The government has been given
until March 1, 2010 to prepare proposals on the reform of state corporations.
Some of them will be transformed into joint stock companies, and for the rest
it is necessary to determine how long they will exist and to put them under
total government control. This was a directive President Dmitry Medvedev issued
to Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. After studying the current legislation on
state corporations, Izvestia came to
the conclusion that the government faces a daunting task.
"The lack of proper control
over the activities of state-owned corporations often leads to ineffective use
of the state property handed over to them," the directive reads in part.
Indeed, under the law the only
way to monitor their work is to read their quarterly or annual reports.
State corporations are exempt
from certain provisions of the Law On Non-Commercial Organisations concerning
control. Thus the authorised agency is not allowed to audit how money is spent
and if irregularities are revealed it is not allowed to issue a warning to the
state corporation. Similarly, the status of the property that the government
hands over as its contribution is unclear. On the face of it, it is state
property, but at the same time it is the property of the corporation. The Audit
Chamber must take part in controlling the work of state corporations, Medvedev
noted.
The President also instructed
the Prime Minister to "seal the legal status of the employees of state
corporations to cover them by the same restrictions as civil servants and by
conflict of interest regulations." What does that mean? Civil servants, for
example, are obliged to provide information on themselves, their families and
their incomes. They have no right to engage in entrepreneurial activities and
to buy securities. In the event of a conflict of interests they are to report
the situation to their superiors: for example, my decision would harm my wife's
business.
"To solve the issue of the
responsibility of governing bodies and officials for achieving the goals set
for the corporations, for preserving and effectively using the property and the
procedure of fixing their remuneration," was the President's instruction. The
huge bonuses the executives of the Housing and Utilities Reform Fund paid
themselves have been well publicised. At the time the Fund said that the
executives' bonuses had been well earned. OK, but let the interconnection be
spelled out. And anyway one can simply put in the law (and we have as many laws
as we have state corporations) the line similar to that in the document
concerning Rosnano: "The government shall determine the size of remuneration of
the Director-General".
State corporations are not
covered by the laws on government procurement (tenders and equal access for all
the participants), which is not right. This of course gives them an opportunity
to bring in "their own" companies, and that is a spawning ground for
corruption. The law should be the same for everyone, Medvedev said.
He also urged the need to
develop "performance indicators for the activities of state corporations and a
statute on government representatives on the supervisory boards of state
corporations; the statute should include reporting issues." Last week
Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika told the President that the members of
supervisory boards were derelict in their duties, often skipped board meetings
and signed documents without looking at them. Most members of the supervisory
boards are Russian government officials.
* * *
The President set some other
deadlines.
By December 15, 2009 the plan
of priority actions in 2010 to modernise standard general education is to be ready.
The official responsible is Vladimir Putin.
By January 1, 2010 the system
of criteria of assessing the performance of federal executive bodies aimed at
solving the problems of the North Caucasus is
to be approved. The official responsible is Vladimir Putin.
By January 2010 the programme
of accelerated technical modernisation of the electoral system must be ready.
The officials responsible are Vladimir Putin and Vladimir Churov.
By January 2010 the draft
federal law on wider use of collateral as punishment, the use of fines as
punishment for crimes of medium gravity and the introduction of forced labour
as a distinct form of punishment should be submitted to the State Duma. The
official responsible is Alexander Konovalov.
By January 15, 2010 the draft
federal law on creating appellate instances in general jurisdiction courts is
to be submitted to the State Duma. The official responsible is Sergei
Naryshkin.
By February 1, 2010 the draft
law on medicines, including their sale and requirements to their safety, is to
be submitted to the State Duma.
Yelena Shishkunova
