Vedomosti
Moscow drops truck ban
The capital’s traders can breathe easy. City authorities have suspended their decision to ban heavy trucks from entering Moscow.
Speaking to the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), Moscow Mayor Segei Sobyanin and Deputy Mayor Yury Roslyak assured the business community that the city authorities had no plans to ban heavy trucks from Moscow in mid-January, Lev Khasis, CEO of X5, a major retail chain, told Vedomosti yesterday.
Gulnara Penkova, the mayor's spokesperson, confirmed that no decision on banning trucks had been made yet. She said the issue was currently under discussion and the final decision would take all proposals and considerations into account. No abrupt decisions will be made, Penkova said.
On September 28, the Moscow government’s transportation department updated its website with news that a government decree, to come into force from January 15, had been drafted to ban trucks with a carrying capacity of over 1.5 tones between from entering Moscow between 7 am and 10 pm.
In early November, the ban was included in the draft program to combat traffic jams, prepared by the Moscow government. The document even envisaged extending the ban to the outskirts of Moscow.
The proposed ban caused unease among retailers. Associations of retailers and consumer electronics traders called on the mayor’s office to exempt trucks carrying consumer goods.
The ban would result in price hikes and make road congestion even worse, explained Khasis. “To comply with the ban, our company alone will have to replace approximately 150 heavy trucks with 1,200 smaller ones," said Khasis.
The ban could do a great deal of harm to the retail trade, agrees Real Russia CEO Antonio Baptista. Retailers selling fresh produce cannot stock up only at night.
Some retailers are already preparing for the ban. Owners of some non-chain retail stores in downtown Moscow told Vedomosti they had already replaced their heavy trucks with smaller vehicles. To recoup the extra outlay, they raised their prices by 10-15 percent.
As of early December, no decision had been made on the proposed ban. But a source in the city’s transportation department told Vedomosti the authorities had not abandoned the idea. Experts are currently working to finalize all the proposals and prepare the final version of the document, the source said.
Moskovsky Komsomolets
Gun-crime surge prompts new law
Lethal gun-crime is on the rise in Russia. On Friday, the lower house of Russia’s parliament is to pass a bill introducing harsher rules for the sale, possession and use of civilian firearms. The bill is to come into force from July 1, 2011 and this is its second and final reading. Anyone found issuing fake medical certificates to attend special training courses will be fined 10,000 to 50,000 rubles ($320 -$1600).
The bill, signed by President Medvedev, was submitted to parliament six months ago. On its first reading fears were expressed that it might put an end to shooting as a sport. One article categorically restricted the possession of loaded pneumatic weapon to special locations. The Interior Ministry was to draw up a list of requirements for such sites. Now requests from sportsmen and women will be taken into account: the priority in drafting the regulatory document has been granted to the Ministry of Sports, Tourism and Youth Affairs.
The bill aims to tighten controls over the sale of civilian firearms. It states that gun owners will have to extend permits every five years. Each time the owners will have to prove familiarity with the rules governing the safe handling of the gun, and will also have to provide new medical confirmation that they are fit to own a weapon. These rules will apply universally to all gun owners, even ex-service personnel. The only allowance will be made for current and former service personnel who are first time purchasers.
Since Russians have long bribed their way around bans like this, the Code of Administrative Violations will include a special provision for officials found to be turning a blind eye. Any irregularities will result in a fine of up to 50,000 rubles ($1600) or suspension from office for up to a year.
Administrative penalties for ordinary members of the public found breaking the rules will be much milder than for officials in breach of the regulations governing inventories of such arms and the issuing of licenses and permits.
Individuals found to be illegally buying, selling, possessing or carrying civilian smoothbore firearms will not get off lightly. They will face 5-15 days in police custody plus confiscation of the offending weapon.
Gazeta.ru
Putin to hold annual televised Q&A session
Gazeta.ru has learned that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will hold his traditional live question and answer session on December 16. Russians from all over the country will be able to phone in to ask him questions directly. He is expected to talk to people from the villages affected by forest fires last summer and from Kushchevskaya, the village that was the scene of a horrific massacre in November.
Putin first introduced this unique televised interview format during his presidency in 2001. Questions were submitted by telephone, online and live on air. Russia’s main national channels, ORT and RTR, broadcast the session. In 2008, when he became prime minister, Putin switched to the Rossiya and Vesti 24 TV channels, as well as the Mayak and Radio Rossii radio stations, owned by the state VGTRK company.
This year’s event will as usual be mediated by Ernest Mackevicius and Maria Sittel and is expected to run just for over four hours.
There are also plans to include video link-ups with the six to eight regions that saw the most high-profile events of 2010.
Members of the public have not yet been asked to start submitting their questions. Last year, and the year before, Russians sent their questions through the moskva-putinu.ru website.
In the past, questions were also sent to Putin through his regional ‘public offices,’ supervised by the United Russia party. Several officials told us this year they were not currently engaged in any preparations for Putin’s televised session.
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