Both RosPil in general and me personally are often reproached: all you do is complain and criticize! where is the positive and its friend constructiveness? It's easy to criticize — make some proposals! Please, here is our proposal (and we are even insisting on it. And we ask you to insist on it too). Do you know what the most common complaint sent to RosPil is? That's right: complaints about officials buying unimaginably expensive cars. It's not hard to see why — every time this happens, it draws media attention, people get outraged, everyone boils over, but the officials couldn't care less and go right on pampering themselves with white leather interiors in cars costing 3 to 8 million rubles. And more often than not, the class of the car is, uh... wildly out of line with the rank of the official and the wealth of the institution they work for. A few recent examples: Vehicle supply for the Far Eastern Geological Institute of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, for 3.45 million rubles.
Vehicle supply for the Central Base Customs Office, for 7.5 million rubles.
Supply of a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado for Regional Psychiatric Hospital No. 2 in the city of Spassk-Dalny, Primorsky Krai (a region in Russia's Far East), costing 2.4 million rubles.
Supply of a Mercedes-Benz S 500L 4Matic for 6,152,257 rubles for military unit 55056
and so on. There are a huge number of examples. RosPil is flooded with complaints like these. However, the harsh truth of life and the law is that neither RosPil nor anyone else has any legal tools to stop this. Neither the Federal Antimonopoly Service, nor the Finance Ministry, nor the prosecutor's office can do anything about it. We've tried everything a million times. Legally, they can buy themselves even a Bentley. It all depends on how brazen a particular official is. In some cases, after a public outcry, their conscience/shame/sense of caution kicks in and an outrageous procurement gets canceled. But more often than not, a public servant's desire to drive around in a fancy ride outweighs any conscience. The well-known Lexus with “boobing” (a notorious Russian internet meme/mockery of flashy official luxury) is a perfect example. So yes, we are sick of this (and I'm sure you are too). For years we've heard talk that the situation will be fixed through amendments to the law or through presidential decrees/government orders, but nothing has changed. We ourselves know how to fix this quickly and easily. R**osPil has prepared a corresponding amendment to the public procurement law. **Its basic idea is that state customers may buy passenger cars costing more than 2 million rubles only with authorization from the Russian government (through a government resolution). This scheme is optimal: 2 million is more than enough to buy a quality car for an official of any rank. in cases where a more expensive vehicle is genuinely needed (top officials; armored cars for officials whose lives may actually be at risk; etc.), the prime minister can give approval. These are isolated cases, and such a list could be approved once a year. You can view the amendment here; it is fully ready to be submitted and includes all the required formal documentation (an explanatory note and a financial-economic justification). Let me answer the skeptics' questions right away: -** buying cars is a trivial issue on the scale of public procurement. Your amendment is populism.** Yes, on the scale of public procurement as a whole, officials' car purchases are a minor issue. But these are exactly the purchases that provoke enormous public outrage. These are the purchases that have become a symbol of corruption, squandering public funds, and the feudal nature of Russian power. All these Mercedeses and Lexuses are constantly in plain sight. It's a demonstrative spit in the face of citizens, especially in poor regions. This injustice must be eliminated just as demonstratively. - it is necessary to regulate not only the purchase of expensive cars, but luxury goods in general (gold toilets, furniture for 5 million, etc.) **True, and that is exactly why our draft law includes a provision allowing the government to establish new lists of goods/works/services whose procurement would also require special government authorization. If the government wants to regulate the purchase of other luxury items and is prepared to classify them, it will be able to do so. But the current law provides no such possibility. - why amend Federal Law No. 94-FZ if it will soon be repealed and replaced by the Federal Contract System? **Whether we will switch or not is anyone's guess (literally, “the old woman said it in two ways,” a Russian expression meaning it's uncertain). I am sure we will not. In any case, the question of transition will be decided after the elections (this has already been announced). Besides, the draft law on the Federal Contract System published for discussion contains no such provisions: the purchase of Lexuses with “boobing” will continue. If the Federal Contract System is introduced, we will demand a similar amendment there too, and we will write it. Luxury car purchases are happening right now, which means they must be stopped right now, without waiting for some bright future. - how exactly are you going to submit your amendment if you do not have the right of legislative initiative? ** This post is an official appeal to all parties that have factions in the State Duma. This is an initiative of RosPil, a civic project not affiliated with any political party and supported by tens of thousands of people. W**e are absolutely convinced that there is a complete consensus in Russian society regarding our draft law. We ask and demand that our draft law be submitted to the State Duma for consideration. ** Anyone can support this proposal. Any party. We do not care who does it, and we will welcome any support. We believe the proposal should be adopted as quickly as possible, immediately in all three readings, and unanimously. Political parties must clearly demonstrate their position on this issue — a specific one, perhaps, but fundamentally important. In addition to this fiery appeal, RosPil is today sending official letters: to the United Russia party to the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (KPRF) to A Just Russia to the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) Their responses will be published. Each party's reaction will matter in the upcoming elections. If necessary, we will send official requests to each of the 450 members of the State Duma and to every member of the Federation Council. And we will publish all the responses as well. Letters asking for support for RosPil's initiative will also be sent to all parties not represented in the State Duma. RosPil asks everyone to support our initiative with links, by spreading the word, by contacting deputies, and so on. Let's make this a genuine people's bill and get it done. Update: The*** first response has come in. The Communist Party has said that it is ready to submit and support RosPil's amendment. S*o that means half the job is already done: at the very least, the amendment is now formalized and will make it to a vote. We are waiting for the other parties' responses. Update 2: A Just Russia is also ready to support RosPil's amendment. We are waiting for responses from the LDPR and United Russia.**