| President
He said that this week the government will return to discussing the problems of social development of rural areas, sparsely populated areas and small towns. Vladimir Putin especially noted the importance of solving this problem, taking into account the fact that “one of the main priorities for 2004 is inter-budgetary relations in the context of preparing a legislative package on the division of powers between the center, federal subjects and municipalities.” The President recalled that this package of bills is in the State Duma, “but a lot still needs to be done for it to take a form that would suit the center, the regions, and the municipalities.”
Government
A resolution was adopted to begin commodity interventions in the grain market, Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Gordeev said at a meeting of the president with members of the government. According to him, in accordance with this document, adopted on Friday, from the second ten days of February the state will begin to sell 1.6 million tons of grain, primarily wheat and rye. “According to forecasts, grain interventions will reduce grain prices by about 10%,” said Alexey Gordeev.
There are no plans to take away “northern allowances” from regions with difficult living conditions, said the head of the Ministry of Economic Development (MEDT) German Gref. As Mr. Gref explained, the Ministry of Economic Development has developed a map from which the severity of natural and climatic conditions will be calculated. “Based on this map,” added the head of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, “we will calculate which region to allocate which subsidies.”
Deputy Prime Minister Boris Aleshin, who returned from a business trip to Armenia, where he resolved issues of the final transfer of part of the property of Armenia to pay off debts to Russia , reported to Vladimir Putin that he visited “the entire complex of facilities,” in particular the nuclear power plant and the Hrazdan Thermal Power Plant, all they are “in working order.” “The Hrazdan Thermal Power Plant is operating and electricity can go to Georgia; The deficit that exists in Iran, Turkey, Georgia and Armenia itself can be covered by the energy generated at this station, believes Boris Aleshin.
Departments
In 2004, public control over the media working on ethnic issues will be strengthened, said Minister of National Policy Vladimir Zorin. According to him, monitoring of the press, television and radio programs “on a constant basis” will be carried out by public, expert councils and human rights organizations. This will be done in order to minimize the appearance of information that will incite ethnic and religious hatred.”
Russia's domestic debt increased in January by 1.21% - from 663.534 billion rubles, as of January 1, to 671.609 billion rubles. -- on February 1st. Such information is contained in the materials of the Department of Public Internal Debt Management of the Ministry of Finance.
The head of the Russian Ministry of Transport, Sergei Frank, will chair the meetings of the European Commission of Ministers of Transport (ECMT) from July 1, 2004 to July 1, 2005. In this regard, negotiations between Sergei Frank and ECMT Secretary General Jack Short will take place today in Moscow, during which it is planned to determine the main directions of the commission’s work in 2004-2005. In particular, at the negotiations it is planned to discuss projects for the development of international intermodal transport corridors Berlin - Warsaw - Minsk - Moscow and Helsinki - St. Petersburg - Moscow. The next session of the ECMT is planned to be held in Moscow in the summer of 2005.
General Prosecutor's Office
Former Deputy Prosecutor General Vasily Kolmogorov has been appointed Advisor to the Prosecutor General of Russia. The corresponding order was signed by Prosecutor General Vladimir Ustinov. Last week, the Federation Council dismissed Vasily Kolmogorov from the post of Deputy Prosecutor General due to reaching the age limit of 60 years.
State Duma
It is expected that on Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Alexei Kudrin will speak to State Duma deputies with information on the progress of implementation of the federal law “On compulsory civil liability insurance of vehicle owners.” The Deputy Prime Minister was also asked to talk about the prospects for applying this law in 2004. A number of State Duma deputies insist on amending this law in order to lower the insurance threshold for low-income car owners, primarily pensioners and the disabled.
The State Duma Banking Committee yesterday approved 16 bills, which the committee will consider during the spring session of 2004. The Committee will consider amendments to the laws “On investment funds”, “On banks and banking activities”, “On compulsory insurance of civil liability of vehicle owners”, “On the insolvency (bankruptcy) of credit organizations”, “On the securities market” and “On joint stock companies”. societies." The bills “On compulsory insurance of civil liability for causing harm during the operation of a dangerous facility”, “On win-win gold certificates”, “On the Federal Bureau of Credit History of the Russian Federation” and the bill “On the Bureau of Credit History”, “On compulsory professional pension systems” will also be considered. in the Russian Federation”, “On the insurance premium for financing compulsory professional pension systems”, “On mutual insurance”.
Army
Russia and Vietnam have good prospects for increasing bilateral military-technical cooperation (MTC). This was stated by Deputy Minister of Defense of Russia Mikhail Dmitriev, head of the Russian Committee on Military-Technical Cooperation with Foreign States, who is in Vietnam on a working visit. According to Mikhail Dmitriev, Vietnam for Russia is a strategic and reliable partner with whom it is convenient to work.
Regions
The Central Election Commission of Udmurtia has registered four more candidates for the post of head of the region, whose elections will be held on March 14. Among the candidates: the current president of the republic, Alexander Volkov, the chief physician of medical unit No. 8, Alexey Churshin; Chairman of the Standing Commission of the State Council of Udmurtia on Legality, Public Safety and Citizens' Rights Mikhail Kokorin; Deputy General Director of the State Federal Unitary Enterprise "Economic Center" Mikhail Afanasyev, Deputy Director of the Sochi branch of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia Alexey Shtykov, General Director of OJSC "Udmurt Insurance Medical Company "Astra" Yuri Odiyankov; his brother, chief physician of the Republican Clinical Hospital No. 3 Evgeny Odiyankov; temporarily unemployed former mechanical engineer Dalgat Dalgatov, unemployed Sergei Kletenkov.
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