The Presidium members were joined at the meeting by First Deputy Prosecutor General Alexander Buksman, Deputy Interior Minister Mikhail Vanichkin, and Deputy President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs and Managing Director for Corporate Relations and Legal Support Alexander Varvarin.
State Secretary and Deputy Minister of Economic Development Oleg Fomichev briefed the meeting on the legal aspects of organising interaction between state officials, the public, and organisations in the government process.
The reports show that legal provisions are in place for the main forms of representation and action on behalf of third parties. The use of various forms of business community participation in the decision-making process provided for in the laws, including through the ombudsman institution, raises the quality of government.
The Council Presidium recommended further efforts to enhance institutional forms of interaction with the business community through the existing business associations.
President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov spoke about the experience of Tatarstan’s regional government in organising anti-corruption work. Mr Minnikhanov noted that over 5 years, the work of the commission set up by the republic’s anti-corruption expert group has resulted in 249 officials receiving disciplinary penalties for various corruption-related legal violations, including 16 officials holding positions at the regional level.
Tatarstan gives active support to public anti-corruption initiatives. The People’s Inventory initiative organised on decision of the republic’s head in 2013–2014 revealed details on around 50,000 items of state and municipal property that had not been inventoried (18,513 items of real estate and 30,136 plots of land).
The republic implements a comprehensive package of corruption prevention measures, including making government more transparent, reducing administrative barriers, simplifying permit and licensing procedures, and getting local people more involved in public monitoring and oversight of government activity. The Open Tatarstan comprehensive information system is an effective tool in these efforts. It includes a portal for state and municipal services in the republic, covering 234 different services. Last year alone, Tatarstan residents used these electronic services more than 60 million times.
The Council Presidium made the relevant decisions based on the meeting’s conclusions.