A federal-level expert working group headed by Mikhail Abyzov has prepared its conclusion on an online petition to limit the cost of cars for public officials. The federal-level expert working group recommended that the Government adopt a legal act introducing price caps on official cars for different categories of public servants. This decision was made after reviewing a petition that received more than 100,000 votes on the Russian Public Initiative (ROI, a state online petition platform) website. The petition calls for banning officials and employees of state-owned companies from purchasing official cars costing more than 1.5 million rubles (about $46,000 at the time). http://government.ru/dep_news/5947 You can’t say this is exactly what we wanted, but overall, it’s not bad. After the last meeting of the Open Government (a Russian government reform initiative), which I criticized quite harshly, I had a conversation about this with Mikhail Abyzov, who tried to explain the working group’s position to me. Basically, that they’re not such villains after all. Following that conversation, I took the liberty of formulating a position on behalf of all those 100,000 people who signed the petition, and I conveyed it to Mikhail: We don’t just want the appearance of action — we want actual results. So in the end, we will be satisfied with any kind of decision that bans officials from buying/leasing cars costing more than 1.5 million rubles. However, we still believe the initiative should be put to a vote in the State Duma and passed as a federal law. Any other outcome will be seen as Putin breaking his campaign promise. Different types of cars for different categories of public servants are fine, but only on the condition that cars costing more than 1.5 million rubles are a*** very rare ***exception tied to security needs (an armored car for someone who is genuinely under threat). As stated in our draft law, the rules must apply not only to public servants, but also to state corporations, state-owned companies, GUPs, MUPs, FGUPs (various forms of state- and municipally owned enterprises), and everything else where people are in charge of public money. That’s that. For now, I suggest treating the group’s decision as a timid step in the right direction. And while the working group continues its meetings, I want to share one more piece of news on the subject:
The authorities of Chelyabinsk Region announced a tender to lease two BMW 740Li xDrive sedans or their equivalent through 2016, with ownership to be transferred afterward. More than 13.2 million rubles (about $406,000 at the time) is planned to be spent for this purpose, according to the listing posted on the state procurement portal. As noted in the auction documents, the executive-class sedans must be 2013 models with a black leather interior and a "Black Sapphire Metallic" exterior. The cars must have a maximum output of at least 320 horsepower. They are also required to include, among other things, an onboard computer, a heated sport leather steering wheel, a rear-view camera, heated seats, and a television. In addition, the officials specifically requested armor protection for the front parts of the vehicles — the hood, bumper, fenders, mirrors, front pillar, and the areas under the door handles http://ria.ru/society/20130920/964782124.html That’s right. You can view the procurement itself here.
Of course, there’s clearly nothing else Chelyabinsk Region could spend 13.2 million rubles on except buying Governor Yurevich of United Russia two BMWs with a sport leather steering wheel. We’re waiting for more decisive action from the "Open Government" and from the Government itself. After all, we collected those 100,000 signatures two and a half months ago.