The White House was not long in coming – Newspaper Kommersant No. 51 (7496) of 03/25/2023

After the March 23 report in the State Duma, the government began to fulfill the promises given to parliamentarians. On Friday, at a Cabinet meeting, changes were approved to the rules for granting subsidies for housing and communal services, giving the regions the right to detail the criteria for providing such compensation, depending on the income of citizens. Several initiatives announced during the government report were also approved – bills on the creation of a free economic zone in the annexed regions, as well as on the unification of rules for supporting the poor as part of the declared simplification of the population’s access to state assistance.

The White House, which reported to the State Duma on Thursday about its work in 2022 (see Kommersant on March 24), is preparing a list of instructions for departments following a dialogue with deputies. As Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said at a Cabinet meeting on Friday, Deputy Prime Minister and head of the government apparatus Dmitry Grigorenko will control the execution of instructions.

The results of the visit to Okhotny Ryad have not yet been formalized, but the White House has already begun to implement the initiatives discussed at the meetings with the factions. So, according to their results, Mikhail Mishustin said, a government decree was approved that changes the rules for providing subsidies for paying for housing and utilities – the approach to them is planned to be made more detailed depending on the income of citizens. In total, about 2 million people receive subsidies. They are due, for example, to large families, pensioners, and citizens who spend more than a certain share of their income from the family budget for these purposes (this share is called the standard). The size of the standard differs from region to region, but cannot exceed 22% (often it is set at a level close to the maximum, although in some regions it is lower, for example, in Moscow – 10%). At the same time, the correction factor is provided only for families with incomes below the subsistence level.

According to the adopted resolution, now the regional standard can be differentiated by the authorities of the subjects, they will also determine the criteria for such ranking. At low incomes, the standard may be lowered. It is assumed that this will increase the targeting of state support: as Mikhail Mishustin explained, “on the ground they know better what the situation is in the economy of the subject, what is the average income of families.”

As part of the fulfillment of the government’s promises made during the report, yesterday a draft law on the unification of requirements for the conditions and procedure for providing social assistance to low-income families was also considered and submitted to the State Duma. It also provides for the possibility of submitting an application for the appointment of social assistance in electronic form through the public services portal.

The previously announced draft law on the creation of a free economic zone (FEZ) in the four annexed regions was also approved at the meeting. The preferential regime proposed for the Donetsk and Luhansk republics, for the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions, is generally similar to the set of benefits provided for the Crimean FEZ. This is a ten-year zero tax on property of organizations and the federal part of income tax (3% of the total rate of 20%, the regional part can be reduced or zeroed at the discretion of the territories themselves), a three-year exemption from land tax, as well as a reduction to 7.6% insurance premium rates.

The introduction of a free customs zone regime is also envisaged – the possibility of importing goods without paying taxes, duties and applying non-tariff regulation measures. As Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin clarified, a simplified procedure for urban planning and land use is also being introduced. It is assumed that the new SEZ will operate until the end of 2050.

Evgenia Kryuchkova