The following issues are scheduled for discussion at the Government Presidium meeting on January 29, 2010:

1. The draft of the federal law On Amending the Federal Law On Additional Support Measures for the Financial System of the Russian Federation

The draft was submitted by the Ministry of Finance.
The federal law On Additional Support Measures for the Financial System of the Russian Federation includes a stipulation for Vnesheconombank to grant loans to the Agency for Housing Mortgage Lending not to exceed 40 billion roubles at a rate of 9.5% a year for the period ending June 1, 2015 out of the money of the National Welfare Fund deposited with Vnesheconombank.
These resources are intended for the Agency to redeem mortgages from commercial organisations (banks) and to grant loans to lending institutions to encourage builders, as well as individuals and corporations in the acquisition of living accommodation.
The Agency for Housing Mortgage Lending assesses the average period for housing construction including commissioning tenancy at two years. The average period of a mortgage loan is eight years.
In view of the need to balance loan terms and cash flow for Vnesheconombank mortgages, the draft proposes extending the period Vnesheconombank can provide loans to the Agency until June 1, 2020.

2. The draft of the federal law On Amending Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation to Specify the Procedure for Committing Minors to Reform Schools

The draft was submitted by the Ministry of Education and Science.
The adoption of the draft will ensure the rights of minors in need of special educational conditions and a special teaching approach when placed in a reform school or other specialised institution and dealt with on an individual basis; it will also eliminate contradictions and errors found in the interpretation of some provisions of the federal legislative acts governing these issues, as well as occurring in practice during application.
The draft strives to improve the procedure for committing minors to specialised teaching and reform schools and the conditions thereof, to provide the necessary comprehensive psychological, medical and educational rehabilitation.
The draft proposes making appropriate amendments to Articles 15, 26 and 27 of the Federal Law On the Basic Principles of Preventing Child Neglect and Offences by Minors; Article 92 of the Criminal Code; and Articles 421 and 432 of the Criminal Procedure Code.

Specifically, the draft proposes:
• regulating the procedure for requesting a medical examination of minors not responsible under criminal law to determine the need for placement at a specialised institution in the event that the minors or their legal representatives refuse to agree to such an examination;
• establishing a procedure for appointing and conducting a legally valid medical examination of minors who have committed a crime to determine the possibility of an alternative to punishment by placing them at a specialised institution in accordance with Article 92 of the Criminal Code;
• clarifying the procedure for determining and calculating the period of stay for minors at a specialised institution (for these purposes it is proposed to amend Article 15 of the Federal Law; Article 92 of the Criminal Code; and Article 432 of the Criminal Procedure Code);
• detailing a list of materials available to court for the determination of possible placement of minors at a specialised institution, as stipulated by Article 27 of the Federal Law;
• additionally regulating the placement at specialised institutions of minors with health problems and minors with diseases calling for their maintenance and education at specialised (correctional) reform schools.

3. The draft of the federal law On Amending the Merchant Shipping Code of the Russian Federation

The draft was submitted by the Transport Ministry.
The adoption of the draft will create an up-to-date normative legal framework for the effective operation of sea transport and legal protection of economic entities engaged in merchant shipping or seaport services.
The draft meets the changes effected by an administrative reform in the administration system and in the functions of executive federal bodies concerned with merchant shipping, supervision over merchant shipping and state port control, as well as the need to coordinate national maritime legal standards with international standards in this area. In addition, the practical application of the Code since 1999 has revealed that some provisions need clarification and correction.
The draft aims to align the Code with the following documents: the 2001 International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Fuel Pollution Damages; the 1992 International Convention on Civil Liability for Oil Pollution Damages; the 1996 International Convention on Liability and Compensation for Damages in Connection with the Carriage of Dangerous and Noxious Substances by Sea; the 1969 Convention on Tonnage Measurement of Ships; international merchant shipping treaties of the Russian Federation, and provisions of the Labour Code (Articles 189 and 330) and the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.

4. Amending the Regulation on the Transport Ministry of the Russian Federation

The Transport Ministry submitted the following draft resolutions: Amending the Regulation on the Transport Ministry of the Russian Federation and Measures to Implement the 2001 International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Fuel Pollution Damage.

The draft resolutions aim to implement the provisions of the Town Building Code of Russia with regard to setting rates and pricing in vehicle road maintenance and to observe Russia's international obligations.

Currently, no executive federal body exists with authority to regulate rates and prices in vehicle road maintenance.
The draft resolution Amending the Regulation on the Transport Ministry of the Russian Federation proposes including in the functions of the Ministry the approval of branch-specific rates used in maintaining vehicle roads of federal significance and their relevant structures.

Giving the Transport Ministry the power to approve new rates will enable it to quickly introduce the latest technical and technological developments to improve the use of budget funds and the quality of maintenance of federal vehicle roads and their structures.

The draft resolution On Implementing the 2001 International Convention on Civil Liability for Bunker Fuel Pollution Damage proposes vesting the Transport Ministry with authority to draw up and approve rules for the issue of certificates covering insurance and other financial backing of civil liability for bunker fuel pollution damage. The draft was drawn up to help fulfil Russia's obligations arising from the international convention.

5. Amending certain acts of the Government of the Russian Federation concerning state registration of rights pertaining to the purchase and sales transactions of aircraft

The draft was submitted by the Transport Ministry.

In accordance with Article 4 of Federal Law No. 31-FZ, dated March 14, 2009, On State Registration of Rights Pertaining to the Purchase and Sales Transactions of Aircraft, the government establishes the rights of a federal executive body to fulfil such functions.

The draft approves changes in government acts to vest the Transport Ministry with functions to formulate national policy and regulate standards and norms related to the state registration of rights to the possession of aircraft and to vest the Federal Air Transport Agency, or Rosaviatsia, with the authority of such a registration body.

Considering that in accordance with the provisions of the Air Code of the Russian Federation, Rosaviatsia performs the functions of a state registrar of aircraft (as part of the airworthiness maintenance process), the vesting in Rosaviatsia of the authority of a body to register the rights in aircraft and transactions involving aircraft will facilitate a single data system recording information both on aircraft and on their owners.

This decision simplifies users' registration and improves the quality of administrative-management work by unifying administrative processes.

6. Amending the Regulation on the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation

The draft was submitted by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Under the federal law, it is the Ministry of Industry and Trade, in cases stipulated by the Government Programme for Technical Regulation Drafting, which adopts such regulations and approves certain documents relating to them, such as:
• lists of products subject to mandatory confirmation for customs clearance;
• lists of documents pertaining to standards and containing the rules and methods for inspecting (testing) and measurements [of products], including rules for reviewing samples and rules and methods for inspecting (testing) and measurements [of products];
• a procedure for publishing technical regulations and their posting in electronic-digital form on a general-purpose database;
• a procedure for the federal regulation watchdog Rostekhregulirovanie (Federal Agency for Technical Regulation and Metrology) to keep an inventory of duly certified translations into Russian of international standards, regional standards, and codes of regulations, as well as standards and codes of regulations from individual countries and a procedure for supplying information on them.

The current Regulation on the Ministry of Industry and Trade does not provide for such functions.
Pursuant to this draft resolution, it is planned to amend the Regulation on the Ministry of Industry and Trade, as approved by Government Resolution No. 438, dated June 5, 2008, by vesting the Ministry with powers arising from the provisions of the federal law.

7. Hosting the 60th session of the World Health Organisation Regional Committee for Europe in Moscow and forming an organising committee for its preparation

The draft was submitted by the Ministry of Healthcare and Social Development.

The draft provides for establishing a committee to prepare and conduct the session, approving its composition, signing by the Ministry of Healthcare and Social Development of an agreement with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to ensure the organisation and management of the session, as well as making a lump sum contribution of $500,000 to the WHO to cover the Regional Committee's expenses in preparing and holding the session away from its headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark. The contribution will be paid from budget allocations provided for the Ministry of Healthcare and Social Development in the 2010 federal budget under the subheading "International Relations and International Cooperation" in the section "General Matters"
The expenses to be incurred by the Russian Federation in preparing and managing the session will be covered from budget allocations set aside in the 2010 federal budget to finance the activities of the Ministry of Healthcare and Social Development. The estimated amount equals 35.6 million roubles.
The draft instructs:
• Russia's Foreign Ministry to extend visa support to foreign participants of the session;
• Russia's Interior Ministry to ensure public order while the session is being prepared and held;
• the Federal Customs Service to provide customs clearance and control of necessary WHO materials and technical equipment temporarily brought into the Russian Federation and taken out according to a list approved by the session's organising committee.

8. Providing the Government of the Chechen Republic with budget allocations from the reserve fund of the Government of the Russian Federation set aside for emergencies and disaster relief and providing it with state housing certificates following the earthquake in the Chechen Republic on October 11, 2008.

Moscow,
January 28, 2010

* 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.