Translated material
Wholesale market laws
Before the holidays, the Federation Council considered eight dozen issues in one day
The penultimate meeting of the spring session of the Federation Council yesterday turned out to be unusually hot for Russian senators. It’s not just about the weather, but also about legislative activity: the statesmen, by the sweat of their brow, considered more than 80 (!) issues during the day, ranging from amendments to the current legislation and ending with the appointment of a judge of the Constitutional Court. The expression “by the sweat of your brow” in this case has the most direct meaning: as the speaker of the upper house Sergei Mironov told reporters, due to the abnormal heat yesterday it was decided to work without jackets if desired, and whoever wanted to took it off. To get everything done, they started work at nine in the morning - an hour earlier than usual.The senators decided to reject only two laws in which their colleagues from the State Duma made mistakes. These are laws on an alcoholism test when hiring in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and on the mitigation of administrative liability for business entities. But 70 other bills were approved practically without discussion. These include the law on the specifics of public civil service in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on the introduction of an alternative dispute resolution procedure, on the reorganization of Rosnanotech into a joint-stock company, on heat supply, on the application of international financial reporting standards (IFRS) in the country, on additional measures to financial system support.
Amendments to the Tax Code, to the 2010 budget and changes to the budget for the planning period 2011-2012 were approved. Let us remember that this is due to an upward revision of the forecast price for Urals oil, as well as a lowering of the forecast for the inflation rate in 2010 to 7%. As a result, total revenue increases by RUB 833.8 billion, or 12%. Due to this, by 325.45 billion rubles. Budget expenditures will be increased by 508.3 billion rubles. its deficit will be reduced. In addition, budget changes entailed an increase of RUB 8.8 billion. total income of the Pension Fund.
Finally, the senators voted to introduce a new memorial date in Russia: from now on, September 2 will be added to Victory Day on May 9 - the day of the end of the Second World War. A corresponding amendment has been made to the law “On days of military glory and memorable dates.”
Perhaps the most popular of the bills discussed yesterday were amendments to the law “On Road Safety”, which actually introduce prohibition while driving. The new version of the law repeals the previously introduced ppmille standard, which allowed driving a car with a concentration of ethyl alcohol in the blood of up to 0.3 grams per liter of blood, or up to 0.15 milligrams per liter of exhaled air. Now these concessions have been canceled - you can drive only if you are crystal sober.
True, Senator from Tuva Lyudmila Narusova expressed concern about the fate of drivers taking alcohol-containing medications. And the representative of the Pskov region, Mikhail Margelov, with an obvious hint, asked whether the law had undergone an anti-corruption examination. In turn, presidential representative Alexander Kotenkov asked to support the law, assuring senators that before the adoption of the ppm norm, neither kefir nor kvass created any problems. “Russia lived for a long time with a zero alcohol standard, and no one’s rights were taken away for kefir,” Nikolai Kondratenko, a representative of the Krasnodar Territory, agreed with him. Three senators did not heed these arguments and abstained, but the law was passed by a majority vote.
And the statesmen themselves found the amendments to the law “On the status of a member of the Federation Council and the status of a deputy of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly” closer to their hearts. The new norm prohibits people's representatives from absenting themselves from plenary sessions without good reason. Responsibility for absenteeism will be established by the regulations of the relevant chamber of parliament. “As for attendance, we are head and shoulders above the State Duma, where it is a complete disgrace, but not all is well in the Federation Council,” said Senator Nikolai Ryzhkov. Vladimir Kulakov (Voronezh region) did not agree with this, explaining the reason for the frequent absences: it turns out that all the troubles are due to the fact that meetings of committees and commissions are poorly planned. Nevertheless, the chairman of the regulations commission of the Federation Council, Nikolai Tulaev, promised his colleagues in the fall to hold an educational conversation about discipline. Apparently, at the height of summer and on the eve of the holidays, no one remembers about attendance. The last meeting of the spring session will take place on Monday, July 19, after which the senators, following their colleagues from the State Duma, will retire until September.