May 30, 2013. 20th Session of the Legislative Duma of the 5th convocation

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.

Tomsk Oblast Governor Sergey Zhvachkin delivered the 2012 performance report of the Tomsk Oblast Administration and other executive bodies of the Tomsk Oblast government. He said, among other things,
“I should dwell upon the key problems of Tomsk Oblast and key challenges we are facing today. I worked as a deputy of the Tomsk Oblast Duma in two convocations and I fully recognize the importance of a dialogue between the leader of the region and the deputies for both branches of power – legislative and executive. I shall be very open. When I took office as the Governor and gathered my team, I set myself a task to determine the growth potential of Tomsk Oblast and identify breakthrough areas for economic and social development of the region. I was to understand primary concerns of the people living in cities and rural areas. I spoke about that, my dear colleagues, from this tribune on February 15 when you were considering investing me with the authority of the Governor of Tomsk Oblast. This analysis was completed last year. We have closed the organizational phase and come to the starting line.

Summary of the 2012 executive government performance report delivered by Tomsk Oblast Governor Sergey Zhvachkin at the session of the Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast

The Governor received more than 40 written questions from the deputies. Some of the questions were answered in the Governor’s report.

Questions were asked by all parties represented in the Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast: United Russia, CPRF, LDPR, and Just Russia.

CONSTRUCTION STRATEGY The deputies considered the 2013-2022 Construction Development Strategy of Tomsk Oblast. Development of the document took several years. Before the Duma, the Strategy had been reviewed by working groups, Deputy Governor’s Expert Council, Tomsk Oblast Union of Construction Workers and the Construction Committee of the Duma.

The construction industry of Tomsk Oblast is represented by more than 1,600 construction companies, 207 manufacturers of construction materials, and 167 design and survey organizations. The industry employs almost 29,000 people. The primary goal of the strategy is to turn the construction industry in the Oblast in a construction cluster which would become a basis for the creation of a well-developed town planning environment. It is assumed that the cluster would become an umbrella for other clusters in the industry.

The strategy will be implemented in two phases – in 2013-2015 and 2016-2022. The developers of the document are confident that the strategy will increase the GRP, create many new jobs and provide attractive employment for young professionals. The strategic goal of the development of the construction industry of Tomsk Oblast defines the following priorities for the construction activity in Tomsk Oblast.

– Provide affordable and comfortable housing and create a high-quality living environment
– Provide adequate social and cultural facilities for the population
– Develop the region’s transport infrastructure
– Develop the region’s public utilities infrastructure
– Preserve the historical and architectural identity of Tomsk while pursuing modern town planning trends
– Facilitate innovative development and modernization of the construction industry and promote energy efficient practices in the production of construction materials
– Develop the production potential of the region’s economy as a basis for its modernization, reorganization and better competitiveness
– Use town planning initiatives to create an innovative city environment as part of the concept “Tomsk a Center for Education, Research and Development”.

The strategy will not impact the Oblast budget as it will be funded through various regional and federal target programs and off-budget funds, including public-private partnership mechanisms.

Speaker Oksana Kozlovskaya, Governor Sergey Zhvachkin

Speaker Oksana Kozlovskaya, Governor Sergey Zhvachkin

During the discussion of the document, Duma Speaker Oksana Kozlovskaya made a suggestion.

“In his report today, the Governor set specific tasks and formulated nine “beacons” each of which implies an impressive package of investment projects. If we focus our efforts on housing construction only, it will be difficult to achieve the results implied by the Strategy. Perhaps, a list of specific investment projects should be attached to the Strategy updated annually. Please keep in mind that this is the first out of twenty-one strategies we are to consider. It is a starting point in our effort towards adopting strategies for all the region’s industries.

The deputies unanimously voted to adopt the 2013-2022 Construction Development Strategy of Tomsk Oblast.

STRONGER TIES BETWEEN FEDERATION, REGIONS AND MUNICIPAL ENTITIES
The Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast opens up to legislative initiatives from the Russian State Duma, representatives of Tomsk Oblast in the Russian State Duma, and the Council of Municipal Entities of Tomsk Oblast. The Duma deputies adopted amendments to the Charter (Basic Law) of Tomsk Oblast which grant the right of legislative initiative to the members of the Federation Council, representatives of Tomsk Oblast in the Russian State Duma, and the Council of Municipal Entities of Tomsk Oblast.

NEW LABOR COMPENSATION SYSTEM FOR MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS
A new labor compensation system for municipal officials was reflected in the current regional legislation. The deputies passed the law On amending certain legislative acts of Tomsk Oblast which increases municipal officials’ salaries by 14%.

Chairman of the Tomsk Oblast Duma Committee for Legislation, State Structure and Safety Vladimir Kravchenko suggested adopting the law in two readings. The deputies backed his proposal.

SPENDING ON HEALTHCARE EXCEEDS 10 BILLION RUBLES
The deputies adopted in two readings changes to the 2013 budget of the Tomsk Oblast Territorial Compulsory Health Insurance Fund. They increased the revenues by 166.9 million rubles and expenditures by 354.4 million rubles. Deficit was set at 187.4 million rubles maximum. Taking into account the amendments, the revenues for the territorial compulsory health insurance program totaled 9.8 billion rubles.

The revenues include 20 million rubles from interbudgetary transfers for one-time payments to medical workers.

In 2013, total revenues of the Fund budget will be 9.8 billion rubles and total expenditures slightly more than 10 billion rubles.

HELP IN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS
The deputies eased the conditions for receiving the payment stipulated by the Oblast law On one-time payments to victims of natural and (or) anthropogenic disasters and natural fires. Today, the deputies passed amendments to the said law which extends the timeframe for submitting documents confirming the average income of the affected citizens from 10 days in the current version to 30 calendar days from the date of damage or loss of housing. The average income will now be calculated on the basis of certificates of income for three months preceding the emergency or manmade disaster.

ADJUSTED BUDGET
The deputies backed amendments to the 2013 Oblast budget reflecting extra receipts and reallocation of funds.

The revenues of the amended budget will grow by 129.6 million rubles.

The expenditures will grow by 292 million rubles, including 162 million through a deficit increase.

The deputies voted for the amendments in two readings. They also passed amendments to the satellite law On Oblast budget expenditure to support investment and innovation activity in Tomsk Oblast in 2013. The updated version of the law extends the list of spending areas and increases relevant budget expenditures. The total amount of spending on the investment and innovation activity in 2013 was increased by 302.4 million rubles and now totals 4.3 billion rubles (including funding from the federal budget of 692.7 million rubles).
Compared to the initial version of the law, this spending grew by 1.481 billion rubles.

FOUR MILLION RUBLES TO BE SPENT ON DENTAL PROSTHETICS FOR VETERANS
The deputies adopted in two readings a new Oblast law On dental prosthetics benefit for specific categories of citizens in Tomsk Oblast. Fifty percent of expenses on dental prosthetics for the eligible citizens will be financed from the Oblast budget.

Eligible categories include war veterans and disabled war veterans, prisoners of concentration camps, spouses of dead war veterans or disabled war veterans, combat veterans and disabled combat veterans, parents of dead combatants. Also, federal labor veterans and labor veterans of Tomsk Oblast with average income not exceeding 1.2 of subsistence minimum.

NOVELTIES IN BUDGETING
The deputies brought the law On budgeting in Tomsk Oblast in line with the federal legislation.

The amendments include in the scope of authority of the Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast formation and definition of the legal status of the external financial control body. It is also proposed to exclude audit reports by the Department of Finance of Tomsk Oblast from the list of grounds to apply a ban on certain expenditures given that the scope of authority of the Department of Finance no longer includes audits of appropriate use of earmarked funds allocated from the Oblast budget.

The bill also allows the Deputy Governor of Tomsk Oblast – Head of the Department of Finance of Tomsk Oblast to speak at the sessions of the Tomsk Oblast Duma when the Oblast budget law is being considered and deliver a report on the Oblast budget execution over the reporting fiscal year.

The deputies passed the amendments in two readings by a majority of vote.