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Medvedev instructs government to finalise bill on Far East priority development areas

The bill should provide a special land use regime, reduced rental charges, tax privileges and insurance payment benefits

A port in Russia's Far East ITAR-TASS/Vladimir Sergeev

A port in Russia's Far East

© ITAR-TASS/Vladimir Sergeev

MOSCOW, April 08. /ITAR-TASS/. The Russian government will finalise the bill on the creation of priority development territories in Russia’s Far East and increase financing of the measures aimed at the development of the region. These instructions have been given to Russian ministries on the results of a meeting on the Far East development that Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev held on March 20.

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Thus, the Ministry for Development of Russian Far East jointly with interested bodies of authority should finalise the bill “On the territories of priority socio-economic development and other measures of state support of regions of the Far East.” The bill should provide for exceptions from the general rules of regulation for such territories and setting of special legal regimes: a special land use regime, reduced rental charges, tax privileges and insurance payment benefits, preferential connection to infrastructure facilities, provision of state services, as well as the opening of special divisions of the federal bodies of authority for ensuring favourable state administration for the residents of the territories, as well as the application of a free customs zone procedure and possibility of employing foreigners in a simplified procedure.

In addition, the Ministry for Development of Russian Far East and interested federal bodies of authority are instructed to additionally consider this bill, determining the criteria of difference of the territories of priority socio-economic development from special economic zones; the criteria of location of the territories of priority socio-economic development; the list of powers of the bodies of management of such territories.

The government should be informed of the results by April 21.

Medvedev also gave a number of instructions regarding the fulfilment of tasks for accelerated development of the Far East of Russia in the state and federal target programmes.

“The federal bodies of executive authority - responsible for the fulfilment of the Russia's state programmes jointly with the Ministry for Development of Russian Far East, Finance Ministry and Economic Development Ministry to ensure allocating in the corresponding state programmes of special sections and (or) sub-programmes, providing for measures for the priority development of the Far East, with specifying the benchmarks and key performance indicators, as well as the redistribution in the necessary volumes of budget allocations in the state programmes, envisaging increased financing of the above measures,” the document says.

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The draft normative legal acts should be submitted to the Cabinet by April 30.

In the period by May 20, the Ministry for Development of Russian Far East jointly with the Finance Ministry, Economic Development Ministry and Regional Development Ministry are to work out the issue of introducing changes to the government resolution on the approval of the order of development, implementation and assessment of efficiency of state programmes, as well as other normative legal acts with the aim of setting special requirements, criteria, multiplying factors in the distribution of budget allocations and other mechanisms aimed at the creation of conditions for the priority development of the Far East of Russia.

In addition, the Ministry for Development of Russian Far East jointly with the interested federal bodies of authority will draft proposals on the introduction of amendments to the federal target programme “Economic and social development of the Far East and Baikal region for a period until 2018,” including in it activities with the implementation period of two - three years.

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