OFFICIALLY

President

He proposed that the State Duma finalize the draft amendments to the Forestry Code, which were approved by the lower house of parliament in the first reading in June. The head of state sent an opinion on the draft law to State Duma Chairman Gennady Seleznev, in which, “without challenging the norms of the draft,” he notes that the document “contains provisions that contradict the Land Code of the Russian Federation and the federal law “On Specially Protected Natural Territories.” This applies, in particular, to those provisions of the project that provide for the transfer of forests of state natural reserves and national parks to lands of other categories. In addition, the President has a number of comments regarding the conditions for transferring the forest fund to lands of other categories. At the autumn session of the State Duma, which opens on September 9, the bill will be considered both in the second reading and in general.
Government

It plans to allocate about 150 million rubles to the Chechen Republic to carry out and complete the harvest . This was announced yesterday by the Minister for Chechen Affairs Stanislav Ilyasov, opening a meeting of the government commission on the restoration of the socio-economic sphere of the republic. These funds, the minister explained, are supposed to be used, in particular, for the purchase of fuels and lubricants. At present, Stanislav Ilyasov said, the cleanup in Chechnya has begun, and a number of decisions need to be made for its successful implementation.

Instructed the Ministry of Taxation, the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Finance to develop proposals to reduce the time frame for VAT refunds when exporting industrial products. In addition, the government instructed ministries to consider the possibility of exempting from VAT advance payments received by taxpayers on account of upcoming supplies of goods. Relevant proposals must be submitted to the government in the prescribed manner simultaneously with materials on the issue of priority measures to improve tax administration in 2003-2004.
Departments

The slowdown in inflation rates in the first half of 2003 occurred in conditions of growing effective demand of the population, reports the Ministry of Economic Development. Over six months, the inflation rate decreased from 2.4% in January to 0.8% in May and June. In general, over six months, consumer prices increased by 7.9% compared to 9% in the first half of 2002. The contribution of rising prices and tariffs for paid services to the population to the inflation rate was 34.4%, the contribution of rising prices for food products was 47.5%, and for non-food products - 18%. As in the previous year, there was a rapid increase in tariffs for paid services to the population. For the first half of the year, the increase was 15.6% (20.3% for the corresponding period in 2002) and a fairly low increase in prices for goods - 6.3% (6.8%).

An expert working group to review materials for licensing subsoil use of the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR) recommended issuing licenses to a number of oil companies and one gold mining company. It is recommended to issue licenses for geological study and search for hydrocarbon raw materials in the Marietta and Yuzhno-Padinsky areas on the territory of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug - Nadymgazprom LLC; at the Fermersky, Tashlinsky, Kasatkinsky, Olkhovsky, Menzhinsky, Mikushkinsky, Senkinsky, Chaykinsky, Prigodnensky sections in the Samara Region - Samaraneftegaz LLC; Tuapse trough on the Black Sea shelf - OJSC NK Rosneft; on the shelf of the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, the Sea of ​​Japan and the Tatar Strait - FSUE Dalmorneftegeofizika. It was recommended to issue a license for the exploration and production of ore gold at the Nevskoye deposit in the Irkutsk region to Druza LLC.

The Ministry of Economic Development expects a slight slowdown in GDP growth rates in the second half of 2003. This forecast is contained in the ministry’s report on socio-economic development in January-June and estimates until the end of 2003. “Taking into account the changes in external conditions forecast for the second half of 2003, a slight slowdown in the monthly rate of real GDP growth is expected,” the report notes. . According to the official forecast of the ministry, GDP growth in 2003 will be 5.9%. As previously reported, in the first half of this year, GDP growth in the country amounted to 7.2%, in June - 7.3%.

From January 1, 2004, the Ministry of Finance will introduce an improved procedure for financing federal budget expenditures , which will stop the build-up of unauthorized accounts payable by budget recipients and more effectively manage budget funds. This is provided for by the order of the ministry, which approves a new procedure for communicating through the federal treasury bodies of the Ministry of Finance the volume of budget allocations, the limits of budget obligations and the volume of financing of federal budget expenditures. The order was officially published on July 22 and comes into force on January 1, 2004.

According to the Ministry of Economic Development, the real effective strengthening of the ruble exchange rate in the first half of this year amounted to 1.5%. At the same time, the real strengthening of the ruble against the dollar in the first half of the year amounted to 11.3%. “The negative impact of the strengthening of the ruble on the competitiveness of Russian goods compared to imported ones is somewhat mitigated by more favorable dynamics in relation to the euro. The real depreciation of the ruble against the euro over six months amounted to 3.1%, while the eurozone accounts for about a third of imports to Russia,” the report of the Ministry of Economic Development emphasizes. As previously reported, the Bank of Russia expects that the strengthening of the real effective exchange rate of the ruble based on the results of 2003 will not exceed 6%.
Accounts Chamber

The Board of the Accounts Chamber, chaired by Sergei Stepashin, considered the issue of implementing the recommendations and orders of the Accounts Chamber in 2002 and the first half of 2003. As the analysis showed, a number of federal ministries and departments, executive authorities of the constituent entities of the federation do not always properly respond to decisions of the board of the Accounts Chamber. At the autumn session of 2003, as part of the “government hour”, the Federation Council will consider this issue with the invitation of the Prime Minister, heads of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Property of Russia. The board decided to send a letter to the government regarding the implementation of the recommendations and orders of the Accounts Chamber, which are under the control of the board.
State Duma

The Legislation Committee will prepare a number of amendments and additions to the law on alternative civil service (ACS), which was signed yesterday by President Vladimir Putin. Amendments and additions will be presented to deputies for consideration during the autumn session. “The law contains specific bodies responsible for implementation - the Ministries of Defense and Labor,” noted Pavel Krasheninnikov. “Apparently, the government will also have to adopt changes to the Regulations on the Ministry of Labor so that this department can effectively carry out its work.”

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