Tatarstan to direct 6.6bn to fight cancer

The forecast is positive

Minister of Economy of Tatarstan Farid Abdulganiev began his report on the forecast of social and economic development of the Republic of Tatarstan for 2020 and the coming years noting the difficult economic situation in the world. But he immediately highlighted that, despite the complexity of the situation, the volume of gross regional product in January-September 2019 amounted to 2,102 trillion rubles in Tatarstan, and it is expected to exceed 2,552 trillion by the end of the year.

The minister said that it is predicted a further growth of the index of industrial production and agriculture.

“The growth of economic activity in 2020-2024 will be provided, first of all, by the increase in volumes of industrial production in manufacturing industries. At the end of this year, the index of industrial production is projected at 101,5 per cent, the volume of shipped products will be 2,741 trillion rubles.”

Hope for investment projects

Abdulganiev noted major investment projects that should contribute to the growth of economic development of the republic: the production of high-quality commercial gasoline, which will eventually increase the capacity of oil refining in Tatarstan.

Among the projects that will contribute to the development of the agro-industrial complex, the minister listed the construction of a mushroom plant in SEZ Alabuga, the modernization and expansion of production at the Kazan dairy plant, the construction of a plant for the production of butter and cheese in the Alkeevsky district. In the last municipality, in 2020 they will begin to build a mill complex, and in 2021 they will complete the construction of dairy complexes in 15 districts of the republic.

He also reminded about the new SEZ — AlmA, the application for which Tatarstan sent to the Russian Ministry of Economic Development. Let us remind that it is planned to create on the territory of three districts of the Republic — Almetyevsky, Nizhnekamsky and Leninogorsky, where “the main strategic investor and partner” will be Tatneft JSC. The volume of financing for the creation of infrastructure facilities of the SEZ AlmA should be more than 28,5 billion rubles, and the volume of investments by residents by 2025 — 67,9 billion. It is planned to place 1,400 residents in the zone and create 40,000 new jobs.

“As for the transfer of powers under SEZ Innopolis, the ministry of economy is traditionally responsible for the development of preferential zones: PSEDAs, SEZs, single-industry towns,” said Farid Abdulganiev. “The ministry of economy is the centre of responsibility for the subprogramme of development of the intellectual property market, so the adoption of such a decision by the government is natural.”

How are going to bridge the deficit?

Minister of Finance Radik Gayzatullin listed the main technical and economic characteristics of the draft budget of the Republic of Tatarstan. The projected total revenues of the budget of the republic for 2019 is laid in the amount of 264,819 billion rubles, total expenditures — 267,962 billion. Projected budget deficit in 2020 — 3,143 billion.

The budget for 2021 is made up with projected revenue 270,033 billion, in 2022 — 272,339 billion. The expenditure in 2021 is expected in the amount of 272,842 billion, including conditionally approved expenses in the amount of 7,14 billion. In 2022, the expenditures are forecasted in the amount of 274,97 billion, including conditionally approved — 14,52 billion. The budget deficit for the year 2021 is laid in the amount of 2,809 billion, for the years 2022-2021 — 2,631 billion.

As explained by Radik Gayzatullin, answering the questions of deputies, the source of bridging the deficit should be “balances at the beginning of the year”.

Deputies were also keenly interested in the new line in the budget of the republic: the draft bill proposes to approve, as of January 1, 2021, the upper limit of the state internal debt in the amount of 83,7 billion rubles, as well as the upper limit of the state external debt in the amount of 16,513 billion Japanese yens.

When asked where Tatarstan's foreign debt came from, the minister said that it consists of direct budget loans and guarantees on them and will now be reflected in the budget.

Nikolay Rybushkin, a member of the faction United Russia, asked whether the program Our Yard promised during the election campaign was financially reflected in the budget. Radik Gayzatullin explained that the programme is financed not from the budget, but from other sources (as already stated, 50 billion rubles will be directed for these purposes from Tatneft's dividends — editor’s note).

The last question to the minister of finance was asked by Deputy Vladimir Vavilov. Reminding about the increase in the number of cancer cases, he asked how the prospect of a reduction in health care costs had been calculated and whether this reduction would lead to an increase in mortality. Radik Gayzatullin assured that everything had been calculated and promised to provide calculations as far as feasible.

As a result, the deputies came to the conclusion that the draft budget is balanced and socially oriented: socially significant expenses make up more than 70% of all expenses. The budget bill was adopted on 24 October in the first reading. Amendments to it are to be accepted until November 3.

The head of the Communist Party faction, Khafiz Mirgalimov, reminded about the pain points: paid health services, fee for kindergarten, and then offered to “help Naberezhnye Chelny to redeem these buses”, referring to the problems of Naberezhnye Chelny carriers with leasing payments. However, nothing new he could offer on the raised problems.

The federal centre gives for oncology

The director of the state institution Territorial Fund of Compulsory Medical Insurance of the Republic of Tatarstan, Alsu Miftakhova, reported to the deputies on the content of the draft bill.

The budget of the Territorial Fund of Compulsory Medical Insurance of the Republic of Tatarstan for 2020 will be 57,675 billion rubles. It is assumed that due to inter-budgetary transfers received from the budget of the Federal Compulsory Medical Insurance Fund, the Territorial Fund will receive 48,073 billion rubles in 2020, from the budget of the Republic of Tatarstan — 8,715 billion rubles.

The amount of funds of the Fund's normalized insurance reserve for 2020 is expected to be set in the amount of 6,176 billion rubles.

Miftakhova stressed that the expenses of TFOMS for cancer care over the past 6 years, due to the increase in the incidence, increased by 3,5 times. And the opportunity to raise costs, she said, has been provided by the revenues from the federal budget: “Targeted funds are allocated for expensive chemotherapy.”

The amount of spending on cancer care in 2020 is projected at 6,6 billion rubles, she said, stressing that no more than 75 per cent of this amount should be directed to chemotherapy. And 768 million rubles is expected to be spent on palliative care.

Let us remind that in 2018, Tatarstan was criticized for high mortality from cancer by the Plenipotentiary of the Volga Federal District Igor Komarov at a meeting in the government House of the Republic of Tatarstan, where plans for the implementation of the May Decrees of the President of the Russian Federation on national goals and strategic objectives of Russia's development were discussed. Komarov stressed that the deterioration of the situation is observed against the background of ongoing financial injections into the re-equipment of the medical industry in the region.