The agenda includes: Subsidies to regions for social supplements to pensions, an experiment stipulating online sales of prescription medications, additional funding for soft mortgage plans, amending Federal Law on Industrial Policy, providing housing to privileged categories of citizens, budgetary funding to implement projects of winners of the nationwide competition of the best projects to create a people-friendly environment in small towns.
Government meeting
Mikhail Mishustin’s opening remarks:
Good afternoon, colleagues,
Before we start discussing issues on our agenda, I would like to inform you about a decision that has been made.
We are expanding the list of construction and reconstruction projects covered by a simplified procedure. The list will now include schools, hospitals, sport facilities and many other social sector organisations.
It will be possible to launch their operation 12 months earlier than before by reducing the number of authorising documents and administrative procedures.
The President always notes the need to deregulate the construction sector. The Government continues working consistently in this area. Under a high-priority action plan, we have already drafted the relevant amendments to a number of laws. They make it possible to extend the new procedure to the social, medical and sports infrastructure.
We will continue to adopt decisions that help people and families obtain the required services and care, and that will allow businesses to reduce outlays. They will also help sectors adapt to foreign sanctions better.
Let us focus on our current agenda. First, we will discuss the fulfilment of social obligations. The Government co-finances the expenditures of Russian regions in this important sphere.
Today we will allocate over 10 billion roubles to support non-working pensioners. The money will be transferred to the regions and will be used as social supplements for the people whose pensions are below the subsistence wage. As of 1 June 2022, the subsistence wage has been raised by 10 percent on the President’s order. This has increased the burden on the regions. The federal subsidies will make up for the relevant expenses and will be used to pay supplements to over 1 million people.
Here is one more important issue. Last week, the President spoke at the Council for Strategic Development meeting about the need to draft laws on experimental remote sale of prescription medicines.
Today we will discuss a draft of the relevant federal law, under which the experiment will begin in March 2023 in three constituent entities: in Moscow and in the Belgorod and Moscow regions. Prescription medicines, including with prescriptions that are issued online, will be sold in these entities online. The list of such medicines is to be approved separately.
Purchasing medicines online is more convenient for many people and can increase the accessibility of medical treatment for low-mobility patients and people with chronical diseases, for whom it is often difficult to go outside to buy medicines. It is very important in this context to ensure strict compliance with all safety requirements because the issue concerns people’s health.
The Government also provides systemic support to low-interest mortgage loans. As per the President’s instructions, we have launched a 7 percent mortgage loan project. Additional funding should be approved for the main programmes. Today we will approve the allocation of another 45.5 billion roubles for the low-interest, family and Far Eastern programmes. They are in high demand across the country, and nearly all the funds allocated for them from the federal budget have been put to use.
The bulk of allocations will be spent on low-interest mortgage loans. Nearly 16 billion roubles will go to finance the family programme and over 4 billion roubles to the Far Eastern programme.
We believe that these allocations will help many people settle the most important property issue, that is, buy new houses or flats and improve the quality of their lives.
Let us get down to our agenda.
