November 26, 2012, 10:08 pm Politics

“Many objects are already in ruins”

Municipalities resist transferring illiquid assets of the Ministry of Defense to their balance sheets

The problem of transferring the property of the Ministry of Defense to regional authorities remains one of the main ones within the framework of the military reform, which Sergei Shoigu inherited from Anatoly Serdyukov. The municipal authorities, according to the military department, refuse to accept 70% of the Ministry of Defense's facilities on their balance sheet, while the Ministry of Finance talks about all 90%. Regions complain about the state of disrepair and insufficient compensation for maintenance of facilities.

facilities The transfer of Ministry of Defense , primarily military camps, to the balance of local authorities is taking place with great difficulties; both sides have accumulated claims both against each other and against the legislative framework, this became clear during the “round table” in the Federation Council (SF), which was organized by the Committee on Federal Structure, Regional Policy, Local Government and Northern Affairs.

Council Defense and Security Committee, The head of the Federation Viktor Ozerov , who opened the hearings, brought up for discussion one of the main questions that has still not been resolved as part of the ongoing military reform: should the Ministry of Defense continue to dispose of such a large amount of property, given that the army bears only expenses from such activities and does not receive any income.

Auditor of the Accounts Chamber Valery Bogomolov recalled that the current problems of military camps go back to the 80s. “It all started with the so-called perestroika. It gave the first impetus that the military camps began to die. In the same Trans-Baikal Territory there was a huge number of military towns with units ready to repel the threat from the south. But the military units were removed, and the towns began to die,” Bogomolov began with a historical excursion. According to him, the number of military facilities was so large that the Ministry of Defense still cannot compile a single register of them.

“Last year alone (in 2011 - Gazeta.Ru) 1 billion rubles were spent on the inventory of military facilities. The inventory continues, and I am convinced that by the end of 2012, despite promises, it will not end,” said the auditor of the Accounts Chamber.

Deputy Director of the Department of Property Relations of the Ministry of Defense Olesya Podgornaya explained why her department does not need military camps.

“The Ministry of Defense wants to get rid of its facilities, this has never been hidden. Municipal authorities refuse to accept 70% of the real estate in military camps. The question remains what to do with (this) property,” Podgornaya cited statistics.

She warned that if the towns continue to remain on the balance sheet of the Ministry of Defense, the objects “will perish and be destroyed.” “The Ministry of Defense is not ready to maintain such property. But the transfer can be carried out,” suggested the official of the military department and cited the agreement in Vladivostok as an example. Last week it became known that the Ministry of Defense is transferring 382 military camps to Primorye, as well as 100 hectares of land, including some of them in Vladivostok.

“Who is to blame for the fact that such problems persist throughout the country? Can you explain to us why the calculation methodology developed by the Ministry of Defense does not work?” asked Podgornaya — the moderator of the round table, first deputy chairman of the Federation Council committee on the federal structure , Sergei Katanandov, . We are talking about the method of compensation that the military department must pay to municipalities for the maintenance of property. Podgornaya avoided answering the question, noting that the money should be transferred to the Ministry of Finance and this question should also be addressed to it.

In turn, the representative of the deputy director of the department of interbudgetary relations of the Ministry of Finance, Oleg Bezhaev, noted that no proposals for compensation had been submitted to the department. He noted that the Ministry of Finance has its own versions of the methodology for calculating payments to municipalities and they are ready to provide them in the near future.

Bezhaev noted that not all military facilities are needed by local authorities.

“According to our assessment, no more than 10% of this property is suitable for solving issues of local importance. They have the right to accept all the remaining 90%, but the municipal authorities are unlikely to need military facilities,” stated a Ministry of Finance official.

The condition of the Ministry of Defense facilities is often unsatisfactory, Bezhaev emphasized.

“Many facilities are in ruins and have not been kindergartens for a long time. They have not been used for their intended purpose for a long time. The issue is not about money, you can’t take everything,” the representative of the Ministry of Finance advised the regional authorities.

Representatives of the latter sharply criticized the military department. “This year, the Ministry of Defense in Transbaikalia has prepared 6 different lists for transmission to local authorities. At first there were 12 towns, then 40, seven, 134, 129 and, according to the last list, 144 towns. The Ministry of Defense does not know what property is needed for defense and what needs to be transferred,” said Federation Council member Bato-Zhargal Zhambalnimbuev indignantly.

According to him, “54.3% of objects either cannot be found and are missing, or they are destroyed.” He added that there is often not enough legislative basis for transferring objects into municipal ownership. In the adopted Federal Law No. 423 (“On the procedure for the gratuitous transfer of military real estate into the ownership of constituent entities of the Russian Federation.” - Gazeta.Ru) only Moscow and St. Petersburg are named, and this creates difficulties for other regions, the senator noted.

Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Trans-Baikal Territory Alexey Koshelev accused the military department of trying to remove any property when transferring objects.

“When the Ministry of Defense leaves, it takes everything and leaves bare walls. For example, they even removed old washing machines from the transferred hospital. Why do they need them? They say - for the needs of the army,” Koshelev is indignant.

According to him, the proposed methodology for calculating compensation for the repair of Ministry of Defense facilities is unsatisfactory. “We are being given 32 thousand sq. m. m of social cultural objects. According to our calculations, 1.5 billion rubles are needed to restore them. According to today's methods - 70 million. Yes, this is not even enough for fuel oil! Not to mention the hospital and housing stock,” Koshelev emphasized.

The head of the Vlasikha urban district of the Moscow region, Olga Agafonova , reproached the military department for handing over the objects to local authorities without land. “More than 200 objects became municipal property, all without land. And this is very difficult, since reconstruction is a problem. The stadium, the boiler room, everything was transferred without land. The apartment building was given to us, but the playground near the house was not. How can we serve the territory,” thought Agafonova. He proposed adopting a federal target program for repairing the property of the Ministry of Defense.

First Deputy Governor of the Murmansk Region Alexey Tyukavin complained about the condition of kindergartens, which the Ministry of Defense transfers to local authorities.

“From December 1, the Ministry of Defense will stop paying salaries. Of the 15 kindergartens to be transferred, three are no longer functioning. Five will be closed immediately due to emergency conditions. The remaining seven require major repairs. All these institutions do not meet sanitary standards. Thus, supervisory authorities can come and close them at any moment,” Tyukavin said.

Representatives of the Arkhangelsk, Kaliningrad and Smolensk regions made similar complaints.

Katanandov, who closed the round table, once again repeated that the transfer of the property of the Ministry of Defense to municipal authorities is a very complex issue, summing up that changes need to be made to Federal Law No. 423.