The following issues will be discussion at the September 15 meeting of the Government of the Russian Federation:

I. Draft programme for investment in the power industry in 2010

The Russian Ministry of Energy provided background materials for the discussion of this issue.

This draft was prepared based on the following predictions for social and economic development in the Russian Federation in 2010: a 1.2% increase in GDP; a 0.8% increase in industrial output; 10% inflation; a price of $55 per barrel for Urals oil; and an average annualized exchange rate of 34.5 roubles per US dollar.

Energy consumption is expected to grow by 0.4% in 2010, 1.8% in 2011 and 3.1% in 2012.

The investment programme was prepared based on the precedence of the following projects:

● supplying power to high-risk regions (the Republic of Khakassia, Primorye Territory, the Tyumen power grid and the Krasnodar Territory);

● supplying power to the Sochi Olympic Games facilities and the APEC summit facilities in Vladivostok;

● rebuilding the Sayano-Shushenskaya Hydroelectric Power Station;

● building an electrical network to support the Baltic Pipeline System-2 and the East Siberia - Pacific Pipeline.

A total of 779.2 billion roubles will be invested in the power industry in 2010, 600.8 billion roubles of which will go to enterprises in which the Russian Federal  has a stake.

Key figures for power industry investment programme in 2010

(enterprises in which the Russian Federation has a stake)

 

	Millions of roubles	Increased capacity
		MW	MWA	km
FSK UES	170,953		7,525	3,043
Holding MRSK	110,176		7,750	10,240
Energoatom Concern	174,791	-
RusHydro	80,612	1,124
RAO Eastern ES	20,491	12	153	1,172
OGK-1	23,013	-
Inter RAO UES	16,635	775
SO UES	4,163

 

In general, funding for investment in enterprises in which the Russian Federation has a stake comes from the following sources:

 

(millions of roubles)

Tariff payments	216,433
Revenues from technological connections	45,304
Other assets	32,201
VAT refund	40,197
Federal budget funds	108,017
Other investors	56,139
Proceeds from the sale of RAO UES Russia assets	48,587
Borrowed money	72,034

 

 

II. Plans and programmes for long-term power industry development

The Russian Ministry of Energy has submitted a draft of a resolution of the Government of the Russian Federation regarding the above issue.

The draft establishes the goals, tasks and principles for developing long- and medium-term power industry development programmes, as well as the content of these programmes and the procedure for preparing and approving them.

The overall plan involves projects with investment cycles longer than 7 years and is based on long-term, 15-year demand forecasts.

The overall plan recommends locations for thermal power stations with a total capacity of 500 MW or higher, locations for nuclear, hydro-accumulating power stations/renewable energy facilities with a total capacity of 100 MW or higher, and principal locations for power transmission lines and electrical substations that are used to connect electrical grids and required to regulate generation and consumption within integrated electrical grids.

 

A programme for the development of the Russian Unified Energy System (UES) has been worked out for a 7-year period, but nevertheless also takes into account coherent decisions regarding the placement of energy-generating facilities with shorter investment cycles as well as the Russian constituent entities' programmes for power industry development.

 

The development programme for the Russian UES includes programmes for developing a unified national power grid, and defines the basic parameters for commissioning or modernizing power stations with a total capacity of 25 MW or higher, building transmission lines and substations designed to handle 220 KW or higher, building international transmission lines, and building transmission lines with a capacity of 110 KW or higher r that ensure the distribution of energy from existing or planned power stations with a total capacity of 25 MW or higher.

 

The programmes for developing the power industry in the constituent entities take into account the 5-year programmes for the development of the Russian UES, and contain guidelines for placing transmission lines and substations designed to handle 110 KW or higher and  power stations with a total capacity of MW or higher.

 

Taking all of the above into account, the draft resolution is intended to establish a comprehensive system for planning and managing power industry development, ensuring the reliable functioning of the Russia UES, and preventing shortages in power generation/capacity and electrical grid capacity.

 

III. Progress on federal targeted programmes (FTPs) and the Federal Targeted Investment Programme (FTIP) in the first half of 2009

1. The results of the FTPs implemented in the first six months of 2009 are as follows.

1.1. A total of 51 FTPs, worth 840.74 billion roubles, were planned for 2009.

In the first half of 2009, 238.3 billion roubles from the federal budget were allocated for FTPs (28.3% of 2009 budget allocations), which is 31.5 billion roubles more than in the same period of 2008, when 206.8 billion roubles were allocated for FTPs (30.3% of the budget allocations for 2008).

Under the "capital investments" item, actual funds amounted to 130.18 billion roubles (26.7%), including:

● 97.05 (26.3%) billion roubles worth of investment from the federal budget;

● 33.13 (28.0%) billion roubles worth of subsidies for co-financing major construction work on government property in the Russian constituent entities and municipalities included in the federal targeted programmes.

 

Funding from the federal budget for government investment programmes was distributed as follows:

 

66.1 billion roubles (50.8% of the programmes' total funding) for the modernization of the Russian transport system (2002-2010);

 

23.6 billion roubles (18.1%) for economic and social development of the Far East and the Trans-Baikal Area through 2013;

 

7.7 billion roubles (5.9%) for the disposal of chemical weapons stockpiles in the Russian Federation; and

 

6.6 billion roubles (5.1%) for the Social and economic development of the Chechen Republic in 2008-2011.

 

A total of 37.53 billion roubles (38.4%) was spent on research and development. A total of 70.59 billion roubles (27.7%) was spent on other needs.

 

The largest portion of funding scientific and technological research went to the Russian Federal Space Programme for 2006-2015 (25.7 billion roubles).

 

1.2. During the reporting period, a total of 648.14 billion roubles (77.1% of 2009 budget allocations) were spent on 4,255 long-term contracts and 6,245 contracts initiated since the start of 2009, which is 111.79 billion roubles more than in the same period of 2008.

 

For comparison, 536.35 billion roubles were spent on government contracts (78.6% of annual budget allocations) in the first half of 2008.

Since the beginning of 2009, 313.88 billion roubles worth of contracts have been initiated (37.3% of 2009 budget allocations).

 

More than 90% of the annual budget allocations went to a series of programmes overseen by the Ministry of Agriculture, Roskosmos, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Education and Science.

 

1.3. In the first half of 2009, co-financing for these programmes from constituent entity/local government budgets and off-budget sources amounted to 245.6 billion roubles, or 19.8% of the annual target. A total of 76.4 billion roubles (21.0%) came from constituent entity/local governments and 169.4 billion roubles (19.3%) from off-budget sources.

In the first half of 2008, actual co-financing of FTPs from all sources stood at 269.39 billion roubles (25.2% of annual allocations), 93.17 billion roubles (28.8%) of which came from constituent entity/local government budgets and 176.22 billion roubles (23.7%) of which came from off-budget sources,.

 

2. The results of the FTIP implemented in the first half of 2009 are as follows.

 

2.1. During the reporting period, FTIP projects and facilities received 123.0 billion roubles from the federal budget (excluding defence contracts) or 26.0% of total investment from the budget allocated for the FTIP in 2009.  This includes 81.6 billion roubles within the programme section (26.6% of the total investment from the budget stipulated under the FTIP programme section) and 41.4 billion roubles (24.8%) outside the programme.

 

2.2. In accordance with the List of Construction Projects and Facilities, 2,240 construction projects, facilities and other projects (excluding projects and facilities involved in defence contracts) received funding. Of these facilities and projects funded in accordance with the List of Construction Projects and Facilities, 1,570 projects received funding within the programme section (70.1% of the total number) and 670 projects (29.9% of the total number) outside the programme.

In 2009, about 690 facilities on the List of Construction Projects and Facilities for 2009 have been commissioned, which is 30.8% of the total number of facilities being financed in the current year.

During the period of the report, 12 facilities have been commissioned as a part of FTPs.

 

IV. Programme to facilitate online access to high-priority and widely used services provided by federal executive bodies

The Ministry of Communications and Mass Media has submitted a draft government executive order on the issue .

The draft executive order outlines a plan for federal executive bodies transitioning to the provision of government services (fulfilling government responsibilities) electronically.

Realising the transition plan will streamline administrative procedures, expedite their execution and upgrade the quality of government services through the use of modern information and communication technologies. Individuals and organizations will be able to access government services through a single portal of state and municipal services (responsibilities).

The draft executive order outlines the stages of federal executive bodies transferring to the provision of government services (fulfilling government responsibilities) electronically.

Furthermore, changes will be introduced to the list of government services and/or responsibilities provided by means of information and telecommunications technologies (including electronically). The number of such services has been increased to 73.

The draft executive order establishes that the transition to the online provision of government services and performance of government functions by federal executive bodies will be carried out using allocations from the federal budget for the corresponding year and the planning period for current financing of the activities of the said bodies.

Procedural support for the transition to the delivery of government services and the performance of government functions electronically is to be provided by:

● the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media, which will provide procedural and organizational support for the transition to the delivery of government services and performance of government responsibilities electronically;

● the Ministry of Economic Development, which will ensure that administrative reforms carried out comply with the transition plan.

 

In order to organize the transition to the online provision of services in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, the draft of the executive order gives the Ministry of Communications and Mass Media jointly with the Ministry of Economic Development one month from the time of the approval by the Government of the Russian Federation of the lists referred to in Section 5 of this resolution to develop and submit in due time to the Government of the Russian Federation the plans for the transition to the provision of services (responsibilities) by the executive bodies of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and municipal services (responsibilities), as well as the provision of services (responsibilities) provided by government-financed institutions electronically

  

V. Draft Federal Law On the Ratification of the Agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Intergovernmental Foundation for  Humanitarian Cooperation of the Member States of the Commonwealth of Independent States on the Terms of the Foundation's presence in the Russian Federation.

 

Moscow, September 14, 2009

 

* These press-releases, issued by the Department of Press Service and Information, contain background information submitted by the executive federal bodies for discussion by the Government of the Russian Federation.