The issues of state property management seriously worry members of the Unity faction. Yesterday they presented to the public two bills proposing to create a single register of all assets and debt obligations of Russia. The deputies want to approve this register annually together with the budget. However, government officials call the initiative of the loyal faction "senseless".

The unified register of state property, according to the deputies, should include not only real estate, state enterprises and joint-stock companies with state participation, but also securities issued and acquired by the government, as well as all other obligations and rights of claim. Together with the budget, the register would constitute a kind of annual balance sheet of the state, taking into account all assets and liabilities.

The government has not yet given an official response to the bills, but the general mood of officials is clearly negative. Deputy Minister of Property Relations Sergei Molozhavy told Vedomosti that the implementation of the law will require unjustified budget expenditures. "The deputies want to constantly re-evaluate all state property, but this is a very costly and, most importantly, unnecessary process. Why do we need to know the market value of each small and unprofitable JSC? All companies with state participation, whose shares are listed on the RTS, can be counted on the fingers of two hands," Molozhavy said. "The bill is written in the spirit of a good, strong order to the government, and it has nothing in common with the law," another official of the Ministry of Property Relations, who wished to remain anonymous, told Vedomosti.

But deputies believe that state enterprises and joint-stock companies are simply hiding profits, taking advantage of the owner's inattention. "The state does not take into account the capitalization of the joint-stock companies it owns. Instead of paying dividends, they establish subsidiaries, where all the profits accumulate. RAO UES of Russia has 78 subsidiaries, and their profits exceed the profits of the parent company, but only it pays dividends," said deputy Konstantin Sevenard at a press conference.

But officials believe that the Duma has no reason to worry about RAO. "Not a single RAO subsidiary can be established without a decision by the board of directors, which is headed by [presidential chief of staff Alexander] Voloshin. So there is more than enough control there from the state," a Ministry of Property official told Vedomosti.

As for Russia's debt obligations, the government is also unlikely to agree with the deputies. The Duma already annually reviews the program of external and internal borrowing. "We are ready to provide the deputies with any information that interests them. By the way, the Accounts Chamber also has access to all this data," assured Andrei Cherepanov, head of the Finance Ministry's external debt department. "But I don't understand what the point of approving such a balance is in the Duma? The balance is the state of affairs at a specific point in time. If the deputies, for example, do not approve it, will our external debt disappear?" Cherepanov said. Incidentally, the bill provides for the possibility of rejecting the balance.

The legislative initiatives of "Unity" could theoretically be of interest to appraisers, since they open up a very large market for them. But the chairman of the National College of Appraisers, Vladimir Kruglikov, told Vedomosti that he does not consider such a prospect. "Appraisal is a mechanism for society to control the property that belongs to it. How can we objectively assess the value of state assets if, according to the law, our activities are regulated by the Ministry of Property Relations? If the situation does not change, the new law will be impossible to implement," Kruglikov told Vedomosti.

Consolidated balance sheet of Russia