September 27, 2012. The 12th session of the Duma of the 5th convocation

The 12th session of the Legislative Duma of the Tomsk Oblast of the 5th convocation took place on September 27. The session was broadcast online. The agenda of the session and the bills submitted for consideration by the deputies were published on the Duma website beforehand.

Speech by Duma Speaker Oksana Kozlovskaya

One of the key items on the agenda was voting to elect a new representative of Tomsk Oblast in the Federation Council and a new Chairman of the Chamber of Audit and Accounts of Tomsk Oblast.

RESULTS OF SECRET BALLOT VOTING

The results of the voting on the nominated Representative of the Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast in the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation:

FOR – 32

AGAINST – 2

ABSTAINED – 2

The voting resulted in the election of Igor Chernyshev Representative of the Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast in the Federation Council.

The results of the voting on the nominated candidate for the position of the Chairman of the Chamber of Audit and Accounts of Tomsk Oblast:

FOR – 33

AGAINST – 0

ABSTAINED – 3

The voting resulted in the election of Aleksey Pronkin Chairman of the Chamber of Audit and Accounts of Tomsk Oblast.

TWO DUMA DEPUTIES VACATED SEATS DUE TO NEW POSITIONS

Two Duma deputies – Chingis Akatayev and Vitaly Ogleznev – vacated their seats as they took positions in civil service. Duma Speaker Oksana Kozlovskaya informed that the deputies submitted to the Duma their applications on early termination of their authority. Vitaly Ogleznev was appointed Head of the Tomsk Oblast Expert Analysis Department and Chingis Akatayev was appointed Deputy Governor of Tomsk Oblast for Social Policy. The Duma deputies backed the termination of the two deputies’ authorities.

GOVERNMENT SUPPORT FOR PRIVATE SCHOOLS

The deputies considered in the second and final reading amendments to the Oblast law on education which provide for budget funding for private educational institutions with national accreditation. According to the amended law, private schools will receive subsidies from the Oblast budget which will cover main general education programs.

The amended law requires additional Oblast budget spending of 5.1m rubles for six months. This amount is available in the 2012 Oblast budget.

The deputies passed both bills in the second reading.

HOUSING FOR ORPHANS

Amendments to six Oblast laws which regulate provision of housing for orphaned children passed the first reading. Chingis Akatayev, Deputy Governor of Tomsk Oblast for Social Policy presented the draft law “On amending certain legislative acts of Tomsk Oblast related to provision of housing to orphans and children deprived of parental care” and highlighted the key changes.

1. Creation of specialized housing stock for orphaned children. The housing from the stock will be provided under a five-year tenancy agreement. That will help avoid illegal transactions and other types of fraud which may deprive orphans of housing.

2. Extension of the list of eligibility criteria.

After the passing of the bill the number of eligible orphans will total 1,554. The draft Oblast budget 2013 provides 200 million rubles for the implementation of the law.

LESS TAXES FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM BUSINESS

The deputies relieved the tax burden on small and medium business in selected industries – from 10% to 7.5%. Ivan Klyain, Chairman of the Economic Policy Committee commented on the amendment to Article 1 of the Oblast Law “On setting uniform tax rates applied in Tomsk Oblast under simplified taxation system”:

“We had reached an agreement with the Administration of Tomsk Oblast. The shortfall in the region’s income will be 21 million rubles but we expect it to be covered by more companies adopting the simplified taxation system.”

Under the Tax Code of the Russian Federation the regions have a right to establish differential tax rates under the simplified taxation system, from 5% to 15% depending on the category, for the companies who calculate their taxable base as total income minus total expenses.

BUDGET CHANGES APPROVED

The deputies adopted amendments to the law of Tomsk Oblast on increasing revenues and expenditures of the Oblast budget. The total amount of revenues for 2012 was increased by 643 million rubles and expenditures by 688.5 million rubles. The deficit was increased by 45 million rubles.

In a number of areas there were savings of almost 296 million rubles. The saved money will be used to compensate for forest fire fighting expenses, finance the setup of the government’s Reception House, increase the registered capital of OAO RIATO (Regional Mortgage Agency of Tomsk Oblast), implement e-government initiatives and convert government services to electronic format, fund the functioning of the executive government, and provide interbudgetary transfers to local budgets.

The amendments to the bill were adopted in two readings. The revenues of the amended 2012 budget have totaled almost 41bn rubles and expenditures 42bn rubles.

The deputies also amended the bill on the Oblast budget expenditure to support investment and innovation activity. The total spending was increased by 851m rubles and has totaled 4.1bn rubles.

The Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast

September 27, 2012. The 12th session of the Duma of the 5th convocation