April 28, 2011. XLVIII Session of the Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast

At the XLVIII Session of the Duma Tomsk Oblast Governor Viktor Kress reported on the performance of the executive bodies of Tomsk Oblast in 2010.

STATEMENTS BY OBLAST DEPUTIES

Chairman of the Labor and Social Policy Committee of the Oblast Duma Igor Chernyshev brought up the issue of building a bridge over the River Vakh.

Deputy Nikolay Kirillov put out a statement on the need for financial support for the reconstruction of the House of Culture in Spasskoye village.

Ivan Kucherov spoke about utilization of Crystal sports complex in Tomsk.

Vladimir Dolgikh made a statement on Seversk fiscal capacity. “The position of the federal agencies attracts a good deal of criticism. Federal subsidies go down against the background of growing inflation. Seversk has to deal with a lack of nursery school capacity and deteriorating public premises without having enough money,” the deputy said.

MONUMENTS WILL BE SIGNED

The deputies passed amendments to the Oblast Laws “On museums and museum management in Tomsk Oblast” and “On cultural heritage sites (historical and cultural monuments) of Tomsk Oblast.” All cultural heritage sites of regional importance will bear plates containing information on the object. The signatures will be in Russian – official language of the Russian Federation.

Head of the Oblast Department of Culture Andrey Kuzichkin reported that 56 plates were installed last year and at least 100 will be installed in 2011.

ALLOWANCE FOR TITLE

In the first reading the deputies passed amendments to the Oblast Law “On arts and culture public policy in Tomsk Oblast.”

FLATS FOR DISMISSED MILITARY

The deputies unanimously voted for the amendments to the Oblast Law that establishes a procedure for provision of housing to the military dismissed from service and the categories of the military enlisted in the Federal Law “On status of the military” who were registered as in need of housing before January 1, 2005. The Law sets a list of documents to be submitted by citizens in order to obtain housing, establishes a procedure for housing transfer into ownership free of cost, under the social rent contract or immediate compensation to acquire or construct housing, describes the priority determination procedure.

The housing will be financed from the subvention funds of the federal budget. According to Tomsk Oblast municipal government bodies, 16 citizens falling under this category are on the list of those in need of improving their living conditions.

FLATS FOR LARGE FAMILIES

The deputies considered in the second reading amendments to the Oblast Law “On special-purpose housing in Tomsk Oblast.” These amendments allow to provide large families in need of housing with five and more underage children with flats free of cost.

100 million rubles will be spent on that from the Oblast budget.

LONGER TAX BENEFITS FOR POSTAL ORGANIZATIONS

The deputies passed amendments to the Oblast Law “On corporate property tax” which prolong property tax benefits for postal organizations. Apart from that the Law provides a property tax benefit on property belonging to air fields and air terminals, to be put in operation starting from January 1, 2011.

MONEY FOR MEDICINE

There is a plan to spend 7.2 million rubles on training the medical staff who will work in Kolpashevo, Strezhevoy, and Asino branches of the Oblast Cardiovascular Surgery Center at Tomsk Regional Clinical Hospital. This money will be allocated as part of the federal program for help to people suffering from peripheral vascular diseases.

PRESS CONFERENCE OF DUMA SPEAKER BORIS MALTSEV

Speaker of the Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast Boris Maltsev held a traditional press conference during the break.

“The central issue on today’s agenda is the Governor’s report on the performance of the executive bodies of Tomsk Oblast in 2010.

On the key quality of life parameters adopted by the UNO (birth and death rate, migration, income) we have performed rather well. Tomsk Oblast was able not only to maintain but even increase its population numbers. Compare the situation in the Siberian Federal District – population decreased by 4% since 2002. We are among the few Russian regions where population growth has been recorded for the fourth year in a row. One of the most contributing factors is the migration gain – in 2010 it went up 10% or 4,972 people versus 2009. Tomsk Oblast is at the first position in the Siberian Federal District for migration gain per capita.”

Investment in fixed assets. Last year 76 billion rubles was attracted to the Oblast. For investment in fixed assets per capita Tomsk Oblast is the second in the Siberian Federal District.

BETTER AVAILABILITY OF GOVERNMENT SERVICES

The deputies approved inclusion of a federal and municipal government services department to the Oblast Administration structure.

The department will work on increasing availability and improving quality of federal and municipal government services in Tomsk Oblast by means of implementing information and communication technologies and improving government bodies’ performance. Initiators of the change are confident that this will help citizens to use public services such as submit a passport or a social security benefit application; check their pension savings; make a doctor’s appointment; enroll their child in a nursery school, without having to visit various state institutions and collect numerous certificates and documents.

Formal procedures for entrepreneurs should also be simplified to the greatest possible extent and business registration and operation timelines as well as the time required to obtain licenses, permits, etc. reduced. This is a task set by the Russian President in his 2010 Address to the Federal Assembly.

CHECK-OUT COUNT

Results of the electronic count of votes at elections will be confirmed by a check-out count. Relevant amendments were made to the Law “On election of deputies of the Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast.”

The amendments were initiated by Duma deputy Nikolay Kirillov. The procedure for using technical counting methods is defined by the Federal Law “On main guarantees of electoral rights and the right to participate in a referendum of the citizens of the Russian Federation.” Also, the Law stipulates a procedure for holding a check-out counting of the votes.

In accordance with the Law at least 5% of the electoral districts where technical counting methods are used, selected by random sampling, will undergo manual check-out counting by members of the electoral district commission who will have the right of deciding vote. By this the deputies intend to prevent any concerns among voters on possible technical errors in counting votes.

The Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast

April 28, 2011. XLVIII Session of the Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast