The Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast
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March 26, 2015. Address by Speaker Oksana Kozlovskaya at the 40th Session of the Legislative Duma of Tomsk
Dear Duma deputies, Dear attendees!
The global political bias towards Russia has started to change.
Sanctions on Russia have split the European Union. Cyprus, Greece, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, Spain and Italy are totally against further tightening of sanctions and openly say the sanctions make no sense.
March has also seen many positive trends in the national economy. The national government has assured that the positive trend will continue.
In March Russia celebrated one year of the reunification with Crimea and Sevastopol. Opinion polls by Forbes have demonstrated that 82% of the Crimean population still believe they had made the right choice.
The passing month of March was full of highlights for the region as well.
An event of strategic importance was a visit by Russian Minister of Education and Science Dmitry Livanov. He came to Tomsk to participate in the International Council on enhancing competitiveness of leading Russian universities. The council selected four universities out of 14. The group of winners included the Higher School of Economics, the St. Petersburg University of Information Technologies and two Tomsk universities – Tomsk State University and Tomsk Polytechnic University.
In the discussion on the roadmap of the INOTomsk project Dmitry Livanov supported the initiatives proposed by Tomsk Oblast which include the following.
- Establish HR centers of excellence for six priority industries
- Set up a cross-university school for gifted children under public-private partnership with a large business
- Set up a cross-university robotics center
- Hold RoboCup 2018 Final in Tomsk
This is another confirmation of the right choice of the development thrust and priorities which will be reviewed today as part of the discussion around the updated socioeconomic development strategy of Tomsk Oblast for 2030.
Dear Duma deputies,
In six weeks we will celebrate 70 years of victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945 – the national celebration of Russia’s glory and pride.
As it happens, this year the Day of Victory – a sacred day for every Russian – assumes a strong political aspect. Leaders of 68 countries and international organizations such as the UN, Council of Europe, UNESCO, European Union were invited to Moscow to take part in the festivities. Not all of them accepted the invitation. Among those who rejected are leaders of countries actually liberated from fascism by the Soviet Army. Some even suggested canceling the celebrations.
Regretfully, cynical attempts to rewrite the history and play down the Soviet Union’s contribution in defeating fascism, do not cease. The intent is clear – to undermine the moral authority and power of today’s Russia, put at odds Russia’s ethnic groups, spoil the young minds with distorted historical data.
That’s why preparations for the anniversary celebrations focus a lot on reach out activities.
Social studies confirm that 85% of Russians think of May 9 as the biggest national holiday of Russia. It is hardly surprising given that every Russian family has an ancestor who made personal contribution in the victory fighting in battles or working hard on the home front.
Tomsk region also played an important role in the victory. It provided 129,000 soldiers for war battles. Out of them 59,000 were killed in battles or went missing.
Forty two individuals from Tomsk Oblast became Heroes of the Soviet Union and twenty six became Full Cavaliers of the Order of Glory.
During the war, Tomsk and Kolpashevo housed 40 industrial facilities, dozens of research institutes, educational and cultural organizations, 20 hospitals, and accommodated more than 50,000 evacuated individuals.
Today there are 2.7 million people having the status of veteran of the Great Patriotic War living in Russia. There are more than 217,000 war veterans.
Tomsk Oblast is home to almost 12,000 Great Patriotic War veterans. Only 834 actual war veterans have survived.
In anticipation of the great anniversary celebrations, the Russian President established a medal 70 Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The national government also significantly raised the veterans’ work pension. The average pension of a war veteran combined with benefits and allowances now totals almost 36,000 rubles a month. For disabled war veterans it is even higher – more than 40,000 rubles a month.
Since 2008, more than 280,000 veterans have got new housing, among them 1,795 veterans in Tomsk Oblast. The Russian President says, “The amount of housing provided under this initiative has exceeded our expectations seven times and we are not going to stop”.
The government is also implementing other federal programs for veterans such as free health resorts and social services, free medications and financial support for major overhaul of housing.
Tomsk Oblast is pursuing a lot of initiatives as well. Each year it spends more than 60 million rubles on various support programs for veterans.
In 2015, all veterans will get a one-time federal benefit for the Victory Day. In addition to that, veterans of Tomsk Oblast will get a regional benefit.
Since 2005, Tomsk Oblast has been enforcing the law on monthly allowances for homefront workers. Other related laws are the law on reduced utility bills for disabled veterans of the Great Patriotic War and the law on financial support for widows of war veterans.
The 9th of May is a day to commemorate those who fell in battles or went forever missing. Hundreds of war memorials were erected in honor of our countrymen. It is very important to repair and restore them before the celebrations. According to the Administration of the Oblast, two thirds of 168 memorials have been repaired already. New memorials will be opened on the Victory Day, among them a monument to Fedor Zinchenko, Hero of the Soviet Union, the first Soviet superintendent of Reichstag.
In April, a delegation from Tomsk will pay a visit Smolensk Oblast where in November 1941, the 166th Rifle Division from Tomsk was fighting in ferocious battles against German forces. Only 517 soldiers survived out of 15,000.
Dear deputies,
I suggest we all give congratulations in person to all our veterans and make sure their families get needed support and assistance.
I would also like to thank the media of Tomsk Oblast for honest and moving materials about the gruesome events of the war and, more importantly, about the people who endured and won the victory.
The geography of the Immortal Regiment movement keeps growing. It was initiated by Tomsk people in 2012 and this year it has been officially named a national and international initiative.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all people of Tomsk Oblast who organize and participate in the effort.
Now to the agenda of the session. It has 40 items.
1. One of the key items on the agenda is the socioeconomic development strategy of Tomsk Oblast for 2030.
2. We are going to get an update from the Oblast Administration on the preparations for the celebration of 70 years of victory in the Great Patriotic War.
3. Ombudsmen of Tomsk Oblast for human and children’s rights are presenting their 2014 performance reports. Time has shown that people have demand for such services and these two institutions have integrated well into the system of government-people relations. They help people resolve their issues and at the same time help us improve the federal and regional legislation.
4. The regional Chamber of Audit and Accounts is presenting its 2014 report. In 2014, auditors found that 116 million rubles in the regional budget was misused. 32 million rubles has already returned to the budget. However, we must focus on preventing misuse rather than taking action on already accomplished violations. An important outcome is amendments to three Oblast laws and 16 regulatory documents. The regional chamber is also developing new mechanisms of work with the local auditing authorities to effectively audit government purchases and government-run programs.
5. During the Governor’s Hour the Tomsk Oblast Office of the Federal Migration Service will present a report on implementation of the national migration policy in the region. This year many significant changes took effect in the migration legislation such as foreign workforce patent system for legal entities, mandatory Russian language, history and law courses and tests for migrants, and mandatory medical insurance for foreign labor. We need to assess how it impacts the regional economy and whether it requires any adjustment of the regional regulatory framework.
6. In this session we are making first amendments to the regional budget. The revenues and expenditures will be increased by almost 30 million rubles from the Fund for Assistance to Housing and Public Utilities Reform. We will also revisit 6 of 23 national programs.
7. Also, today we are going to approve lists of Laureates of the Award of the Legislative Duma of Tomsk Oblast 2014. Last year the contest was held the 12th time. It gathered 313 young scientists and university and school students, among them 53 candidates and 1 doctor of science. It is the largest participation in the history of the contest.
