| The President called for accelerating the transition to an innovative economy Vladimir Putin, meeting yesterday with members of the Cabinet of Ministers, gave specifics to the discussion of the medium-term program of socio-economic development until 2008. Tomorrow the draft of this document will be discussed at a cabinet meeting.
“Without removing the task of doubling GDP in ten years from the agenda, we are trying to break the vicious circle of the economy’s dependence only on oil prices,” said Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov. — Several months ago, we instructed our ministries to develop a development strategy in their industries. Such materials have been prepared. I would like them to really analyze the situation more deeply, but nevertheless there is already an opportunity to integrate these strategies into the medium-term program.”
Vladimir Putin immediately showed awareness of what kind of documents were prepared in the ministries, how deeply they analyzed the situation and what were the possibilities of “installing” them.
“We have repeatedly discussed the need to transition to an innovative economy. The Ministry of Economic Development had proposals, and there were discussions in the government about the creation of high-tech zones. Where is the draft document?” - the president addressed the head of the Ministry of Economic Development German Gref. Although everyone in the government knows that this is a question for the Ministry of Finance: it is this department that is slowing down the idea of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade. “An agreed document should be released from the Ministry of Finance this week,” Mr. Gref sent the president to Alexei Kudrin. And the president again showed his awareness of the work on the project: “We need to avoid emasculation. We don’t need pieces of paper to declare slogans. We need real mechanisms for working in this area.”
The president's words, without a doubt, shed balm on the soul of Economic Development Minister German Gref, who has been trying for several years to push for the adoption of a law on special economic zones (SEZs). This bill is one of the minister’s favorite brainchildren, but throughout this time he has been opposed by his colleague, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin. There were rumors that Mr. Gref even tried to exchange his agreement on this issue for a less radical version of tax reform. Moreover, the provision on providing tax benefits at the federal level has disappeared from the latest version of the law. Only regional and municipal authorities have the right, by their decisions, to exempt the zone from paying taxes. However, even in this modest version, the law has not yet been agreed upon. The president's support can play a key role in the fate of the law.
It is possible that now Mr. Gref will be able to revive a more radical version of the bill. Previously, it was planned to provide zones with large-scale tax benefits - for example, on income tax or property tax. “I understand the concerns about the possibility of using these tools for fraud, but this should not stop us from moving forward, we should not sign that we cannot administer effectively,” the president said. Vera SITNINA |
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