Meeting with deputy prime ministers on current issues

Agenda: Automatically reimbursing disabled persons for compulsory motor insurance policies, modifying electricity grid connection regulations, initial use of the updated Forest State Automated Information System (LesEGAIS)

Mikhail Mishustin's opening remarks

Alexander Novak's report on modifying electricity grid connection regulations

Viktoria Abramchenko's report on the initial use of the updated LesEGAIS system

Excerpts from the transcript:

Meeting with deputy prime ministers on current issues

: Good afternoon, colleagues. Today, we will start our meeting by discussing a subject that concerns people with disabilities. They find it particularly important to interact with the state in the simplest possible manner, without visiting official agencies. From early 2022 onwards, reimbursement for disabled persons for compulsory motor insurance policies will be expedited. The relevant Government resolution has been signed and has entered into force. This applies to people with disabilities and legal representatives of disabled children who require cars for medical reasons. Under the law, half of the cost of their compulsory motor insurance policies will be reimbursed. In the past, regional authorities took responsibility for this. Those wishing to obtain payments had to submit documents to social security agencies. From now on, the Pension Fund will automatically reimburse everyone eligible for such compensation, and process applications submitted via the unified government services website. The Government will continue to improve the system for providing state support to citizens and to actively introduce social treasury mechanisms, so that people can obtain assistance and services through a convenient, user-friendly format, without the need to provide additional documents. Here is another matter. We are continuing to develop the construction industry. Last year, we commissioned about 90 million square metres of new housing, a record-breaking achievement. But the President has set even more ambitious goals. Five million families should be able to improve their living conditions each year. To accomplish this task, we also have to streamline engineering procedures. Consequently, the Government has approved changes to electricity grid connection regulations. From now on, it will be possible to connect buildings and other facilities to power networks during their construction. A special procedure has been introduced for comprehensive development projects. Residential buildings, nurseries, schools and outpatient clinics, offices, housing and municipal facilities will be connected under a joint application, which will be submitted to territorial network companies. It is important to improve the reliability of electrical equipment and to eliminate the so-called ownerless networks. To this end, from 2024, developers will no longer have to lay, operate and maintain wire networks. We will assign this function exclusively to specialised network companies that have the required equipment and, of course, specialists. Mr Novak (addressing Alexander Novak), please tell us more about the planned changes.

: Mr Mishustin, colleagues.

The simplified procedure of connecting capital construction facilities to the utility networks, adopted by the Government, will, first of all, reduce the time involved in connecting housing, transport and social infrastructure facilities to the electricity grid. This reduction has been made possible because developers are no longer required to provide land plot entitlement documents when submitting an application to the grid operator. It will cut the connection time by up to 6 months. It is an important change, which will allow people to more rapidly improve their living conditions.

Second, the adoption of the resolution will cut back the cost of the connection by making it possible to pay in instalments and to reduce the loan debt burden. Before that, it was necessary to pay the entire sum upfront.

Third, the government decision will ensure the sustainable provision of electricity services to residents and other consumers, improve the quality of the energy supply and prevent the appearance of ownerless grids at such facilities. Specialised local grid organisations and not the developers will be responsible for the maintenance and operation of the electricity supply networks.

Overall, the adopted set of measures is designed to improve business conditions in the country and the quality of life of its citizens.

Mikhail Mishustin: Thank you, Mr Novak.

These changes should have a positive impact not only on the construction sector itself, but also on related businesses such as fixture and cement producers, and transport companies.

People will be able to move into new flats faster and will have the necessary social, business and utility infrastructure within reach. Less time will be spent on construction and on the related inconveniences that it causes in the neighbourhood.

Colleagues, let us move to the next issue.

At the instruction of the President, a new procedure for timber traceability has been adopted. It came into force on 1 January 2022. Every batch of timber now has to have an electronic accompanying document, a digital passport of sorts without which it will be impossible to transport the timber. It will be possible to monitor its logistics via the digital system, from the logging site to the processing facility and customs bodies. The new regulations will not inconvenience those who comply with current law, and will become a serious obstacle for illegal loggers.

Ms Abramchenko, please tell us how the things are going with the launch of the updated LesEGAIS system. How many users have been registered there?

: Mr Mishustin, colleagues.

Following a meeting on the decriminalisation and development of the forestry sector in 2020, the President instructed the Government to provide the traceability of timber from its logging site to the processing site or export. We have been conducting work to improve the transparency and introduce relevant digital technologies in a consistent manner and meeting the tight deadlines set by the President. These deadlines are also outlined in the updated forestry law. Our task is to connect all points of timber transportation in the integrated system and ensure the transparency of all contracts that involve timber. We began testing the updated information system last year. The experiment on monitoring the transportation of timber began in several regions with the participation of large and medium-sized businesses. Since 1 July 2021, the system has held information about the logging sites, storages and other places where timber is kept. From 1 January 2022, an electronic accompanying document was introduced for timber transportation. It contains information about the owner, sender and recipient of the cargo, as well the weight, timber species, class and other information.

As you said, Mr Mishustin, it is a digital passport of sorts which confirms that the timber has been produced legally. It is impossible to transport and export timber without this document. The launch of the system on 1 January did not interrupt timber turnover. As of today, the system has over 20,000 users. More than 120,000 electronic accompanying documents for over 5 million cubic metres of timber were created during the winter holidays.

The tech support of the Federal Agency for Forestry worked during the holidays and provided assistance to timber companies and users. For their convenience, the agency has additionally developed a free mobile app. It is available offline at logging sites as well.

Mr Mishustin, even in this short period of time, the winter holidays, we have already seen how efficient the new electronic documents are.

First, due to the interaction between the Federal Customs Service and the Federal Agency for Forestry, illegal exports of timber have been prevented. All those who did not manage to confirm the legal status of their timber, could not receive the digital passport and thus were unable to export the timber. In addition, according to the customs agencies, no round timber of valuable deciduous and coniferous species was exported from the country.

Second, the system has exposed several grey schemes, used by unfair market players in the past. For example, it was possible to export an unlimited amount of timber from one plot using a printed document, and timber volume data was not automatically compared.

Thanks to digitalisation, the system no longer allows forest users to create a document to accompany a batch that is larger than the actual volume of timber procured from any particular plot.

It is important that the human factor is not involved; the system automatically compares authorised timber procurement volumes and the volumes that have already been exported.

Another example deals with illegal sublease contracts. Forest rentiers allot part of forest plots under the so-called grey sublease contracts, and under-lessees, who have no right to use this timber, cut down trees without submitting forest declarations.

These deals remained behind the scenes. The government did not monitor timber sales and failed to collect taxes. Today, the system and electronic certificates make it impossible to legalise this grey timber, so that shady market players will have to play fair.

Mr Mishustin, Russia has created a mechanism for monitoring timber sales for the first time. The creation of a balance-sheet model will allow us to continue legalising the timber industry and to minimise illegal timber sales. Thank you for supporting all decisions on the development of the forest complex.

Mikhail Mishustin: Thank you, Ms Abramchenko.

From 1 January, unprocessed timber export restrictions also entered into force here. And we charge additional customs duties on certain types of sawn materials, used to conceal log exports.

We hope that this will help expand timber processing volumes in Russia and boost exports of ready-made products.

Ms Abramchenko, please keep an eye on this matter, including the introduction of all the above-mentioned norms.