Press Release, 30.06.2025

Photo: The Legislative Assembly of Karelia / Photo by the Press Service of the Legislative Assembly

The Yabloko party faction in the Legislative Assembly of the Republic of Karelia prepared a bill to exempt state medical institutions from paying property tax. Such a measure would help direct more budget money towards improving the quality of healthcare. The Head of Karelia, Arthur Parfenchikov, did not support Yabloko’s proposal, and the parliamentary majority ignored the vote on the bill. A month later, the deputies who had not voted held a meeting and decided to submit this proposal to the Karelia’s government as their own.

The bill by the Yabloko faction in the Legislative Assembly on amending the law “On Taxes (Tax Rates) in the Territory of the Republic of Karelia” proposes exempting healthcare organisations in Karelia from paying property tax on real estate objects where medical care is provided to citizens. In Yabloko’s opinion, such a measure would optimise financial procedures and provide substantial assistance to institutions, as it would allow freed-up funds to be directed towards improving service quality.

The Head of Karelia, Arthur Parfenchikov, in his conclusion on the bill, cited the loss of 100 million roubles from the revenue side of the budget as his main objection. Yabloko deputies, using 2024 payment examples, proved this was not the case. Yabloko deputies Emilia Slabunova and Inna Boluchevskaya note that the republic’s budget would actually save money with the tax preference for hospitals. Medical institutions pay property tax from several sources: more than half of this sum is subsidised from the regional budget, meaning money is “transferred” back and forth; the smaller part is formed from the institution’s income from providing paid services and mandatory medical insurance funds. Thus, money that medical institutions could direct towards modernisation and improving service quality is not spent on healthcare but dissolves into the general regional budget. Meanwhile, underfunding and problems with receiving medical care in the region are noted every year.

However, Arthur Parfenchikov, did not support Yabloko’s bill, citing recommendations from the Russian Ministry of Finance, which considered such a tax preference ineffective.

The parliamentary majority could not vote against Yabloko’s socially oriented bill and decided to abstain from voting. The session took place on 22 May. A month later, on 25 June, a press release appeared on the Legislative Assembly’s official web-site stating that a group of deputies had held a working meeting on reducing the tax burden for the republic’s medical institutions. Emilia Slabunova, an MP from the Yabloko faction of the Legislative Assembly of Karelia, who was not invited to the working group, notes that there were deputies who had not voted for Yabloko’s initiative among those listed as the meeting participants.

It should be noted that Yabloko also submitted a bill to exempt the republic’s educational organisations from property tax. This initiative also received a negative assessment from the Governor and was identically blocked during the vote at the Legislative Assembly session.