A person close to the state operator and an employee of the relevant federal department told Vedomosti about the letter from Minister of Communications and Mass Communications Nikolai Nikiforov to President Vladimir Putin. According to them, the document was written and sent back in the summer. The letter refers to 3 billion rubles. from the state budget funds that should have been allocated to Rostelecom for a project to eliminate the digital divide (Internet access in small localities in Russia, see sidebar), but ended up in the general budget pot and did not reach Rostelecom. A person close to the presidential administration also knows about Minister Nikiforov’s letter.

The construction of fiber-optic communication lines is financed from the so-called universal service reserve. Telecommunications operators contribute money to this reserve, the amount of contributions is 1.2% of revenue, funds are transferred quarterly. First, money from the universal service reserve goes to the federal budget, after which it is distributed from there to the contractor, i.e. Rostelecom. The Law on Communications states that the reserve funds are completely spent exclusively for the purposes provided for by law - now these are universal communication services, which include the project to eliminate the digital divide.

But this year it didn’t work out that way, says a person close to Rostelecom: the Ministry of Finance received 14.5 billion rubles into the budget. from the universal service reserve, and allocated only 11.5 billion rubles for the project to eliminate the digital divide. Some of the funds collected from telecommunications operators were redistributed to other budget needs, continues a person close to Rostelecom, and as a result, Rostelecom did not receive these funds.

This was an unpleasant surprise for Rostelecom - the company was counting on all the money from the universal service reserve, and therefore had already borrowed from banks, expecting to repay when it received funds from the budget, complains Vedomosti’s interlocutor close to the presidential administration.

Network in Russia
The project to eliminate the digital divide was launched in 2014. It assumes that over 10 years Rostelecom will lay about 200,000 km of new fiber-optic communication lines in small settlements in Russia - to provide them with access to high-speed Internet (with a data transfer speed of at least 10 megabits per second)....
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Network in Russia

The project to eliminate the digital divide was launched in 2014. It assumes that over 10 years Rostelecom will lay about 200,000 km of new fiber-optic communication lines in small settlements in Russia - to provide them with access to high-speed Internet (with a data transfer speed of at least 10 megabits per second). The cost of the project is estimated at 67.5 billion rubles, Rostelecom reported.

Rostelecom representative Kira Kiryukhina told Vedomosti that the main construction of the project to eliminate the digital divide is planned for the first years of the contract. Therefore, financing is not covered by annual payments from the universal service reserve (they arrive later than Rostelecom needs. - Vedomosti). To compensate for the shortage of investment resources, the state operator is forced to attract debt financing; Among other things, it comes from the National Welfare Fund, Kiryukhina admits. Now there is a risk that the project will become more expensive - it is associated with a significant devaluation of the ruble, she continues. The company is in negotiations with the state customer, a revision of the construction schedule is being discussed, Kiryukhina explains.

Kiryukhina did not comment on the information that Minister Nikiforov wrote a letter to the president asking him to resolve the issue of 3 billion rubles.

An employee of the relevant federal department calls the situation with an underpayment of 3 billion rubles. "Rostelecom" from the budget due to a legal conflict.

The arguments of the Ministry of Finance, he continues, are that the ministry formed the budget at its own discretion, and when it came to allocating another 3 billion rubles, the ministry treated this as a request for additional funds.

Representatives of the Ministry of Finance declined to comment, including in response to a request to evaluate the correct understanding of the ministry’s position as stated by Vedomosti’s interlocutor.

Nikolai Nikiforov mentioned the problem of redistributing funds from the universal service fund at an extended meeting of Rossvyaz back in May of this year. “With the planned collection of funds into the budget of 14.5 billion rubles. This year, the Russian budget provides for financing the costs directly for the universal service at only 11.5 billion rubles,” the minister complained then. – 3 billion rubles. dissolve in the general budget pot and go to other budget needs.”

Minister Nikiforov called this approach incorrect and contrary to federal legislation: “Because the collection that all operators make for the universal service fund is today directly provided for by a separate article of the federal law “On Communications” and is targeted.”

Since his appointment as minister, Nikiforov has called solving the problem of digital inequality in Russia one of his key tasks.

The first two interlocutors of Vedomosti say that Putin responded to the request of the Minister of Communications and instructed to allocate money from the budget that was not received by Rostelecom. A person close to the presidential administration does not know about the fate of the letter.

Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov told Vedomosti that he does not comment on official correspondence until specific decisions are made.

A representative of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications declined to comment.

The Ministry of Finance deprived Rostelecom of 3 billion rubles