Vedomosti
Putin ignores Medvedev’s policy
During his annual televised Q&A session on Thursday, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin made several statements either out of tune with President Dmitry Medvedev’s policy or completely disregarding it.
When replying, for example, to a question about jailed former Yukos CEO Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Putin spoke in the present tense and it was difficult to tell whether he was commenting on the first trial or expressing his wishes for the second. “It is my conviction that a thief should be in jail,” he said.
“Khodorkovsky has been convicted in court for embezzlement. We’re talking about tax evasion and fraud involving billions of rubles. The new embezzlement charge he now faces runs to hundreds of billions.” Later, the prime minister said he was referring to the first trial.
President Dmitry Medvedev’s policy is that officials must not discuss the Khodorkovsky trial: “For state officials and the president there can be no predictable outcome in any trial,” Medvedev said
Since 2009, Medvedev’s policy has been one of liberalizing criminal punishment: a thief does not necessarily go to jail. Amendments to laws governing economic and financial crimes, replacing time behind bars with alternative punishments, are already in force. Putin, however, made no mention of this presidential policy.
Putin also made a revealing remark about riots on Manezh Square. He said: “The general public, including the liberal section of society, has to understand … that we need law and order and that it must be upheld. One of the government’s functions is to safeguard the interests of the majority.” He added that if the police fail to do that, “our liberal intelligentsia will have to shave off their beards, don their helmets and go out onto the streets and squares to fight the radicals.”
Putin singled out a group he clearly views negatively – the liberal and opposition-minded intelligentsia – in comparing a peaceful political protest to nationalist riots, noted Leonid Gozman, co-chairman of the Right Cause.
Medvedev, on the other hand, said he respects the opposition as long as its actions comply with Russian legislation. His blog-entry for November 29, said the state must also guarantee the rights of any minority, and ideally even a single voice should also be heard.
In his statement on December 16, Medvedev said the riots were caused by xenophobia and police mistakes, and not by the liberals and their position.
Putin spoke like the top official in the country, without any regard for the president’s opinion, observed Gozman.
Gleb Pavlovsky, president of the Effective Policy Foundation, believes the contradictions lie within Putin’s position, not between Putin and Medvedev. Putin, he says, is protecting the system he created while at the same time admitting there are problems. Medvedev, Pavlovsky believes, has more ambitious objectives: he is building a system that should function independently of officials. He wants to create a state governed by the rule of law, not one where a prime minister comments on a trial a week before the verdict is passed, Pavlovsky concludes.
Rossiiskaya Gazeta
Russia gun-crime bill stalls
The second reading of the gun control bill, part of a legislative initiative launched by President Dmitry Medvedev, has been delayed until December 21.
The reason seems banal: today’s agenda was too packed, and the bill “required the addition of details taking into account issues raised during discussions held to date.” Who would have thought that this “safe weapon,” intended for self-defense rather than violent attacks, that has long been freely available in stores across Moscow is only days away from being dealt so lethal a blow?
The bill submitted by Dmitry Medvedev to the State Duma on July 7 strips this weapon of all innocence. It introduces a new category of Russian-made weapon, namely, small firearms of limited lethal force, including pistols, revolvers and non-barrel self-defense guns that hit live targets at close range with rubber bullets and are not intended to kill.
The draft law stipulates that any potential first-time buyers of these weapons, whether civilian firearms, gas pistols and revolvers or pneumatic (BB) hunting guns, must undergo special training in their safe use at licensed schools. This retraining should be repeated every five years. Gun holders failing the test risk having their licenses revoked.
Under the bill, anyone buying civilian firearms needs to register and get a license for them. Weapons such as Russian-made mechanical spray guns, tear-gas and irritant-gas sprays, electroshock weapons and Tasers, as well as pneumatic weapons with calibers of up to 4.5 mm and muzzle energy of up to 7.5 joules are not covered by the bill, and do not have to be either licensed or registered.
Individuals aged 18 and over can buy smooth-bore long-barrel self-defense guns, civilian firearms with limited lethal force, sporting and hunting guns, signal and flare guns, as well as swords and daggers to be worn as part of traditional dress provided they get licenses from their local police stations. Knives will also be outlawed: their use restricted to self-defense.
The bill includes tougher sentences for a wide variety of gun-crime: from their illegal manufacture and conversion to breaches of regulations governing their sale and storage. Prison sentences are increased, higher fines applied, and longer periods of forced and corrective labor stipulated.
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Currently there are over five million non-lethal weapons, hunting guns and rifles/carbines in private hands in Russia. Up to 150,000 new weapons are purchased each year. Moscow is the most heavily-armed city in the country: with over 466,000 registered civilian-weapon owners holding 547,000 guns. That includes over 32,000 sawn-off shotguns and 213,000 smooth-bore firearms. Not only are non-lethal firearms essentially indistinguishable from their deadly counterparts, they are easily converted back into lethal weapons. About a dozen people, hit by rubber bullets, die each year and twice that number are crippled.
Moskovsky Komsomolets
Excise tax kills faster than alcohol
The Russian government is set to raise alcohol, tobacco and gasoline excise taxes next year, which will send consumer prices skyrocketing.
The Finance Ministry’s new excise policy on alcohol and tobacco products is probably aimed at promoting healthy living. In fact, excise tax on spirits will grow by only 10 percent next year, as ministry officials must have thought it too risky to raise the price of vodka to as much as 150 rubles ($4.90) per bottle, as initially planned. The rise from the current price of 89 to 98 rubles is unlikely to provoke riots.
Smokers will have to count the pennies next year, as the cost of cheap cigarettes will rise by three rubles per pack, and premium class cigarettes by five rubles.
Car owners will also be affected by the new policy. In fact they will pay their gas excise twice – first through the increased producer taxes, and second, as transport tax. On paper, the Finance Ministry is halving transport tax. But regional authorities are authorized to add local taxes to the basic rate; they can even increase it ten-fold.
While in 2010 Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) investigated gasoline retailers and gas price calculation, it is unlikely to continue doing so next year. Although the watchdog started work on a fair pricing formula for petroleum products, it has still not come up with a solution.
New environmental standards will cause a further hike in gas prices. Until recently, excise tax rates depended only on the fuel’s octane rating. Now, to encourage the use of Euro-3 gasoline, the government has decided to raise the tax on any grade fuel below Euro-3 by 30 percent. In fact, 70 percent of gas sold in Russia is Euro-2.
As a result, taxes will account for more than 50 percent of the price of gasoline, which is set to surge by at least two-four rubles per liter.
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