An important role in the Russian economy is played by state corporations. They are the largest employers, ensure the development of entire industries, in some cases they even have a position close to monopoly. And therefore, they can be considered as virtually indispensable from the point of view of the functioning of the state economy. What are the most remarkable characteristics of state-owned enterprises of the Russian Federation? What are their similarities and differences with foreign organizations that have similar or similar status?
What is a state corporation?
The term “state corporation” means a non-profit institution whose assets belong to the Russian Federation, created in order to carry out socially significant functions, such as, for example, the fair distribution of financial resources. In practice, this function can be expressed in the fact that state-owned corporations provide jobs with good salaries, thereby stimulating the growth of the purchasing power of the population, or, for example, in the fact that the corresponding type of institution acts as large customers for private businesses, contributing, in turn, entrepreneurship development. State corporations stimulate the growth and modernization of the economy as a whole, contribute to building active international relations of the Russian Federation.
State corporations, state-owned companies and state-owned enterprises: correlation of concepts
State-owned corporations and state-owned companies are 2 types of non-profit structures. They are somewhat different, although very similar. First of all, it should be noted that their activities are regulated by the same source of law - The Law on Non-Profit Organizations.
According to its provisions, a state-owned company is an NGO that does not have a membership and was created by the Russian Federation on the basis of property investments in order to provide public services and perform other functions when using state property in the form trust management. In turn, the state corporation is also an NGO without membership, created by the Russian Federation on the basis of a property contribution, but already to achieve social goals and to implement, as we noted above, socially significant functions. Both types of government structures are created on the basis of the publication of federal laws.
In turn, state corporations and state-owned enterprises are characterized by even more pronounced differences. The former have the status of entities established by the RF power system. In turn, a state-owned enterprise is not something that is necessarily established by the state, but one in which it owns the largest share of shares. Co-owners of the state-owned enterprise may well be private individuals.
In turn, the differences between state corporations and enterprises can hardly be traced at the level of legal forms. The fact is that state corporations, in principle, can be the same business companies - open or closed, as state enterprises.
At the same time, some lawyers classify organizations such as FSUE as state corporations. State-owned enterprises in the general case can only be business companies - such a form as a unitary enterprise, as a rule, is not typical for them.
However, there are experts who prefer to distinguish between the concept of “state corporation” and FSUE.This is due to the fact that the former are almost completely uncontrollable and not accountable to state bodies - an exception may be the need to periodically provide some data on the activities carried out to the Government of the Russian Federation. In turn, government agencies may have significantly more authority with regard to the management of FSUEs.
But, in general, the point of view is widespread, according to which a state corporation can be represented in any legal form. Examples of state-owned enterprises are Rosneft, Russian Railways, and Rostelecom. Examples, in turn, of unitary enterprises are Russian Post, Mosgortrans, and the TASS agency.
One way or another, but it makes sense to distinguish state-owned enterprises, state corporations and state-owned companies based on their actual establishment mechanism. Which is predetermined primarily by the specifics of legal regulation of the activities of the relevant organizations.
Features of legal regulation of state corporations
Consider, therefore, the legal aspect of the activities of state corporations. First of all, it is worth noting that state corporations are in the jurisdiction, first of all, of civil law. That is, in transactions and other legal relations appear as a legally equal partner to the partners. However, the legal status of the relevant organizations has a number of features.
First of all, it should be noted that state corporations in Russia are established on the basis of a published federal law. The aspect of the activity of the respective companies is that they are not endowed with the obligation to respond to the arising obligations of the Russian Federation. Conversely, the state is not responsible for the work of state corporations. An exception may be scenarios in which certain types of mutual responsibility of the Russian Federation and its companies are prescribed by law.
Privileges of state corporations
Another noteworthy aspect of the activities of state corporations is that the provisions of the law governing bankruptcy are not applicable to them. In addition, certain privileges of the corresponding type of organization have in terms of reporting:
- they should not disclose information about work in the same way as business companies are required to do;
- in general, they do not have instructions to send a report to government agencies, with the exception of some government authorities;
- state-owned corporations have the right to hold tenders within the framework of the public procurement mechanism on the basis of independently established rules, which may not necessarily coincide with the norms approved in the legislation on public procurement.
You can also pay attention to how the bodies that manage state corporations are formed. State corporations are headed by managers in accordance with the rules, which, as in the case of the establishment of organizations corresponding type, are determined by a separate law. So, according to the provisions of a number of legal acts, in many cases the head of a state corporation can be appointed directly by the president of the Russian Federation.
When did state corporations appear in Russia?
State corporations as subjects of civil law in the Russian Federation began to appear upon the fact that on July 8, 1999, amendments were made to the Law regulating the activities of non-profit organizations. Thus, a basis has appeared for the legalization of the activity of the corresponding type of institutions.
It is believed that the first state corporation in Russia was the agency "ARKO", engaged in the restructuring of banking organizations - it was registered in 1999. However, after the establishment of this agency, state-owned corporations have long been not the most popular legal form of business with the participation of the state. Only in 2007 did their popularity gain steady growth.
The largest state corporations in Russia
What are state corporations in Russia today? The list of those is relatively small, but it certainly cannot be considered closed. Depending on the tasks set by the state, new organizations of the corresponding type may be created, existing organizations may be abolished.
Among the largest state corporations of the Russian Federation today:
- Vnesheconombank;
- Russian Technologies;
- Rusnano;
- DIA;
- Rosatom.
It can be noted that the state corporation Olimpstroy was responsible for the construction of Olympic facilities in Sochi. The Housing and Utilities Fund is considered a corporation of significant scale.
Prospects for state corporations in Russia
How promising is the further development of such forms of enterprises as state corporations? There are different points of view on this score.
So, in the last few years, there have been reports in the media that the corresponding organizational and legal form of activity of enterprises is planned to be canceled. In particular, one of the concepts for improving the legislation governing the activities of legal entities included theses on the need to consider the transformation of state corporations into other types of legal forms of enterprises. At the same time, those privileges that state corporations have in accordance with current legislation were supposed to be canceled.
But so far, state-owned corporations are successfully operating. True, their activities are closely monitored by the government, which seeks to increase the effectiveness of the activities of the relevant organizations. In particular, the current remuneration systems for employees of state enterprises are quite actively being adjusted.
There are, for example, proposals for linking the compensation of employees of the respective organizations to the actual results of labor. There are initiatives according to which the powers of employees of state corporations are supposed to be brought closer to those that characterize the activities of civil servants. Similarly, it was planned to impose additional restrictions on specialists of state-owned companies, in particular those related to the possibility of conducting commercial activities.
Industry specifics of the development of state corporations
There are theses that the activities of state corporations should be regulated based on the specifics of a particular segment of their activities. Thus, financial state corporations may be more compatible with legal acts that strictly regulate their activity. Innovative state corporations, in turn, may not be as acceptable to regulate tightly.
Similarly, the sectoral approach can be adapted to the activities of other structures, such as, for example, the fund responsible for the development of housing and communal services. State corporations, in this way, as forms of activity remain relevant and have good, as many analysts believe, development prospects.
Specificity of foreign state corporations
Having studied the specifics of the activities of state corporations of the Russian Federation, let us consider how the corresponding types of enterprises abroad work. The establishment of such organizations provides, of course, not only the Russian political system. State corporations are in many countries of the world. For example, in the USA.
Among the most famous American state corporations are Amtrak. This company provides passenger rail services in the United States. It was established in 1971. It is noteworthy that Russian and American state corporations are somewhat similar in such an aspect as creation - state-owned corporations in both countries are formed on the basis of adopted regulatory legal acts. So, Amtrak was established by decree of the US Congress.
Another major US state corporation is OPIC, which invests in foreign projects. Like Amtrak, it was founded in 1971.Some experts see it as an agency reporting to the US government - in this aspect, we can trace the difference between Russian and American organizations of the corresponding type. Despite the fact that they are somewhat related by such an aspect as creation, US state-owned corporations may be more accountable to state authorities. In turn, according to the law of the state corporation of the Russian Federation, as we know, are less dependent on the system government controlled.
By the way, it can be noted that the classification of organizations of the corresponding type in the United States is carried out according to a more complex scheme than in the Russian Federation. For example, in America there are state corporations sponsored by the government - in Russia their direct counterpart is not defined at the level of federal legislation.
Summary
So, we examined the essence of the concept of “state corporations”. We have also studied examples and characteristics of relevant institutions. What conclusions can we draw?
First of all, it should be understood that the state corporation and the state-owned enterprise are not the same thing. Significantly close to the first term in meaning is the concept of state-owned company. In particular, both types of organizations are governed by the provisions of the same law. However, it is worth noting that the terms studied by us, such as “state corporation”, “state-owned enterprise”, and also “state-owned company”, are often regarded as synonyms. From a legal point of view, this is not entirely correct, but, on the whole, is permissible due to the fact that the corresponding concepts are really very close.
State corporations in Russia, the list of which is regularly adjusted, according to the priorities and dynamics of the legislative activity of the authorities are, despite the theses about the possibility of abolishing the corresponding type of legal entities, a sufficiently promising form of work of the enterprise.
However, the successful development of state corporations of the Russian Federation largely depends on the quality of regulatory legislation, especially in terms of determining the performance criteria of these organizations. There is a popular approach, according to which the performance of state corporations should be carried out according to an industry principle, based on a specific segment of the institution. Theses about the need to bring closer the regulation schemes of state corporations to those that characterize the work of the authorities themselves are also widespread.
State corporations are successfully developing not only in Russia but also abroad. In particular, a large number of relevant types of institutions operate in the United States. At the same time, their status may have signs of similarity with what characterizes Russian state corporations, as well as significant differences regarding the work model of state enterprises of the Russian Federation.
