Refuse to pay fines with subsidies – Newspaper Kommersant No. 213 (7414) dated 11/17/2022

The White House has begun to fine-tune the system of control and supervisory activities (CND) – its reform, we recall, involves the flexible improvement of procedures on the fly. Thus, based on the results of the analysis, it was necessary to adjust the mechanisms for checking social facilities and pre-trial appeals against the decisions of controllers. Since the moratorium on inspections did not affect schools and kindergartens, the controllers excessively increased the activity and volumes of collected fines, de facto taking away from the education system part of the funds allocated for its development. In order to reduce the administrative burden, the government proposes to continue monitoring such facilities, but to replace fines for violations with instructions to eliminate them. In terms of appealing against the decisions of controllers, the courts will receive a mechanism for automatic confirmation that the disputed decision was first checked by the state apparatus.

As it became known to Kommersant, the moratorium on scheduled business inspections provoked an increase in the concentration of control measures where they were nevertheless allowed – we recall that the risks of threatening the life and safety of citizens were declared the basis for such permits. As a result, since the beginning of the moratorium, there has been a significant overflow of activity of inspectors to social facilities – to schools and kindergartens, an interlocutor familiar with the discussion of the interim results of the reform of control and supervision in the government apparatus told Kommersant. According to Kommersant’s interlocutor, the situation in which the White House allocates funds for the modernization of education and the expansion of the availability of social services to the population, and they end up paying increasing fines due to the increased number of “permitted” checks, angered the head of the government apparatus in charge of the CND , Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Grigorenko – in the retelling of the interlocutor of Kommersant, the official demanded to stop the practice in which budget funds, which have a very specific goal, “are simply shifted from one budget item to another, without working and without bringing benefits.” The secretariat confirmed the official – this position was repeatedly expressed by him at several specialized meetings.

As a result of the discussions, a temporary, “technical” solution to the problem was found: since the authorities do not risk refusing to check social facilities, the inspectors will simply be prohibited from issuing fines – only instructions to eliminate the identified shortcomings. At the same time, controllers are instructed to review their “risk profiles”, according to which they select objects for inspections, in order to reduce the burden on those being checked and focus on where violations can really lead to serious consequences. Earlier, the Ministry of Economy already reported that scheduled inspections in 2023 in relation to state and municipal schools and kindergartens will not be carried out, but will concern enterprises whose activities are associated with high risks for citizens – a clarifying resolution (dated October 1, 2022 No. 1743 ) was signed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

New amendments in terms of inspections of social facilities have also already been prepared by the Ministry of Economy – the project is posted on regulation.gov.ru and, in addition to them, it precisely corrects processes and expands the functionality of the CND digital system. Thus, the Ministry of Economy proposes to open access to the system “Typical cloud solution for automating control (supervisory) activities” to judges – this will allow them to check the fact of mandatory pre-trial appeal against decisions of control bodies. Now, we recall that courts cannot accept complaints from businesses if a mandatory procedure for pre-trial appeal through the public services portal is established. The new functionality will free the business from proving the fact of filing a complaint and speed up the process.

The functionality of the unified register of inspections will also be improved – according to the new rules, it will be possible to enter into it decisions based on the results of a control event only after indicating information about violated mandatory requirements. In addition, entrepreneurs will be able to reschedule preventive measures in agreement with controllers if they cannot receive an inspector on the appointed day. In some cases, it will be possible to cancel checks – if the object of control has ceased to exist or has received a preferential status (for example, it is included in the register of IT companies). Also, the amendments will allow for unscheduled inspections in agreement with the prosecutor’s office when identifying risk indicators in relation to any violations of mandatory requirements, regardless of the degree of harm. “We continue to refine the model so that the data entered into information systems correspond to the actions actually carried out “on the ground” as part of control measures,” said Igor Sudets, deputy head of the relevant department of the Ministry of Economy.

Diana Galieva, Oleg Sapozhkov