The agenda included entrepreneurs’ rights protection and the establishment of a free port in Vladivostok.
Excerpts from Dmitry Medvedev’s opening remarks:
Government meeting
The first issue is
related to the protection of the rights of entrepreneurs. We are considering a
bill that introduces a three-year ban on scheduled inspections of small
enterprises, to be effective 1 January 2016. The ban would not apply to some
socially important or hazardous categories of activity, specifically,
healthcare, education, industrial safety, and fire safety supervision, among others,
as well as to companies found to be in gross violation of the law.
The law on state and municipal oversight helped to make inspections significantly more transparent and public, and exceptions were provided for surprise inspections. Nevertheless, excessive administrative barriers are still in place while oversight and supervision is still a sensitive area where state and business interests overlap.
The three-year moratorium on scheduled inspections for small businesses will facilitate their operations and, under the current circumstances, will become a measure of support, at least in part. This bill is based on the presumption of good-faith and we would count on corporate responsibility.
We will also consider a package of draft laws on the establishment of a free port in Vladivostok. This is a challenging goal – to take a respectable place among the leading centres of the Asia Pacific region like Singapore and Hong Kong.
A free port would be established in an area spanning 13 municipalities, including the administrative area of Vladivostok, the seaports of Zarubino and Nakhodka, and an airport, which provides international service to the Primorye Territory with rich Chinese provinces, and generally, with our neighbours. We are determined to take a number of steps to have this free port up and running.
First, granting fiscal preferences to residents and discounts on income tax for five years.
Second, we would reduce aggregate deductions to state extra-budgetary funds. However, this requires further consideration, as it involves the loss of revenue for these funds and therefore for the municipalities. The brunt will be borne by the federal budget.
Third, a simplified visa procedure would be introduced in the free port of Vladivostok, as a result of which foreign guests would be able to get an eight-day entry visa right at the border. Border crossing points would operate around the clock.
Fourth, customs would work on a one-stop service basis, providing customs, border, veterinary and plant disease oversight and other services. We plan to introduce a free customs zone regime, which will, for example, exempt imported equipment from import duty and VAT.
Fifth, the Government will have the authority to introduce special working conditions for educational and healthcare establishments as well as for a number of enterprises, including fishing companies, which would open access for foreign companies to these areas of activity in the territory of our country. This will facilitate their operation and, most importantly, investment projects.
Another important change would be that all inspections of resident company operations (scheduled or spot inspections) would be conducted only under a special procedure, subject to approval by an industry- specific department.
Finally, a special oversight board would be established that would include, among others, government and business representatives. The draft law will be finalised in short order and submitted to the State Duma.
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