He said in comment on the results of the spring session 2004 that, with the United Russia faction controlling the majority in the house, the legislation process became "more constructive, target-oriented, and balanced, which was not the case with earlier conventions." The deputy speaker said it enabled the parliament to address state reforms "more seriously."
He said that the United Russia faction was focused on developing a bill that could provide the state with an opportunity to raise export customs duties and mineral resources production taxes to get part of oil companies' overdue profit. "When oil prices are high, these acts will raise state revenues and at the same time will not undermine oil production industry," the legislator said.
The unified social tax was lowered to lift part of the tax burden on businesses, he added.
Mr. Katrenko also said that a bill dividing state functions among various levels of government had been adopted in the first reading. He emphasized that the document would be adjusted a great deal before the second reading - concerning the proposed monetization of in-kind social benefits in the first place.
"We have to make sure that those eligible to state benefits do not suffer from the reform," he said.
Another legislation priority, according to Mr. Katrenko, was a package of bills providing affordable housing for the Russian people. He said that the adoption of the package was one of the core objectives stated in Russian President Vladimir Putin's State-of-the-Nation Address to the Federal Assembly.
In addition, he said that the lower house had adopted in the first reading a bill on mortgages for military servicemen, and a number of amendments to the Criminal Code, under which terrorism would be punished much harder.
