Meeting with deputy prime ministers on current issues

The agenda included additional budget allocations for building and upgrading medical facilities in the regions, subsidising the effort to develop a technology park in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, and carrying out a pilot project on using the Mir payment card for providing social safety net services.

Mikhail Mishustin's opening remarks

Dmitry Grigorenko's report on carrying out a pilot project on using the Mir payment card for providing social safety net services

Excerpts from the transcript:

Mikhail Mushustin: Good morning, colleagues.

Today, I suggest that we begin this meeting on current issues by discussing an item dealing with supporting the national healthcare system. The President placed a special emphasis on the fact that we must make medical service better and improve their accessibility. This must also be a national-wide effort covering the entire territory of our vast country, including small towns and rural communities, industrial and administrative centres, as well as large metropolitan areas.

To deliver on this objective, the Government has been carrying out several measures, including those aiming to improve healthcare infrastructure in all aspects and consolidating and upgrading its facilities and capabilities. This is the purpose of the corresponding federal project.

We will allocate an additional 4 billion roubles this year as part of this project for a total of over 6 billion for a three-year cycle for building multi-purpose hospital complexes, oncology clinics, maternities, and surgery units in eight regions of Russia. I am referring to the Magadan, Pskov, Rostov and Chelyabinsk regions, as well as Mordovia and Kabardino-Balkaria , and the Kamchatka and Krasnoyarsk territories.

Let me add that the Government will allocate almost 280 million roubles for upgrading primary healthcare institutions. This funding will go towards carrying out renovations at 26 rural medical facilities which have suffered during the recent spring flash floods, including a children's outpatient clinic and prenatal dispensaries, ambulance stations, health posts and medical and obstetric centres.

It is essential that people in Russia receive timely and quality treatment regardless of where they live. I ask Ms Golikova to keep this matter under her personal control, as usual.

Turning to the next item on our agenda, the Government continues offering its system-wide support to industrial and innovative projects in the Russian regions, especially those which have been proactive in working with small and medium-size enterprises. This sector helps create a competitive environment and strengthen regional economies while also offering employment opportunities. It is not uncommon for these undertakings to pave the way for breakthrough solutions which help Russia assert its technological leadership and help promote import substitution in general.

On a special note, I would like to mention the subsidy for the Nizhny Novgorod Region to expand the Stark industrial technology park. This funding is expected to enable SMEs to benefit from preferential access to manufacturing facilities and infrastructure. They will be able to enjoy the same opportunities as the companies registered in this technology park.

We expect this federal grant to pave the way for launching new businesses there soon while also creating jobs. This would have a positive bearing on the regional economy as well as on the entire national economy in terms of achieving the national objectives as set forth by the President.

Let us dwell on our next issue. The Government continues to improve the social safety net in keeping with the President's instructions. Our mission consists of streamlining and accelerating all the procedures as much as possible and making these procedures user-friendly while introducing new mechanisms.

Beginning on 1 August, people from several regions will be able to designate their personal bank cards for receiving social benefits on the e-government services portal. Families with three or more children, pensioners, people with disabilities and students will automatically receive discounts when paying for tickets and transport fares on urban and commuter transport, in shops and pharmacies and when visiting cultural institutions.

I would like to ask Dmitry Grigorenko to report in more detail on how these initiatives and this project in general will be carried out.

Dmitry Grigorenko: Mr Mishustin, indeed, we are actively digitalisinggovernment services, including the provision of state support measures. All this is implemented via the Gosuslugi (Government Services) website. This is one of the main national digital services; over 120 million people are registered there. In effect, over 95 percent of our population over 14 years old actively use it.

Our main current objective is to simplify the website's 2,000-plus services and make them more user-friendly. We are adapting them to specific real-life situations. Feedback from our citizens helps actively improve the website. The entire process of improving the website prioritises services that our people find most convenient.

One of the latest popular requests dealt with the simplified provision of social benefits. There are many benefit-seekers, including retired persons, people with disabilities, families with many children, students and veterans, in the Russian Federation. There are several thousand benefits which are provided using various methods, including paper IDs, regional cards, etc. Quite often, people do not know to what benefits they are entitled.

Our solution stipulates a single service for receiving all due benefits on the Gosuslugi website. As you have said, it will function using Mir bank cards. We are launching this service's pilot version from 1 August. Gosuslugi users should select Mir cards (for subsequent benefit payments) on their personal accounts. They will obtain all benefits due to them, including free fares, free admission to cultural centres, shop discounts, etc. Consequently, the card will provide all available benefits.

We have also involved various commercial companies which will provide discounts at food shops, pharmacies, etc. The bank card will serve as an ID, and people will no longer have to show their paper IDs.

On 1 August, we will launch the pilot project in three regions of the Russian Federation, specifically, the Rostov Region, the Tyumen Region and the Republic of Bashkortostan. We will later sum up the project's results. If everything works out fine, and if the people like it, we will spread the project to all other regions of the country.

I would like to draw your attention to the fact that the digital benefit provision option is an alternative to current rules and procedures. We are not abolishing anything but merely adding an additional service; and people will be able to choose the most convenient option for obtaining benefits and services.

Mikhail Mishustin: Thank you, Mr Grigorenko. Please monitor the pilot project's implementation because feedback from the people (that you have mentioned) is very important. A decision to expand the project should be made in line with their opinion.