A series of meetings of Duma factions with Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin starts on Monday

On Monday, a series of meetings of Duma factions with Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin begins ahead of the government’s annual report to the State Duma, scheduled for April 3. Kommersant found out from the deputies what topics they were going to raise in conversations with the head of government and during his report at the plenary session of the Duma.

On March 25, Mikhail Mishustin will meet with the factions of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the Liberal Democratic Party, on March 28 – with United Russia and New People, on March 29 – with A Just Russia – For Truth (SRZP). Also, in anticipation of the government report, ministers meet with relevant State Duma committees.

Deputy faction head “United Russia” Regarding legislative work, Dmitry Vyatkin told Kommersant that the preparation of questions for the prime minister is still ongoing and United Russia will be able to talk about them only at the beginning of this week. In other factions, the set of topics for discussion with the head of government has already been generally agreed upon.

So, the first deputy chairman of the faction Communist Party of the Russian Federation Nikolai Kolomeytsev said that the issues that the communists will raise during communication with the prime minister and at the plenary meeting after his report have already “been outlined by Gennady Zyuganov at the meeting of the president with faction leaders” on March 19. The leader of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation then reminded Vladimir Putin about the communist initiative to regulate prices for essential goods, gasoline and housing and communal services tariffs. Mr. Zyuganov also spoke about the need to think through measures for the integration of migrants, complaining that schoolchildren from Central Asia often “do not know the Russian language.”

Members SRHR, according to the leader of the party and faction Sergei Mironov, will ask questions and evaluate the government’s answers taking into account two factors. The first is the instructions contained in the president’s message, and the second is the upcoming formation of a new government. “And although the government reports for the previous year, these points are of key importance for the work of the future Cabinet,” Mr. Mironov emphasized. In particular, during the government report, the SRZP will touch upon the issues of comprehensive rehabilitation and expansion of benefits for participants in a special military operation (SVO), the party member said: “We have proposals to provide our soldiers with free land plots and exempt them from transport taxes. Let us remind the government about our bill, which approves a quota for CBO participants when applying for civil service. The faction introduced the initiative back in October 2022, but the government gave a negative response to it.” Sergei Mironov hopes that the Cabinet of Ministers can reconsider its view on this project after the president in his message called the members of the SVO the “true elite” of the country and expressed the opinion that they should take leading positions in government administration. SRHR will also raise issues of demography and support for families with children, and offer a solution to the housing problem through the development of social hiring programs. “We will insist on expanding subsidies for housing and communal services,” the party leader promised. “It is necessary to reduce the maximum permissible share of citizens’ expenses for housing and communal services from 22% to 15% of total income. Expenses above this threshold must be reimbursed by the state.” The Socialist-Revolutionaries will not forget about their traditional topics about the resumption of indexation of pensions for working pensioners and the introduction of a full-fledged progressive personal income tax scale.

Faction deputies LDPR will go to a meeting with the prime minister “with a package of specific legislative initiatives and ready-made solutions related to the social well-being of citizens and the economic development of the regions,” deputy head of the party’s central apparatus, Eleonora Kavshar, told Kommersant. The Liberal Democrats, in particular, will propose measures to reduce the disproportion in the socio-economic development of regions, including by revising the budgeting system and tax revenues in favor of the constituent entities. “We need to ensure regional additional payments, construction of social facilities and infrastructure. At the same time, priorities need to be determined based on the situation within the region, and not according to general principles,” noted Ms. Kavshar. The LDPR also has ideas for increasing the efficiency of modernizing housing and communal services, reducing the tax burden for people with low incomes and supporting entrepreneurs, including exemption from income tax for businesses in rural areas.

Finally, in the press service of the faction “New people” told Kommersant that the deputies plan to discuss issues of supporting small and medium-sized businesses and introducing mechanisms of public-private partnership in the field of tourism, which, according to party members, with the right approach can give GDP growth by 5%. “Some questions will concern the field of education – in particular, the possibility of retaking the Unified State Exam. The “new people” have already introduced such a bill. The president also said in his message that children should be given such an opportunity,” the press service recalled. In addition, deputies plan to discuss measures to support military veterans, pensioners and a number of other categories of citizens.

Ksenia Veretennikova