12.09.08

The summer vacation is almost over for State Duma deputies. They have a large amount of work waiting for them: they plan to review more than 500 out of about 1,600 initiatives in the fall session. If accepted, these bills have the potential to affect everyone, from businessmen who may encounter new inspections and restrictions, to smokers who may lose the right to smoke in the stairwells of their apartments.

Russia’s leaders have been promising for many months to ease the load on businesses and reduce the number of inspections for them. Yet one of the bills waiting to be reviewed by the State Duma would allow the fire department to conduct an unlimited number of inspections.  Under current legislation firefighters can only inspect an enterprise once per year and stop their activity for no more than 90 days. The authors of the bill claim that enterprises often resume their activities without following the instructions of the fire department, and the fire department cannot conduct another inspection. Experts believe that acceptance of this bill would lead to a return of the bureaucracy and corruption that come with the possibility of conducting unscheduled checks.

Deputies also plan to increase fines for failure to observe labor safety laws. Fines for organizations that are currently set at 30,000-50,000 ruble will be increased to 50,000-100,000 rubles. Fines for non-corporate enterprises will be increased from 500-5,000 rubles to 5,000-20,000 rubles.

A new obligation may also be imposed on businessmen to employ minors, in order to “get them off the streets.” The proposed bill says that if an enterprise has more than 100 employees, 4 percent of them must be 14-18 years old. The authors do not specify what kind of work teenagers will do in, for example, hi-tech manufacturing companies.

Deputies are still attempting to change the flat income tax schedule into a progressive one. Another bill introduced to the State Duma proposes to maintain the present 13 percent tax rate only for earnings up to 25,000 rubles/month. For earnings from 25,000-50,000 rubles, 18 percent will be withheld. For those whose salaries exceed 50,000 rubles/month, a rate of 30 percent would be imposed. This means, for example, that someone with a 100,000-ruble salary currently paying 13,000 rubles in taxes would have to start paying almost 23,000 rubles.

For those owing money in the form of loans or alimonies, deputies have prepared a detailed list of assets which would authorities would not be able to confiscate for repayment of debts. Essentially, the debtor would have be left his clothes, footwear, one television, one stove, and one washing machine. Everything else is to be considered "a luxury" and can therefore be confiscated for debt repayment.

Several bills that would impose new restrictions on teenagers will also be discussed. For instance, deputies want to raise the drinking age from 18 to 21. Increasing the age for conscription, on the other hand, is not being discussed. This means one can receive an automatic weapon at 18, but not a bottle of beer until 21. They’re also discussing making it illegal for anyone under 18 to go to night clubs. If an underage teenager is caught in a club, his parents would be fined from 2,000-3,000 rubles. The night club would be fined 20,000-30,000 rubles. The bill also stipulates that if the minor is married, then he/she is exempt from the restriction. Deputies also want to forbid children who are 14 years or younger from being outside without adult supervision from 10 pm – 6 am. Parents could be penalized 300-500 rubles.

Another topic of discussion for the fall session will be the struggle against unhealthy habits. Cigarette advertising may be forbidden everywhere except the places cigarettes are sold, and ads for alcohol may be removed from public transportation. Smoking may be forbidden even in the stairwells and public balconies of apartment buildings, with a fine of 100 rubles. The age of compulsory hospitalization for drug and alcohol rehabilitation may be raised from 16 to 18 years. The permission of a parent or orphanage head is enough to place a teenager in these facilities. They are also considering removing scenes from movies that contain narcotics use.

Deputies also continue the struggle with extremism. The People’s Commissar of Safety will lead the fight, as usual. Current legislation dictates that a warning be removed within twelve months after its pronouncement. Deputies would like to get rid of this limitation. A second warning by the People’s Commissar of Safety would mean a suspension of their activity and a liquidation claim. Deputies are also still actively fighting corruption. Government and law-enforcement officials convicted of corruption will not be eligible for the special pensions that are 2-3 times higher than regular ones. A “board of shame” is also being proposed as an addition to the government website, listing the names of officials who have been convicted of corruption, including accepting bribes, embezzlement, unlawful participation in entrepreneurial activity, forgery, and negligence of duty. The details of the crime would be listed next to the offender’s name. The record would remain on the site until the sentence is served.

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Source: "Новые известия"