Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak has signed a list of Government instructions on public utility payments in 2013.

I To senior officials in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation (heads of the supreme executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation) (see the list).

1. By March 25, 2013, you shall adopt the required decisions within your terms of reference to prevent the growth of public utilities payments by more than 6% on average per annum in comparison with the level of utilities payments in December 2012, keeping in mind that a rise in public payments is permissible only in the II half-year of 2013 by no more than 12%, provided there was no growth in the first half-year of 2013.

The said restrictions shall not apply to municipal entities where electricity bill and gas bill payments prevail in the structure of the aggregate payment (in these cases, growth of up to 15% is allowed starting in the second half-year of 2013), as well as to military communities (former military communities whose infrastructure has been transferred into the ownership of constituent entities of the Russian Federation or municipal ownership) and municipal entities in which the utilities tariffs were, as of December 2012, much lower (by over 2 times) than the average level of tariffs in a relevant constituent entity of the Russian Federation (in the said cases, the ultimate level of public utility payment growth shall be cleared with the Federal Tariff Service).

You shall report to the Federal Tariff Service and the Ministry of Regional Development by March 25, 2013, on the decisions you have adopted and the planned modification of the 2013 public utility payments for municipal entities (indicating the factors that entailed payment increases), as well as the decisions on providing social support.

2. Simultaneously:

2.1. you shall adopt, if necessary, additional social support measures;

2.2. in all cases, in which an unjustified growth of public utilities payments has been identified, and if restrictions on the permissible increment in the aggregate actual amount of public utilities payments indicated in p. 1 of these instructions has been exceeded, you shall eliminate these irregularities and pay back or keep towards further 2013 utilities payments the funds paid from January 1, 2013, to the day, on which the restrictions indicated in p. 1 of these instructions were imposed;

2.3. you shall ensure proper housing control (oversight) over the procedure for determining the amount of payments for housing services, as stipulated by the Housing Code of the Russian Federation. You shall verify the validity of the existing decisions on determining the amount of 2013 housing services payments. Please pay special attention to the need for an unconditional conformity to requirements regarding the procedure for holding general meetings of property owners in blocks of flats in order to determine payments for living quarters;

2.4 you shall organise events to explain the rights and responsibilities of property owners in blocks of flats with regard to approving decisions on the amount of payment for living quarters at their general meetings, as well as the procedure for and terms of rendering social support.

II To the Federal Tariff Service (Sergei Novikov)

    The Ministry of Regional Development (Igor Slyunyaev)

    The Ministry of Economic Development (Andrei Belousov)

1. By March 6, 2013, you shall send methodological recommendations on how to calculate public utilities payments in 2013 with account taken of this instruction to the senior officials of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation (to heads of supreme executive authorities of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation).

2. By April 10, 2013, you shall sum up the reports sent by the constituent entities of the Russian Federation and shall submit a coordinated report to the Government of the Russian Federation.