The Federation Council and the Russian government has prepared a draft of the economic macro-regions, media reported.
Speaking April 29 at the meeting of the Council of legislators with participation of President Vladimir Putin, Valentina Matvienko said that “the gap between the subjects of budgetary income per inhabitant, is nearly 15 times the level of wages about four times.” Therefore, legislators in favor of the production of “quality standard of life,” which “can not be less in any region, in any municipality,” writes “Kommersant”.
Matvienko also noted that “due to bureaucratic sluggishness of individual departments” some actors can not on time to them already approved for subsidies. So you need to make changes in themselves and the principles of intergovernmental relations”, said the speaker of Council of Federation.
The draft document on “improving regional policy in General”, prepared jointly with the government and experts of the Federation Council has sent to the regions, said Matvienko. Yesterday, it proposed to enlarge the number of regions to improve the quality of life of people living in a deliberately “non-viable” regions. To enlarge the regions, from her point of view, you need to “not just by someone’s will, and having at the economic, investment and other reasons”.
The head of the Federation Council Committee on Federal Dmitry Azarov did not disclose the content of the project, explaining that the chamber waiting for comments and proposals from the regions on the basis of which a report will be prepared for submission to the security Council at the meeting in June.
The head of the expert Council of the all-Russian Council of local self-government, member of the Federation Council Vyacheslav Timchenko said that he was familiar with the concept of the document and it does not involve the enlargement of regions, “He reveals the main approaches to the formation of fiscal and investment policy in the regions, describes the division of powers between Federal, regional and local authorities and, in General, gives more independence to the regions and municipalities”.
Draft guidelines for the development of the regions is discussed not only in the regions themselves, but also in Federal agencies,” said a government source. The document addresses including “financial relations between regions and the Federal centre”, which will require changes in budget and tax spheres.
The theme of integration of regions in order to solve the economic problems is also reflected in the draft, but “we are talking about creating economic macro-regions, which do not involve legal unions of subjects of the Federation and the respective changes in the Constitution,” said a government source.
In regions yet unfamiliar with the document. Orel Governor Vadim Potomsky said that his region is ready to be in the former borders”, i.e. to include the neighboring Bryansk region (it was part of the Orel province until 1920), but “to determine such issues should a referendum”.
More importantly, according to him, the change of correlation in the distribution of taxes collected in favor of the subjects of the Russian Federation, then “we will not have poor regions”. The Governor of the Penza region Ivan Belozertsev said “Kommersant” that the authorities would like to have the opportunity to make more decisions at the regional level, since “Russia will only benefit from this”.
For example, he considers it necessary “to prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages in the premises built in residential houses”. Belozertsev is convinced that when the regions decide at the local level, protests are smaller because the regional authorities “take into account the opinion of people before to enact a particular law.”
Kaluga Governor Anatoly Artamonov proposes to consolidate the project financing of benefits “forces of the Federal center or to give the question to the discretion of the regions – anyone would roll over these benefits, and someone will be forced to give up.” The head of the Arkhangelsk region Igor Orlov believes that it is necessary to bring medical care and educational services to the same standard that every citizen who moves from one region to another, received the same quality and quantity of public services.
Recall, Matviyenko has long been known as a supporter of this consolidation. Even when he was the Governor of St. Petersburg, she has repeatedly spoken out in favor of the merger of the Northern capital and Leningrad region. And in 2013, during the meeting with deputies of the state Council of Tatarstan, said that for the 83 regions of Russia – a lot, “they are in equilibrium according to economic, social development and potential”, so sooner or later the “life force” to return to the topic of reducing their number.
