| Monetization of benefits may cause a wave of lawsuits against the Ministry of Finance For the first time, one of the municipal enterprises of Irkutsk sued the state for debts under federal laws. The regional arbitration court satisfied the claim of the municipal production heat and power enterprise (MPTP) Irkutskteploenergo against the main financial administration of the region and the Ministry of Finance of Russia for the recovery of funds for the implementation of the federal law “On Veterans” and “On Social Protection of Disabled Persons”.
According to the court decision, the authorities are obliged to compensate heat power engineers for lost income, through which the enterprise supplied hot water and heat to beneficiaries. Debts have been accumulated since 2002 and exceed 60 million rubles.
Optimists believe that the created precedent will encourage other Irkutsk municipal enterprises to begin litigation with higher budgets. Moreover, the underfunding of “preferential” laws is growing by leaps and bounds: according to the latest data from the Irkutsk Department of Social Protection, it amounts to about 300 million rubles. Skeptics are in no hurry to rejoice. First, the defendant has the right to appeal. Secondly, it is far from certain that the debtor budget will find the required amount.
As Leonid Yudin, director of Irkutskteploenergo, told Vremya Novostey, the company sent a statement of claim to arbitration last summer: “Representatives of the State Financial Institution and the Ministry of Finance tried to prove that the federal and regional budgets do not owe anyone anything. And we allegedly demand non-existent amounts. The trial lasted for a year. All documentation was thoroughly checked, and a request was made to several authorities for each figure. “Irkutskteploenergo’s lawyers managed to confirm the validity of the claims - the court decided to satisfy our claim.”
60 million rubles seized. -- not yet the entire amount of debt of the region and the federation to municipal heat power companies. For a complete calculation it takes about the same. “We intend to file a second lawsuit,” said Leonid Yudin.
However, the director of the MPTP has no illusions: “According to the law, the defendant has the right to appeal to the appellate authority. And I’m sure it will be implemented.”
The head of the social protection department of Irkutsk, Galina Rodina, also reacted with restrained joy to the decision of the regional arbitration. Yes, she personally encourages municipal enterprises to file claims - there are currently 20 applications in court proceedings. However, Galina Rodina does not risk guaranteeing the success of the plaintiffs, as well as stating the complete victory of those who won the court: “A positive court decision is not yet a guarantee of payment of the entire amount of the debt. Defendants may appeal and the award amounts may change.”
The Main Financial Directorate refrained from commenting, citing the absence of the chief. The chairman of the regional committee on housing policy, Pyotr Voronin, told Vremya Novostei that he is aware of these claims, but has not yet seen the decisions. “All we are talking about are federal laws,” noted Pyotr Voronin. “Last year, in accordance with them, benefits worth more than 700 million rubles were accrued to veterans and disabled people of the Angara region.” (we are talking only about benefits for payment of utilities. -- Ed. ). The official noted that an appeal will be filed in the near future. The current budget deficit of the Angara region is almost 1 billion rubles, so compensation for benefits is clearly beyond the capabilities of the regional authorities.
In turn, the chairman of the budget committee of the regional legislative assembly, Yuri Rozhkov, makes disappointing forecasts: “The budget may soon be overwhelmed by such claims.” As proof, the deputy cites figures: the implementation of the federal law on veterans costs 2.5 billion rubles, and no more than 600 million are allocated in the region’s treasury for these purposes. According to Yuri Rozhkov, deputies of the legislative assembly this year sent a special appeal to Vladimir Putin, in which asked to allocate additional money to implement the laws. We never received an answer. Today, the amount of lawsuits against the regional budget under these laws is already 500 million rubles. Moreover, the arbitration court rejected the regional administration’s claim against the Ministry of Finance, with which the regional authorities were going to share financial responsibility.
As you know, the principle of delimitation of interbudgetary powers comes into force here: in the law on veterans, a significant part of the benefits (including expensive ones - for transport and dental prosthetics) is assigned to the subject of the federation - it turns out that it is also the one who is obliged to finance it. “Several years ago, the work of the budget system was blocked by claims to collect debts on child benefits,” recalls Yuri Rozhkov.
Social security workers say that the upcoming monetization could also trigger a wave of lawsuits by the end of the year. Municipal enterprises fear that with the entry into force of new rules regarding the provision of benefits, debts under federal laws on veterans and disabled people will be “forgiven” by the state. Anastasia DAGAEVA, Irkutsk |
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