Agenda: payments to medical personnel working with coronavirus patients, development of social entrepreneurship, expanded capabilities for producers of plasma-derived medicines, business support under the Payroll 3.0 programme, and support for Russian airlines.
Mikhail Mishustin’s opening remarks:
Good afternoon, colleagues,
Government meeting
The coronavirus situation has improved, but there are still cases. Patients with this infection still get help from doctors, nurses, and paramedics. Largely thanks to their selfless work, thousands of people who have recovered from the coronavirus are being discharged from hospital every day.
Two years ago, at the President’s initiative, lump-sum insurance payments were established for doctors who themselves suffered while caring for patients.
We will again allocate more than three billion roubles for this.
Skilled care for coronavirus patients is also provided in boarding schools, nursing homes and other social service organisations. This is hard work, because their wards are the most vulnerable to infection and require special care.
This is why we will additionally allocate more than 2.5 billion roubles for special payments to the employees of such institutions.
We will continue to support medical personnel countering the coronavirus at military units, internal affairs bodies, the fire service and other departments. Like civilian personnel, they receive a special increase in salary at the decision of the head of state. We will allocate over two billion roubles in the second quarter of this year to pay for this.
I would like to draw the attention of the heads of agencies where such personnel work that they are doing an important job saving lives and putting their health at risk. Payments must be received without delay. I am asking you to carefully monitor this.
One more issue. The Government is consistently creating the institution of social entrepreneurship in Russia.
It supports businesspeople who are not only focused on making a profit, but also help those who need special care. We addressed this topic in preparation for the report to the State Duma and discussed it in detail in December at the meeting of the Government Commission on the Development of Small and Medium-Sized Businesses.
Our agenda today includes a draft law on social enterprises. Previously, a company acquired this status if it employed people with disabilities.
But businesspeople with disabilities themselves could not receive such a status. It is not fair. We will fix this situation. Now they will receive this status, even if they run a business without employees.
Such a decision will help people with disabilities develop their business and receive specialised support measures provided in the regions, including direct subsidies, access to the necessary infrastructure or training.
We will also consider a draft law that will expand the possibilities of supplying donor blood to medicine manufacturers. We discussed this issue in detail with State Duma deputies in the course of the Government's report.
Ensuring the production of blood products in our country is one of the tasks of the Healthcare Development Strategy approved by the President.
Today, special plasma-derived medicines are being created that help save lives, including by boosting immunity. Therefore, it is important that manufacturers have everything necessary for their production.
The adoption of amendments to the legislation will allow for supplying donor plasma directly to pharmaceutical plants. Of course, all safety requirements must be strictly monitored, which this draft law also states. Domestic manufacturers will get the necessary components faster, be able to increase capacity, and provide people with the necessary medicines. We hope that the State Duma will consider the document in the near future.
The next question is about business support through the Payroll 3.0 programme. It enables Russian companies to get preferential loans at three percent and does not require payment of the loan principal and interest for the first six months.
The programme has proved effective. More than 30,000 entrepreneurs have already taken advantage of it.
Moreover, in March we decided to extend the loan holidays for another six months. And the state will compensate the banks for the low interest rate on such loans. We talked about this during the Government's report to the State Duma.
Today, we will allocate another billion roubles for this purpose. Right now, it is especially important for entrepreneurs to continue their work and be able to continue paying salaries to their employees.
During the Government's report to the State Duma, there was also a lengthy discussion of sanctions that had affected air transport. The industry has faced bans on leasing and servicing aircraft.
Today we will allocate 19.5 billion roubles to Russian airlines on the President's instruction. The subsidies will be used to refund passengers the cost of tickets for flights that were cancelled due to external restrictions, which will save carriers their own working capital. That means financial resources will be available to ensure flight safety and maintain the airworthiness of the aircraft. This is the main priority.
We will allocate another 1.5 billion roubles to partially compensate Russian airports in southern and central Russia for operating costs. You know that flights there have been temporarily restricted due to the difficult situation in Ukraine.
Now it is extremely important to support airport infrastructure and, of course, to retain qualified personnel there.
