Moskovskiye Novosti
Businesses to help government remove administrative barriers
Russia’s Economic Development Ministry will examine laws and regulatory acts to decide whether they help businesses or hinder entrepreneurship.
President Dmitry Medvedev last month ordered the ministry to draft a procedure for cancelling acts that negatively impact the investment climate (an area that is one of his top priorities). Although Minister Elvira Nabiullina’s report may look complicated and confusing, businesses are delighted by the very opportunity to influence the lawmaking process.
“It is important to launch this system. It can be improved as we go,” said Alexander Molotnikov from the Business Russia association, conceding that the proposed procedure by which “bad” acts are cancelled is too lengthy and requires approval from too many agencies.
At the core of Nabiullina’s project is a consultative council which will comprise government officials as well as representatives of national business associations, and recommend regulatory acts for expert appraisal. It will accept complaints from trade unions and companies, but only if the complaints are endorsed by a national business association. Companies will also be required to present a detailed estimate of losses inflicted by the offending act and propose a better solution.
If the council deems the complaint legitimate, it will draft an appraisal plan, send it to all the agencies concerned and publish it online. This will make the system absolutely transparent, because people will be able to follow the progress of each complaint online, read the results of public debates and expert conclusions.
This process should prove that a business either simply cannot operate in compliance with the “bad” act or that trying to do so causes it significant losses. These unnecessary costs may arise from requirements to write extra reports or from tight quality and security regulations. “The research needs to prove that these regulations improve security, and that the self-regulating market is powerless to boost the quality of the product or service in question,” the ministry said.
Finally, if the complaint wins expert endorsement, the Economics Ministry will apply to the Justice Ministry to cancel or amend the act in question. The deadline set will allow enough time for a replacement act to be drafted and adopted. The Justice Ministry then forwards the request to the ministry or department that initially wrote the act. If the agency does not comply, the Justice Ministry will notify the government commission on administrative reform.
It is still unclear when the new system will go on stream. The president ordered that the necessary acts be adopted by May 15, but that deadline was not met. The government still needs to change the laws stipulating the ministries’ responsibilities.
Rossiiskaya Gazeta
Romania warmly welcomes U.S. missile defense plans
Romanian President Traian Basescu has announced that at least 200 U.S. soldiers will soon be stationed long term in Romania. Basescu is not even trying to hide the perceived threat that lies behind Bucharest’s eagerness to team up with Washington.
On Tuesday, Basescu not only said that he approved of placing U.S. missile defense units on Romanian territory, but gave a detailed outline of the next steps the two countries will take.
Basescu said missile defense systems would be stationed at the former Deveselu Air Base, located in the southern county of Olt. Built by the Soviets in 1952, the last Romanian military personnel left Deveselu in 2002 and the old MiGs stationed there were sold off. The base has been in a deplorable state ever since.
Renovating Deveselu will require sizable investment. After all, U.S. military personnel are not used to serving in abominable conditions. Despite plans to reduce the U.S. military budget, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Ellen Tauscher, who has visited the base, made it clear that the U.S. will find money for this strategic facility.
Bucharest first announced plans to let the Americans set up in its backyard in March 2010. At the time, Basescu said that the Romanian Black Sea coast would host three batteries of 24 launchers for SM-3 interceptors by 2015. Around 200 personnel would be stationed to service the missile defense system. However, if necessary, this could be increased to up to 500 personnel.
Basescu stressed that this is not directed against Russia. In turn, the U.S. Ambassador to Moscow John Byerly has repeatedly said that the SM-3s could not possibly upset the strategic balance, since they are only able to neutralize medium-range missiles.
However, Moscow views these developments in Central Europe differently and has ample reason to distrust Romanian and U.S. policy makers, not least because existing infrastructure makes it possible to replace the mid-range interceptors with more powerful versions in a matter of days.
In November 2010, Basescu publicly declared his lack of trust in Russia: “We do not feel comfortable with Russian troops deployed along our northern border in Transdnestr. We are not at all comfortable with the extended deployment of Russia’s fleet in Sevastopol.”
The Romanian leadership has openly tried to annex Moldova. It is one thing to openly consider intervention in the affairs of a neighboring sovereign state, but something quite different when you have U.S. missiles behind you.
Given this context, the SM-3s themselves are not the main worry. The threat of real conflict between the U.S. and Russia brought on through the provocative actions of third parties is. Georgia lies just across the Black Sea. In 2008 its leaders attempted to play geopolitics to resolve territorial disputes. Was the carnage that followed really not enough?
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