sector in the Russian Federation. This presidential decree approved The Concept of Housing and Utilities Sector Reform, which established the goals and outlined the ways of reforming the housing and utilities sector and of securing social protection of households as regards the payment for the housing and utilities services; this reform also proceeded in accordance with the subprogramme ‘Reform and Modernization of the Housing and Utilities Complex in the Russian Federation' which is integral to the Federal Targeted Housing Programme for 2002-2010 approved by the Government of the Russian Federation .
Areas of expansion in the housing and utilities sector consist of the following: demonopolisation and development of competition within the utilities sector, modernization of the utilities infrastructure and development of public-private partnership. At present 34% of utilities are privately owned.
To replace the basic assets which have exceeded 50% of their service life, a sum of 18.7 billion roubles has been allocated by the budgetary funds of Russian 's regions. The total amount from all the sources directed in 2007 towards the aforesaid goals under the Utilities Development provision has amounted to 14.1 billion roubles, in contrast to 9.5 billion roubles in 2006. In 2008 the figure will be about 22 billion roubles.
The Russian Federation has more than 50,000 organisations of various forms of ownership that participate in the housing and utilities services. The cost of the basic assets in the sector exceeds 1.7 trillion roubles. The total volume of housing and utilities services in the Russian Federation has reached 1.753 trillion roubles, and the proceeds from rendering such services have increased by 2.4 times since 2003.
In 2004, a federal law was adopted ‘On the Main Principles of Regulating the Tariffs of Utilities Organisations and Rules'; this allowed for the granting of subsidies for the payment of housing and utilities rates. The reform of the system of payment for housing, utilities services and measures of social support is constantly within the purview of the Government of the Russian Federation. By mid-2008, 76 Russian regions were providing subsidies directly to citizens in need. In 2007, the average percentage of Russian families that received subsidy assistance was 11.3%.
In accordance with the aforementioned law, the Government of the Russian Federation has adopted a number of resolutions connected with the approval of the rules of concluding and implementing public contracts for the link up to the utilities infrastructure systems:
- the procedure of determining the conditions of utilities organisations' activities whose adjustment influences the cost of commodities and services of these organisations;
- the procedure of financing investment programmes of utilities organisations which produce commodities and services in the sphere of electrical energy and/o heat supply, etc.
In the process of reform, 72 regions of the Russian Federation have introduced 100% payment of the cost of housing and utilities, bringing the average Russian indicator to 88%.
As part of improvements made to pricing policy and tariff regulation, the main principles of pricing and the formation of prices and tariffs for utility services have been determined; moreover, Federal Law No. 131-FZ of October 6, 2003 makes local government bodies responsible for organizing the supply to households of the electrical services, heat, water and gas supply, drainage and collection of solid waste.
As of March 1, 2005 the new Housing Code of the Russian Federation was introduced, harmonising the current housing legislation with the provisions of the Russian Constitution and the federal laws aimed at regulating the relations in the housing sphere, in the first instance on issues of delimitation of the powers between the executive bodies of the Russian Federation , those of the Russian regions and the local government bodies with due account of notable changes in the economic and social climate of the country.
As part of implementing the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, the Government passed 15 regulatory acts designed to enforce and perform the following:
- an approval of model contracts of social rent of housing and the rent of specialized housing space;
- the procedure of granting subsidies for the payment for housing and utilities services;
- the form of the application for refurbishment and/or changing the layout of housing space;
- the rules of delivering utilities services to citizens and of approving the procedure of recalculating citizens' payments for certain types of utilities services during the temporary absence of such services and procedure of changing the rates for utilities services that are of improper quality and/or are delivered with interruptions that exceed the statutory duration;
- the form and content of the document confirming the decision on the conversion or refusal to convert housing space into non-housing space and non-housing space into housing space, etc.
One area of the new housing legislation is demonopolisation and the development of competition within the housing sector by stimulating the formation of House Owners' Partnerships and managing companies. By mid-2008, the share of House Owners' Partnerships amounted to 3.4%, an increase by more than 50% compared with 2007. As of January 1, 2008 the owners of more than 1 million apartment blocks had chosen their managing companies. As of early 2008, 14.5 residential blocks had private managers. The share of managing companies which are federal and municipal property is still high, 21.4%, and they manage the largest number of apartment blocks.
In 2007, in accordance with the Federal Law on the Fund for the Housing and Utilities Reform, a new financial institution was created, a state corporation called Fund for the Housing and Utilities Sector Reform, whose aim is to provide financial support for the implementation of programmes of capital repair of apartment blocks and resettling residents from unsafe residential stock. The federal budget earmarked 240 billion roubles for these purposes. The terms of granting financial support out of the Fund have been determined.
According to the Ministry of Regional Development, effective use of the Fund's assets in the period between 2008 and 2012 will make it possible for 105,000 families to move out of unsafe housing, 5 times the number of such families in previous years, and will enable 4 million families to improve their housing conditions as a result of capital repair of apartment blocks.
As of October 1, 2008 the Fund's programmes cover 68 regions of the Russian Federation; in 2008, 91 applications from regional territories were accepted and financed to the tune of 36.8 billion roubles
In June 2008, the Fund started monitoring the implementation of regional-targeted programmes of capital repair of apartment blocks and regional-targeted programmes to move citizens out of unsafe, dilapidated housing, as well as to comply with the conditions envisaged under the federal law, for the granting of financial assistance out of the Fund for the purpose of monitoring their effective use.
Most regions which have received financial support out of the Fund are already conducting capital repair of apartment blocks and moving citizens out of unsafe housing: the Rostov, Omsk, Tyumen, Novosibirsk and Belgorod Regions and the Republic of Bashkortostan have started work at all the facilities included in the Fund's Programme.
Competition in providing utilities services is developing: in 2008, 26.5% of the utilities organisations were commercial.
The share of apartment blocks where House Owners' Partnerships have been formed is increasing. In 2008, it stood at 3.4%, which is 54% more than in 2007.
The Ministry of Regional Development regards the Fund's main tasks in 2009 as the following:
• to develop and introduce effective mechanisms to enable house owners to carry out capital repairs of their apartment blocks;
• to develop the system of regulating competition in the market of residential stock management, in accordance with the provisions of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation;
• to enhance the economic effectiveness and attract investments into the utilities sector on the basis of public-private partnership;
• to make effective use of temporarily free assets of the Fund.
However, it must be noted that the Fund is a temporary organisation which will only function until 2012. Therefore, new long-term and stable mechanisms are required to promote the development of the sector and restore housing on the basis of new financial institutions of development that would efficiently take over the functions of the Fund for the Housing and Utilities Reform.
Two draft federal laws have been developed and are ready for approval for the purpose of continued reform in the housing and utilities sector.
In addition, a federal law is being drafted to update the legal norms that regulate the management of property in communal use.
To conduct further reform of the housing and utilities sector, the Ministry of Regional Development, in joint cooperation with the federal executive bodies concerned, have developed a Complex of Measures to reform the housing and utilities sector in the Russian Federation in 2007-2008, envisaging the development and adoption of about 100 legal regulation acts of the Russian Federation. This proposition has been approved in the main at the Government meeting on February 16, 2007 and, after being finalised in line with the provisions of the Address of the President of the Russian Federation to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation in 2007, was agreed upon by the Executive Order of the Minister of Regional Development of the Russian Federation.
3. Progress in preparatory measures for legal regulation acts aimed at the implementation of the Federal Law on the Objects of Cultural Heritage (Monuments of History and Culture) of the Peoples of the Russian Federation
4. Draft Federal Law On the Ratification of the Protocol on Introducing Amendments to the Agreement Between the Russian Federation and the Kingdom of Spain on the Activities of Cultural Centres of November 15, 2001
The Protocol on Introducing Amendments to the Agreement Between the Russian Federation and the Kingdom of Spain on the Activities of Cultural Centres of November 15, 2001 was signed in Moscow on September 24, 2007.
The Protocol is directed to clarify some articles of the Russian-Spanish Agreement on the activities of cultural centres, notably the issues of exemption of cultural centres from taxation. A legal framework is being created on a mutual basis for effective performance by the centres on educational and cultural matters. The Protocol envisages rules other than those stipulated by the laws of the Russian Federation regarding the taxation of the activities of business entities, but preserves the VAT and still makes it compulsory to submit the full tax report.
5. Submitting to the President of the Russian Federation a Proposal on the Signing of the Treaty between the Russian Federation and Japan On Mutual Legal Assistance on Criminal Cases
The Treaty shall mark the first bilateral agreement with Japan on Mutual Legal Assistance and will be the basic document in the area of bilateral cooperation within criminal law.
In accordance with the draft Treaty, the Parties undertake to provide mutual legal assistance to each other on criminal cases.
At the same time, the draft Treaty lists grounds for refusal of legal assistance.
The draft Treaty contains provisions regulating cooperation in locating the instruments of crime and the proceeds from crime, as well as the adoption of corresponding measures with regard to them.
The subject matter of the draft Treaty relates to principal human and civil rights. In particular, the draft Treaty guarantees the security of the person who has submitted himself to the authority of the corresponding agency in the requesting Party. Such a person may not be detained or otherwise have his or her freedom restricted on the territory of the requesting Party on the grounds of any deeds or accusations preceding the departure of the aforesaid person from the Party to which the request is addressed. Such a person shall not be obliged to testify during any criminal case or provide assistance in any investigation other than the case or investigation indicated in the request.
Therefore, and in accordance with the Federal Law On International Treaties of the Russian Federation, the implementation of the Treaty will not require additional federal budget outlays and will be financed within the resources annually allocated to the competent Russian bodies interested in obtaining and rendering legal assistance.
6. Submitting to the President of the Russian Federation the Agreement on the Peacekeeping Activities of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation for the Purpose of Presenting the Same for Ratification
The Agreement on the Peacekeeping Activities of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation was signed in Dushanbe on October 6, 2007.
The provisions of the Agreement regulate practical participation of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) in peacekeeping activities at the world and regional levels for the purpose of strengthening its international positions as well as creating a permanent CSTO peacekeeping force and determining the procedure of forming it. The peacekeeping activities of the CSTO include peacekeeping actions aimed at resolving disputes (in accordance with the UN Charter), as well as collective actions by the member states of the CSTO involving the use of military, police and civilian personnel aimed at preventing, constraining or terminating military actions between states or within a state through the intervention of a third party and contributing to the maintenance of peace and security.
In accordance with their national legislations, the CSTO member states contribute peacekeeping contingents to the peacekeeping force on a permanent basis.
Decisions to carry out a peacekeeping operation on the territories of CSTO member states will be made by the Collective Security Council (CSC) in due consideration of national legislations pursuant to an official request of a member state for the conduct of a peacekeeping operation on its territory or to a UN Security Council decision on the conduct of a peacekeeping operation on the territory of a non-CSTO state.
Peacekeeping operations will not supplant the resolution of a conflict through negotiations and other peaceful means.
The ratification of the Agreement meets the interests of the Russian Federation.
As the provisions of the Agreement are in place to ensure international peace and security, the Agreement is subject to ratification in accordance with the Federal Law on International Treaties of the Russian Federation.
7. Introducing Amendments to the Statute on the Ministry of Regional Development of the Russian Federation
Amendments are introduced to the Statute on the Ministry of Regional Development of the Russian Federation with regard to the adoption of the Federal Law On the State Corporation for the Building of Olympic Facilities and the Development of the City of Sochi as a Mountain-Climatic Resort and the Federal Law on Promoting Housing Construction.
The aforesaid federal laws have created a State Corporation for the Building of Olympic Facilities and the Development of the City of Sochi as a Mountain-Climatic Resort and a Federal Fund for Housing Construction.
Since the issues for whose solution the above non-profit organisations have been created are within the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Regional Development of the Russian Federation, it is proposed to vest the ministry with the powers to coordinate the activities of the aforesaid organisations.
8. The Council for the Development of the Pharmaceutical and Medical Industry under the Government of the Russian Federation
The aim of creating the Council referred to above is to develop proposals on implementing government policy within the pharmaceutical and medical industry in the Russian Federation , including:
• attracting investments, making products more competitive and developing the scientific-technical and innovation capacity;
• developing measures to hasten modernisation and technological advancement;
• government support of exports;
• creation of integrated structures of developers and producers;
• developing public-private partnership mechanisms;
• production of pharmaceutical substances and components for the medical industry;
• professional education and training of scientific, engineering and technical personnel.
In addition, the draft stipulates that the Council is chaired by the Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation, and that the Council shall conduct its activities in accordance with the plan approved by the Council Chairman, with the composition of the Council to be approved by the Government of the Russian Federation and the composition of working groups to be approved by a decision made by the Council.
9. The issue to the Government of the Chechen Republic of government housing certificates to be distributed to the citizens who lost their housing as a result of the emergency situations in the Republic in June and August 2007
In the Chechen Republic, following torrential rain, hail, thunderstorms (June 2007) and strong winds (August 2007) that caused flooding and precipitated landslides, as well as much grief to the local population, substantial material damage has been caused to housing, utilities and social structures.
Corresponding with the documents submitted by the Government of the Chechen Republic, 48 government housing certificates are to be issued and to be distributed among the citizens who have lost their housing as a result of the aforementioned emergency situations; the cost of which shall be subsequently paid out of the Reserve Fund of the Government of the Russian Federation for the Prevention and Liquidation of Emergency Situations and the Consequences of Natural Disasters.
October 10, 2008
Moscow
* 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.
