VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
ARCHIVE OF THE OFFICIAL SITE
OF THE 2008-2012 PRIME MINISTER
OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION
VLADIMIR PUTIN
“We should be guided by the world’s best practices when a failure to submit returns or provide correct data involves criminal liability. The legislation in some countries with developed market economies includes such liability for officials. This discourages them from getting involved in illegal activities or circumventing state-imposed supervision.”
“We have decided to limit the growth of fees of the majority of natural monopolies next year. This should restrain the growth of prices in the housing and utilities sector. I’d like to reaffirm that this is the government's principled position, and it will not be reviewed. This is why I consider it inadmissible when some officials say that amendments or adjustments are possible.”
“We hope that the federal contract system will become an effective tool of state investment policy and will play a major role in modernising the entire economy. And, of course, it should considerably enhance the effectiveness of budget expenditures.
“We must purchase quality and innovative products for government and social needs and form a system that will reduce corruption and ensure maximal transparency of this work – starting with purchase plans and ending with the performance of contracts.”
“We must install a coherent system of strategic management, tie in sectoral and regional strategies with the priorities of the development of the Russian economy and the potential of the country’s budget and financial system. We must create an effective system of monitoring and correcting state programmes.”
“We need market-based and economically sound prices. As I have already said, we have no intention of undermining the economy of our oil companies. But we must rule out any speculation and corporate collusion whatsoever.”
“The law on coal sets obligatory requirements for the concentration of gas at a mine. These requirements are now set by the government. We have also amended the Tax Code. Mining companies now have an incentive to invest in safety. If they do so, the mining tax they need to pay is reduced according to the rate of the safety costs.”
“State inspectors can now suspend operations and dismiss the heads of mining companies for severe violations before a court’s decision has taken effect. I’d like to note that in 2010 over 81,000 violations were uncovered in this industry, and over 8,000 companies and their staffs were fined.”
“I have to mention another serious problem - bloated regional and municipal administrative staffs and the extravagant costs associated with maintaining them. A majority of last year's regional anti-crisis plans envisaged administrative optimisation. All told, the regional administrative staff has been reduced by 4% and municipal staff by 2.5%. It is the right thing to do, but it is proceeding at a snail's pace. It is worth noting that spending on staff increased by 6% though staff size decreased. Please take note of this. The reduction was 4% while costs rose by 6%, and inefficient spending on public management totalled 83 billion roubles. I think that the work to make the managerial staff smaller and more efficient, and to optimise its costs, should go on.”
“Today we will also consider a number of issues that bear directly on the improvement of the business climate and on the rational integration of our country into the international economic community. I am referring here to the modernisation of the Russian customs system. It must be admitted, as all of us know very well, that foreign economic players, especially those working in high-tech industries, are seriously dissatisfied with the quality of our customs system. The Foreign Ministry and the Federal Customs Service have drafted proposals on Russia's ratification of the International Convention on the Simplification and Harmonisation of Customs Procedures. I hope this will allow us to more rapidly introduce modern customs standards on the Russian border, which will be convenient both for people and businesses.”
“Currently, many regions formally meet existing deadlines, but in reality they also repeatedly return the documents to businessmen, requesting additional certificates and permits, which takes applicants extra time and money. Moreover, each additional document resets the clock on the deadline. Now developers will be able to have their documents fully processed, with all necessary additions and revisions, within 60 day. Officials who fail to meet the deadlines and make applicants return again and again will be disciplined and may even face disqualification.”
“A report by the Prosecutor-General's Office is highly revealing in this respect. It cites, as glaring facts, violations made by state agencies concerned with supervisory functions. There were fake tests, shell firms set up to milk businesses, and complete chaos regarding fees for state services. I therefore consider it absolutely right that we have launched a comprehensive review of the state's regulatory and supervisory functions. We have examined, at a series of government meetings, the state of affairs in education, agriculture, healthcare and construction. And we have prepared a raft of concrete proposals and legislative initiatives.”
Rostekhnadzor must have the right to temporarily, pending a court ruling, suspend the manager of an enterprise for gross and repeated violations of safety rules. If we increase the overall responsibility we will improve safety. We have already discussed it: there should be zero tolerance of any violations, somebody smoking and saying that he cannot go without a smoke for five hours or if matches and cigarettes are found. Let us get this matter straight. You must say: for the sake of our own safety the rules must apply to everyone: to those who work, those who organise the work and the owners.
“We have drastically reduced the number of inspections of small and medium-sized companies. When we were working on this decision, the employees of the economy ministry gathered a vast amount of objective data on the administrative pressure on businesses from oversight authorities. They have figures proving how harmful excessive regulation and oversight are.”
“The government is developing a business-friendly environment, and has already made several decisions to eliminate excessive administrative barriers and promote competitiveness. There are more than enough barriers and superfluous administrative powers at all levels of government, and they complicate the functioning of the government machine as such. However, the scope of these corrupt practices is not our biggest problem. The worst thing is that new barriers are constantly generated at various levels. Our officials seem to have an inherent need to control everyone and everything.”
“In my opinion, health inspections should only remain in place in industries where such inspections are a recognised international practice, for example in baby food production or the production of food with specific nutritional or medical purposes. In the rest of cases, these inspections are unnecessary. Scrupulous businesspeople will be thus relived of double or even triple government inspections carried out in an attempt to shake them down.”
“Our first objective is to define what areas really need government oversight and come up with sound and justified mechanisms to protect people's rights. All procedures must be significantly improved, with duplicate and redundant functions eliminated. We must dispense with the potential for conflicts of interest. As in other areas [in healthcare and social security], we must re-examine paid consulting, expert and registration services. Low-ranking agencies should not become profitable businesses.”
“Also, I believe that in most cases it is possible to shift from licensing to notifications, i.e. declarations of quality in accordance with legislation. In addition, we must toughen the penal and administrative consequences for ignoring acting legislation and failing to meet commitments. This primarily applies to healthcare. The government must monitor the situation and respond to any health care violations that result in patient injury or risk of death.”
"The system of education institution accreditation, which is given the right to issue state certificates and diplomas, poses certain questions as well. The system is too cumbersome, with accreditation services being rather costly. Educational institutions spent some 1.9 billion roubles on these services in 2009 alone. The costs for university accreditation reach 1.5 billion roubles, and we all understand that these costs are passed on to the students in the end. I believe that educational institutions must be relieved from licensing and accreditation fees, replaced by a fixed and transparent state duty so that it will be clear to everyone how much to pay."
"The accreditation system [educational institutions] must be efficient and transparent. We need to take advantage of international best practices. Public organisations, professional associations and those who will end up employing university and vocational school graduates must be involved in redefining the accreditation process. We need to use digital technology and the opportunities the Internet offers."
"Universities alone must submit quite a weighty folder, about 250 documents, 3,000 pages [to obtain the licence] in total. We cannot ensure a proper quality of education simply by making organisations collect reams of paperwork. The existing procedure needs overhauling and streamlining. In my view, licenses should not be limited in term. At the same time, the penalties for license and regulation violation must be toughened. Fire safety inspections and inspections of education conditions and general quality must be regular, rigorous and unbiased."
"From my viewpoint, it is necessary to manage licensing and state accreditation policies making them effective processes for education development. We must encourage a healthy competition in the education market, screening out establishments that do not comply with contemporary standards. Some 140,000 educational institutions in Russia need licenses."
"As you know, amendments to the law on technical regulation have recently been passed to speed up and simplify the decision-making process. In particular, the amended law allows some appropriate decision to be made at the ministerial level. We propose transferring relevant powers to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. I expect this arrangement to speed up the process of updating the regulatory framework for our industry. The new rules will free manufacturers from unnecessary barriers, improve production and facilitate Russia's emergence in world markets. To be sure, the basic purpose of the new regulations is to promote the modernisation of the entire national economy".
"I support the ministry's view that it should not try to keep its excessive regulating and control functions. I hope that the ministry will take a most active part in elaborating and introducing modern economic methods of ensuring safety. I am referring to mandatory liability insurance, safety audit and better system of technical regulation. Eventually we must effectively encourage businesspeople to invest in safety. I am talking not only about companies providing services but also about all branches of industry and infrastructure".
"The investigation showed that if the fire inspection had been effective this tragedy would not have happened. This is why our common goal for this year is to seriously revise the principles of fire inspection procedures".
"I would like to note that in the last few years Russian rescue services have considerably enhanced their technical equipment, the personnel potential and mobility. However we must admit that there are still many problems. The system of warning about emergencies remains ineffective. The fire inspection makes this particularly obvious".
"I don't have to repeat that everything pertaining to people's safety has always been and will remain one of the government's main priorities. The government will continue to pay most careful attention to that. In effect, our goal should be to protect Russian citizens against any threats, be it from criminals, road traffic, fire, man-made disasters and natural catastrophes wherever possible".
"It is obvious that most regulatory procedures are a mere formality, unfortunately. More often than not inspections are carried out to collect kickbacks rather than inspect anything. This situation cannot be tolerated by ordinary people, businesses and the government. If we want to improve the business environment, which is a must, and encourage the development of small and medium-sized businesses, we must overhaul these procedures, and above all, the very nature of our regulation and supervision".
"There are no clear-cut relations between federal and regional government and administrative bodies to regulate agribusinesses. This particularly applies to prompt responses to local outbreaks of veterinary diseases. Precious time is impermissibly wasted on mutual shifting of responsibility and interdepartmental correspondence. And during this process, losses for producers are growing along with budget expenditures to deal with the consequences of these emergencies. I believe that today we should make comprehensive decisions for reforming the system of veterinary and phytosanitary oversight, including by amending federal legislation and departmental normative acts".
"There is no need to explain how important safety is for the production and sale of food products. However, for all its external appearance of reliability, the existing system does not guarantee either full or the most effective quality control. <…> The fact is that the regulatory system for agribusinesses is creating problems for honest producers. Those who smuggle illegal or poor quality goods into the Russian market, including imported products, easily circumvent these requirements and find themselves in a more beneficial position. They are making undeserved profits, and, what is the worst, threatening the health and even lives of consumers".
"Ultimately, regulatory agencies must address actual threats, protecting the lives and health of people and protecting the market against low-quality and dangerous products and services. In addition, we must continue reducing administrative barriers, increasing the transparency of our regulatory policies and getting rid of vague legal standards, which swindlers often take advantage of".