The White House approved the rules for the Federal Property Management Agency to conduct inspections of the effective use of state assets

After the decision was made on a partial inventory of state assets, the White House set to work to ensure the efficiency of their use and leasing and the transparency of privatization transactions. To this end, the government has already approved a unified mechanism for verification and seizure by the Federal Property Management Agency of state assets from copyright holders in the event of their misuse or ineffective use. It is almost impossible to estimate the possible volume of assets that it will affect until work on assessing the return on state assets has been established. According to experts, the risks of seizure encourage copyright holders to effectively use treasury assets, but the measure may turn out to be redundant in the absence of transparent criteria for inefficiency. The Ministry of Finance is currently proposing to ensure transparency at the stage of concluding such transactions by converting them into electronic form.

The White House approved uniform rules for the Federal Property Management Agency and its territorial bodies to conduct inspections of the effective use of state assets, as well as ensuring their safety and the seizure of “excess, unused or misused” property. After the transfer of Rosimushchestvo to the Ministry of Finance in 2020, the agency was required to conduct an inventory of treasury assets – the state still does not have complete and reliable information about its property. However, the digitalization of departments and the exchange of data between them made it possible to identify some of the unaccounted for objects. At a recent meeting of the Federal Property Management Agency, “construction” Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin and the head of the Ministry of Finance, Anton Siluanov, noted the success of this work, but demanded that the Federal Property Management Agency now increase the activity of inspections of efficiency and targeted use of assets (see “Kommersant” on March 14).

Resolution No. 302 of March 14, 2024, published by the White House, provides for further modernization of the state property accounting system, adjusts the rules for maintaining the state property register and regulates accounting objects – these are land plots, buildings, structures, unfinished objects, as well as securities, digital rights, etc. The basis for the inspection of assets will be the inclusion of unitary enterprises in the privatization plan, the lack of information about the objects in the register of state property and inspections for three years, violations and violations not corrected by the copyright holder during the inspection of state property. Checks will be both documentary and on-site.

Based on the results of inspections, excess, unused or misused property, which is assigned to the copyright holders (state institutions and state-owned enterprises) with the right of operational management or acquired by them at the expense of funds allocated by the owner department, can be seized by the Federal Property Management Agency in agreement with such department – or without consent based on a decision of a collegial body (it will be determined by the government). Seizure may include property that is not used or used in an inappropriate manner in accordance with the types of activities of the copyright holder or when such property is transferred under lease agreements, gratuitous use and trust management to third parties.

Managing partner of the Regionservice bar association, Anna Zholobova, classifies buildings in which the enterprise does not carry out business activities as such property. “Similar rules are already provided for in the Land Code in relation to land plots: any land plot must be used efficiently,” she says. Experts find it difficult to estimate the volume of “excess” property, since this requires a comprehensive inventory and audit of the condition of assets at all levels of management. The Ministry of Finance also did not provide an estimate. Maria Yakovleva, director of the Yakovlev and Partners legal group, believes that given the scale of state and municipal property, the potential volume could be significant.

Restoring order at the inspection stage was required due to the fact that until recently the legislation did not regulate the issue of the efficiency of state-owned facilities. In 2021, the Ministry of Finance prepared a draft resolution giving the Federal Property Management Agency exclusive rights to seize state property that is used ineffectively or for other purposes. The explanatory note then noted that the legislation does not directly indicate the need for the Federal Property Management Agency to obtain the consent of other departments for seizures, but judicial practice “testified otherwise.” According to Maria Yakovleva, coordination between departments increases their responsibility for the effective use of state assets. “The initiative can contribute to a more rational and efficient use of state property, freeing up resources for higher priority areas of state needs. However, there is a risk of excessive seizure of property and weakening of the rights of the other party if the assessment procedures are not transparent or subjective enough,” the expert warns.

The Ministry of Finance also intends to achieve transparency at the stage of sale and transfer of property for management to copyright holders. Yesterday, a draft resolution was published on regulation.gov.ru, which envisages the launch in July 2024 of a pilot to transfer such transactions into electronic form. The Ministry of Finance explains that in order to ensure the traceability of transactions with property, it is necessary to introduce an interconnected and legally significant electronic document flow with registration of bidders in the GIS “Torgi”. “The pilot project is designed to develop this technology on the basis of certain types of tenders. Its implementation will make it possible to reliably predict income received as a result of bidding,” the department says. The pilot will cover bidding only for those federal assets that the government has the authority to manage. At the same time, the Ministry of Finance proposes to recommend the conclusion of contracts using the GIS “Trading” at the regional and municipal levels.

According to the project, most transactions are subject to conversion into electronic form – privatization, sale of real estate of unitary enterprises, property subject to forced sale, goods detained by customs authorities. Auctions for the sale and lease of land plots, open competitions for concluding concessions, competitions and auctions for the right to conclude lease agreements, gratuitous use agreements, and property trust management agreements are subject to electronic accounting.

Diana Galieva