MOSCOW, March 16. /TASS/. Tax exemption for reindeers will give an impetus to official employment of the North's low-numbered indigenous peoples and will favor development of their businesses, the Krasnoyarsk Region's legislator Andrey Gayulsky said on sidelines of the Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum.
Reindeer herding is mostly an occupation of the indigenous peoples. "I used to be the director of a reindeer-breeding enterprise in Evenkia (the Evenk municipal district in the region - TASS), where we were paying more than 40% in payroll taxes only. If such farms did not have to pay taxes, they could direct this money to production activities and the sector's development," he said.
Special attention should be paid to taiga and mountain taiga reindeer herding, he continued. These types of reindeer husbandry are on the verge of extinction, because they lack funds to work effectively.
"There are not many jobs in the North, and in many private farms across the country reindeer herders are not employed officially. Salary taxes are very high, and many reindeer herding companies, tribal communities that breed deer, often cannot afford paying these taxes. If they did not have to pay them, they could employ people, the people would have official employment terms, and thus pensions would be earned," he said.
Support for farms
According to the expert, it would be a great support to reindeer herders if the government adopted a state program to combat predators - to allow the aerial shooting of predators threatening reindeer husbandry, like it used to be in the Soviet times.
"We've talked with many leaders of different farms. Land-based methods are not sufficient due to the complicated terrain. It is worth mentioning modern technologies that simplify the life of reindeer herders - solar panels, satellite communications. But they all require additional funds. Generally speaking, tax exemption could give an impetus to reindeer farms' development in the country," he said.
Another important aspect is the breeding, especially at farms with a small livestock. "Blood must be renewed, which also requires funds. Typically, farms are far away from each other, even in different regions," he continued.
Formalizing traditional economic activities as parts of the country's real sector would be a significant support, experts say. Nowadays, such activities often even do not have terms in legislative acts. "Domestic deer, in fact, do not differ from cows, sheep, horses, for which breeders receive state support through the Ministry of Agriculture," he said.
In the Krasnoyarsk Region only, there are 16,000 representatives of indigenous peoples, where about 3,500-4,000 are engaged in traditional economic activities, said Anton Narchuganov of the Krasnoyarsk Region's Agency for the Development of Northern Territories and Support of Indigenous Peoples. The region has a state program to support the indigenous peoples. For the next three years, the Krasnoyarsk Region has allocated 2.5 billion rubles ($33 million) in state support.
The region plans to expand the list of incentives for equipment. "We have been discussing even drones, which the herders need to monitor the deer," he said.
New technologies
Advisor to the head of the Federal Agency for Nationalities Sergey Timoshkov pointed to a necessary upgrade of conditions for the indigenous people at territories between settlements. He spoke about available medicine, education, including nomadic schools, which have been developing in recent years due to digital technologies.
"Another aspect is that our federal legislation sets as a key task the preserving of traditional way of life, traditional economic activities. There is certain confusion here when the concept of "tradition" is made equivalent to archaism," he said.
The federal legislation defines traditional economic activities as historical ways of self-sufficiency of indigenous peoples, which are based on their historical experience in use of natural resources, he continued. "But the most effective opportunity of self-sufficiency by reindeer husbandry, hunting, fishing appears with modern approaches: technical communication, fishing gear, vehicles, product storage facilities," he added.
Remaining traditional is not in preserving the conditions and lifestyles of indigenous peoples, but in creating new, more effective opportunities for them to continue using traditional economic activities, he said in conclusion.
The Krasnoyarsk Economic Forum - 2023 "Time of Siberia" ran on March 1-3 in a hybrid format. The Siberian Federal University was the main venue, and additional studios worked in Moscow, Beijing and Astana. TASS was the event's general information partner.