Far Cry in Krasnoyarsk: third meeting of the ninth session
Discussion on Teacher Salaries and Sessions: The March Session of the Legislative Assembly of Krasnoyarsk Krai addresses pressing topics
The third meeting of the ninth session of Krasnoyarsk's regional parliament, held on March 20, was anything but boring. In this session, numerous bills were debated, with some moving forward while others were introduced for the first time. The main focus of this session was the protection of citizens' rights, with Ombudsman Mark Denisov shedding light on pressing issues in society. However, all bills under discussion aimed at improving the lives of Krasnoyarsk residents in some way.
A pressing issue that made its way onto the pre-prepared schedule was the flood situation in Minusinsk, where the Minusinska River had burst its banks days prior. The governing authorities, led by Krasnayarsk's head, Sergei Vereshchagin, gave the deputies an update on the situation and proposed the installation of hydrotechnical structures to prevent such occurrences in the future. DELA covers this issue in detail.
Human rights in a grain of sand
Following the discussion of this urgent matter, Ombudsman Mark Denisov took to the podium to address the "pain points" in society from citizen complaints in 2024. This marked the start of a series of reports from various Ombudsmen, focusing on different demographics: children, indigenous peoples, entrepreneurs, which would be presented at subsequent parliament meetings.
According to Speaker Alexei Dodatko, ombudsmen's reports offer insights into systemic issues related to significant social questions, aiding the analysis of government performance, the effectiveness of decisions passed by the deputies, and the support measures.
You can find more on the issues raised by Mark Denisov in the in-depth DELA report.
The deputies showed great concern in response to the Ombudsman's presentation, expressing their thoughts on what concerned them most. For example, Anatoly Samkov touched on the topic of access to essential services (SVO), while Yelena Pentsina discussed challenges related to municipal housing. Ilya Zaytsev focused on social benefits payments, Boris Melnychenko talked about the challenges faced by rural areas, and Alexander Boychenko emphasized the need for increased attention to human rights in the modern world.
Deputy Veronika Osikina thanked the Ombudsman for his account of the situation at Lake Bolshoye, where a landlord had banned local residents from fishing. She believes that important natural landmarks in the region warrant continued attention. Iryna Ivanova brought up the issue of telephone scams, and Denisov commented that this was a nationwide issue requiring resolution at the governmental level.
In conclusion, the parliamentarians were united in praising Denisov's honest, fair, and just report.
"Mark Genadiyevich never sugarcoats things, tells it like it is - the way things really are," commented deputy Maxim Markert. "Today we heard about the state of our healthcare sector, which is in a difficult situation. We will soon lose doctors and specialists... Addressing this issue requires immediate action from our government, not just in healthcare but in education as well. This is a crucial discussion point."
Deputy Alexei Boykov, appreciating the report as traditional, stopped to address yet another issue in this field:
"This year, a matter of great concern is the provision of subsidized medication. The number of beneficiaries who have not received necessary treatment has risen, with 30,000 prescriptions currently unfulfilled. This trend is extremely negative, and the government must take swift action to address this issue."
According to deputy Denis Tereshov, the Ombudsman knows how to name things as they are, and one positive indicator of his work is the reduction in the number of complaints.
"Of course, we can never completely eliminate complaints for Mark Denisov. But if in the next year, he says that the number of complaints has decreased by 6%, that means he's doing his job well. And our role is to support him in that."
Deputy Vladimir Chashchin, for his part, underlined: there is much work to be done to ensure that constitutionally protected rights of citizens - the right to life, education, work, medical care - are fully realized.
"Currently there is a special military operation, causing many questions when not all prearranged government support measures are reflected. We have recorded this issue in the resolution of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Parliament."
"The relationship with the Ombudsman - a crucial part of a deputy's work. This requires delicate and specific communication," summarized Speaker Alexei Dodatko.
Educators to cash in more
One of the significant issues discussed in this meeting was the proposal to reform the pay system for workers in educational institutions. The changes aim to implement a consistent approach to calculating teachers' salaries.
Specifically, the minimum wage and hourly rates should rise due to the inclusion of a special regional bonus in the base pay. Changes have also been proposed for the size of compensation, incentive, and personal bonuses. Bonuses for working in the countryside and in closed cities, as well as for qualification category, will be classified as incentive bonuses.
According to the chairwoman of the committee on state construction, legislation, and local self-government, Galina Ampilogova, a three-party commission responsible for regulating employment relationships has developed Unified Recommendations on establishing the pay system for employees of state and municipal institutions.
The bill, passed in the first reading, was previously approved by the United Region Federation of Trade Unions, was agreed upon by the Auditing Office, and was reviewed by the Prosecutor's Office.
In the field of education, several critical issues were raised. For instance, Veronika Osikina reported that funding for work on three schools in the Sharypovsky district has been delayed, while there are also problems with schools in the Balakhinsky, Beryozovsky, and Divnogorsk districts. Deputy Victor Kardashov also cited an example of a school in the Ilansky district that has yet to receive a resolution.
Amendments to the KRT law
Another considered and passed (in the second reading) bill pertains to a crucial regional law on comprehensive territorial development. Group of Deputies: Alexei Kulesh, Yegor Vasiliev, Yelena Pentsina, and Vitali Drozdov made the initial amendments.
Now, residents of relocated multifamily or individual dwellings will be provided with apartments of equal value rather than area with their previous homes. Moreover, the amendments obligate developers to offer a flat of at least 28 square meters to those whose property value is insufficient to purchase even a one-bedroom unit.
This provision will extend to those whose properties were the only ones at least for one year before the forced relocation decision was made, commonly affecting individual residential buildings (IzhS), dachas, or enclosed-type housing developments. If the value of the relocated property is higher, residents will have the option to accept a compensation payment for the confiscated property or move into the developer-provided apartment.
"The passed law protects the housing rights of people during forced relocation in zones of KRT," - noted Alexei Kulesh, chairman of the committee.
According to Alexei Dodatko, the enacted law generates a resonance and serves as the result of discussions between parties and municipal representatives. "However, citizens still have questions, so I ask the deputies to inform our voters about the opportunities that the passed law offers," - stressed the chairman of the Krasnoyarsk Regional Parliament.
In addition, at the III session of IX...
- Judge-of-the-peace positions were appointed, with the chairman of the parliament proposing keeping the matter under the purview of the relevant committee due to the staffing issue in this field;
- Three more districts - Shushenskiy, Karatuzskiy, and Khezemskiy - received municipal district status;
- Agricultural machinery worth 23.5 million rubles was gifted to the Financial Investigations Directorate for agricultural production use;
- A law on supporting medical workers was passed in the second reading: young doctors and second-year medical residents will now be able to sign employment contracts even with outstanding obligations under training contracts. This will help fill vacancies for specialized personnel. In addition, 140 million rubles have been allocated from the federal budget to support young medical specialists.
Overall, this March session considered more than 25 bills and proposals. The deputies will reconvene a month later, on April 24, to discuss the correction of the Krasnoyarsk regional budget for the current year.
Photo: DELA, ZS
- The discussion on human rights during the third meeting of the ninth session highlighted concerns in various sectors such as healthcare, education, and social benefits, with Ombudsman Mark Denisov presenting insights from citizen complaints.
- Another significant issue debated during the session was a proposal to reform the pay system for workers in educational institutions, aiming to implement a consistent approach to calculating teachers' salaries.
- The session also saw the amendments to the KRT law passed in the second reading, which will ensure that residents of relocated multifamily or individual dwellings are provided with apartments of equal value rather than area with their previous homes.
