Today, a system for financing local governments is being established, municipalities are performing their functions more effectively, and the conditions for granting subsidies and transfers are being reviewed. This was stated at the roundtable of Natalia Lindigrin, Director General of the Institute for Regional Issues “Local Self-Government as an Integral Part of Public Authority” at the Expert Institute for Social Research (EISI).
“The closest assistant that a citizen can apply immediately cannot help him for various reasons. This imbalance can only be eliminated by making local self-government part of a single system of public authority. That’s what the president did in the end,” he said.
In turn, the head of Norilsk Dmitry Karasev noted that both residents and representatives of municipal authorities noticed changes in the local government system “on the ground”.
“At the site, we understand the demands of residents regarding certain types of jobs and services that are particularly needed now and in the future. In Norilsk, we are constantly discussing the projects we plan to implement with the citizens. We talk about how our city is developing and we get instant feedback.”
The development of the local self-government system is impossible without a competent legal framework, so such work is regularly carried out in the profile committee of the State Duma, said Sergey Morozov, first deputy chairman of the United Russia fraction in the State Duma, deputy chairman of the committee on regional policy and local self-government. He emphasized that the issue of LSG development cannot be approached pointwise.
“We are creating a modern form of democracy by securing powers, their financing and provision. We increase citizens’ interest in issues of local importance. We solve the personnel problem and strive to improve public sovereignty, create a morally healthy society atmosphere. This is one of the main tasks of local self-government,” he said.
Experts expressed their confidence that global changes in the local self-government system are impossible without the personnel problem being resolved.