Agenda: Budgetary allocations for specialised medical assistance, expanding the parameters of the state programme for efficient use of agricultural land, increasing pregnancy and childbirth allocations for students, organising summer recreation for children from the Belgorod Region, supporting businesses in the border regions, ensuring the smooth operation of energy infrastructure in the new regions, and expanding tax benefits for tourism infrastructure companies.
Mikhail Mishustin’s opening remarks:
Government meeting
Government meeting
Government meeting
Good afternoon, colleagues.
I would like to report on recent decisions before we got down to the issues on our agenda today.
The President has pointed out that one of our key priorities is to increase access to specialised and high-tech medical services.
As of this year, substantial funds have been allocated for this, including over 3.5 billion roubles for complex cardiovascular and transplant surgeries using unique methods at federal hospitals. These operations will be made free of charge for the holders of mandatory medical insurance certificate upon a doctor’s assignment.
The Government has additionally allocated approximately 1 billion roubles to enhance the accessibility of these medical services. These funds will pay for several hundred surgeries more of this kind this year. It is often a life-and-death matter.
Of course, it is essential to continue to do everything necessary throughout the country to broaden people’s access to advanced medical services for improving and restoring their health.
I would like to mention one more signed document. It concerns the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics and the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.
As the President noted, the solution of economic and social problems cannot be put off; they must be addressed now in the interests of the people who live there.
We have prepared amendments aimed at implementing the state programme for the efficient use of agricultural land there. They provide for creating an integral federal skeleton chart of land for agricultural use. Over the past three years, 73 Russian regions have been added to it, and now the four new regions have been added to it too.
Another amendment concerns the creation of a federal soil map. It will be used for monitoring the state of agricultural land and identifying areas throughout the country that are not being used in agriculture.
We will also expand the list of agricultural lands slated for cadastral survey, which will give farmers in all regions of Russia an opportunity to request federal subsidies for this purpose.
These measures will help increase production in the national agricultural complex, gather in good harvests and, which is also important, create new jobs in the regions.
Now, to the agenda of today’s meeting.
At the State Council meeting focused on family support, the President underscored the necessity of giving particular attention to expectant mothers who are students. He instructed that maternity benefits for this group be increased.
The Government has prepared the requisite legislative amendments to implement this decision, which we will review today.
Under the proposed changes, the payment amount will be calculated based on the regional subsistence minimum rather than the current stipend-based formula. Consequently, the total support a woman can receive over the 140-day period of so-called maternity leave will rise several-fold, reaching an average of 90,000 roubles nationwide. The precise figure will vary depending on the specific constituent entity of the Russian Federation.
This federal budget-funded support will be available to expectant mothers enrolled in full-time higher education, vocational colleges, further professional training institutions, or scientific organisations.
We anticipate that once submitted to the State Duma, the bill will swiftly complete all legislative stages and enter force by the start of the new academic year. This measure will provide substantial support to student families where mothers choose to balance their professional education with raising children.
Today’s agenda also includes multiple items on regional support.
Foremost among these is assistance to the Belgorod Region. As the President has repeatedly emphasised, residents of border areas will not be neglected by the authorities.
This is particularly critical where children are concerned.
The Government will help this region organise holidays for youngsters living in residential areas where the situation remains challenging.
We will allocate over 1 billion roubles to enable more than 16,000 schoolchildren to spend their summer breaks at youth camps – allowing them to recharge their energy while enjoying engaging, active and health-promoting activities.
Mr Siluanov (addressing Anton Siluanov), as the academic year is drawing to a close, these funds must be disbursed to the Belgorod Region without delay to ensure local authorities can finalise travel arrangements promptly.
Additionally,
We continue to provide systematic support to businesses in the Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk Regions through a package of measures enabling companies to maintain production capacities and self-employed entrepreneurs to sustain their livelihoods.
Under the free economic zone mechanism, businesses benefit from reduced insurance contributions and tax exemptions, alongside grants and subsidised equipment leasing rates. These measures allow entrepreneurs to lower costs and reinvest freed-up capital into their enterprises.
Furthermore, subsidies are being paid to organisations in these regions forced to suspend operations due to external circumstances. The Government will allocate an additional 620 million roubles to compensate their idle period costs between January and June this year – covering expenses beyond the control of both employers and employees.
A company’s greatest asset remains its skilled workforce. We are confident that these measures will enable businesses to retain their personnel, thereby safeguarding both enterprise continuity and production capabilities.
Here is our next issue.
Last month, we allocated resources for a recently-established enterprise that operates power grids in the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics, the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. At that time, we set aside the required assets, so that they could purchase construction and assembly equipment.
We will now channel over five billion roubles for purchasing about 100 transformers and mobile modular substations. They will set up an emergency reserve featuring the most essential equipment. This will make it possible to quickly resume power supplies in case of emergency. On the whole, this will improve the quality of power transmission lines catering to people and enterprises.
This emergency reserve can be used anytime, and it will, of course, establish more reliable power grids in the new regions and will facilitate the socio-economic advancement of these Russian territories, as well as their integration into our country’s overall infrastructure.
Let us now discuss the next issue.
The summer tourism season will commence quite soon. The Government continues to support efforts to expand the domestic tourism infrastructure. This will make inbound tourism more popular among Russian citizens and foreign visitors in the mid- and long term.
With this in mind, we have drafted the relevant amendments to the Tax Code. It is suggested that zero VAT rates be charged on hotels and other accommodations for travellers until late 2030. Their owners will be able to streamline the cost of their products and to spend resources on improving services or building new capacities.
We will also increase from two to three billion roubles the maximum income threshold for public catering companies at which they will be exempt from VAT payments. This concerns cafes, bars, restaurants and some other companies.
These decisions will make it possible to boost the industry’s development. They will make it more dynamic, and this will have a positive impact on affiliated segments with numerous small and medium-sized businesses. As you know, the tourism industry has the largest multiplier that affects the related sectors. We know this from international practical experience.
