For residents of the ASEZ in the Far East and the free port of Vladivostok, the moratorium on scheduled inspections may be extended from September

The Ministry of Eastern Development has prepared a draft government resolution providing for the introduction, from September 1, 2024, of an expanded moratorium on scheduled inspections in relation to residents of priority development territories (ASEZ) in the Far East and the free port of Vladivostok (FPV). According to the agency’s plan, all residents will be exempt from scheduled inspections. For high-risk enterprises that must be inspected as part of the federal moratorium, inspection is proposed to be replaced with preventive visits.

The Ministry of Eastern Development proposes to introduce a special regime of control and supervisory activities in the Far East. As follows from the draft government resolution developed by the department, for residents of the priority development area and the free port of Vladivostok, the federal moratorium on scheduled inspections can be extended from September. It is assumed that for the entire period of creation of priority development areas in the Far East and FPV (a total of 70 years), a ban will be introduced on conducting scheduled inspections in relation to their residents. For enterprises that are classified as extremely high and high risk – according to the general rules, inspections are retained for them – it is envisaged that they will be replaced with mandatory preventive visits by inspectors. This will affect both state control at the federal and regional levels, as well as municipal ones.

The document itself regulates the procedure for conducting preventive visits; their plan will have to be coordinated with the Ministry of Eastern Development. At the same time, the recommended frequency of their conduct is established – no more than three per year. The duration of the visit is one working day with the possibility of extending it for the same period if an “instrumental examination” is necessary. If the results of the visit reveal violations, the resident is issued an order to eliminate them.

The project was developed in pursuance of the instructions of Deputy Prime Minister and Chief of Staff of the Government Dmitry Grigorenko, who oversees the reform of control and supervisory activities. Let us explain that there is now a moratorium on conducting scheduled inspections throughout the country until 2030, with the exception of high-risk enterprises. Unscheduled inspections in 2024 are also cancelled, except in cases where risk indicators are triggered. At the same time, the laws on ASEZ and FPV provide for the possibility of the government establishing the specifics of state control in relation to their residents, but in fact it was not used – the project of the Ministry of Eastern Development is “trying” this tool for the first time. Currently, for ASEZ and FPV only the possibility of conducting joint inspections (for example, combining inspections carried out by one department), the plan of which is agreed upon by the ministry (if the project is adopted, this procedure will be canceled).

The idea of ​​establishing a special regime of state control in the ASEZ and FPV has been discussed in recent years: against the backdrop of sanctions in 2022, initiatives were voiced regarding a moratorium on inspections at the investment cycle stage, as well as their limitation after the commissioning of facilities built by residents and exemption of entrepreneurs from control measures for three years upon successful completion of inspections. The currently proposed option appears to be the most extensive.

According to Dmitry Zemlyansky, director of the research center for spatial analysis and regional diagnostics of the Institute of Economics and Public Administration of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, administrative pressure on residents of ASEZs and FPV, as well as on other participants in preregimes in the regions of Russia, may be slightly higher than the economic average – all of them are recipients of state support and benefits are forced to submit a serious amount of reporting and monitor the implementation of indicators. As Denis Gros, a member of the General Council and Chairman of the interregional branch of Business Russia for the Khabarovsk Territory and the Jewish Autonomous Region, notes, such a decision “is extremely important for residents of the ASEZ and FPV – this will lead to a reduction in administrative pressure and an increase in the efficiency of their activities, because, whatever one may say, passing the inspection diverts the time and organizational resources of companies.”

Evgenia Kryuchkova