Federal State Statistics Service

www.gks.ru

The Federal Agency of Statistical Services is a part of the government structure. The Chief Statistician reports to the Deputy Prime-Minister.

The system of state statistics covers district, regional and federal levels, as well as Moscow and St. Petersburg. It comprises 89 regional committees and 2,200 district departments. The Federal State Statistics Service employs about 30 thousand staff.

Operational expenditures of the headquarters of the Federal State Statistics Service and its regional branches shall be financed using finds set aside in the federal budget.

The Federal State Statistics Service is a legal entity, it has a stamp with the state emblem of the Russian Federation and its name, other stamps, seals and forms of the established format as well as accounts opened in accordance with Russian legislation.

The Federal State Statistics Service is located in Moscow.

The development of the government statistical system has been carried out on the basis of complex long-term programs.

5.1. submits to the Government of the Russian Federation drafts of federal laws, regulatory and legal acts of the President of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Russian Federation as well as other documents that require a decision of the Government of the Russian Federation on issues referring to the jurisdiction of the Service set out in point 1 of these Provisions as well as a draft annual work plan and projections of Service performance indicators;

5.2. on the basis of and with a view of enforcement of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, federal constitutional laws, federal laws, acts issued by the President of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Russian Federation, approves, on its own, regulatory legal acts on issues within its specified area of activity, with the exception of issues that are governed exclusively by federal constitutional laws, federal laws, regulatory and legal acts issued by the President of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Russian Federation in conformity with the Constitution of the Russian Federation and federal constitutional laws, federal laws, acts issued by the President of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Russian Federation;

5.3. submits official statistical information to the President of the Russian Federation, the Government of the Russian Federation, the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, other bodies of state power, local governments, mass media, entities and individuals as well as international organizations in accordance with established procedures;

5.4. develops an official statistical methodology in accordance with established procedures with a view of conducting statistical surveys and preparing statistical indicators and, within its competence, ensures consistency of this methodology with international standards;

5.5. prepares, conducts and summarizes results of the All-Russian Population Census as well as provides its methodological support;

5.6. prepares, conducts and provides a methodological support for statistical surveys in the specified area of activity;

5.7. provides data on accounting reports of legal entities that carry out their activity within the Russian Federation to users concerned;

5.8 organizes activity of federal executive bodies regarding development of state information resources in the area of state statistics;

5.9. develops and maintains all Russian classifications of technical and economic as well as social information in the specified area of activity in accordance with established procedures;

5.10. conducts tenders in accordance with established procedures and enters into state contracts to place orders for procurement of goods, works and services for needs of the Service as well as for conduction of research and development activities for state needs in the specified area of activity;

5.11. summarizes practice of application of Russian legislation in the specified area of activity;

5.12. carries out functions of a chief administrator and a beneficiary of funds from the federal budget set aside for operations of the Service and for implementation of functions delegated to the Service;

5.13. receives individuals, provides timely and complete review of oral and written applications of individuals, makes relevant decisions and sends responses to applicants within a period specified in Russian legislation;

5.14. provides protection of data that constitute state secret within its competence;

5.15. creates relevant conditions for maintaining and protecting information obtained during activities undertaken by the Service that constitutes official, bank, tax, commercial secret and other confidential information within its competence;

5.16. ensures mobilization preparation of the Service as well as oversight and coordination of activities undertaken by entities under its jurisdiction regarding their mobilization preparation;

5.17. organizes professional training of Service employees, their retraining, improvement of their professional skills and probations;

5.18. interacts with bodies of state power from foreign countries and international institutions in the specified area of activity in accordance with established procedures;

5.19.carries out activities to compile, maintain, register and use archive documents generated during activities of the Service in accordance with Russian legislation;

5.20. carries out other authorities in the specified area of activity to the extent such authorities are set out in federal laws, regulatory and legal acts issued by the President of the Russian Federation or the Government of the Russian Federation;

The Minister of Interior circular in 1802 instructing the governors to submit certain statistical data was the first attempt to set up permanent statistical institutions in Russia. In 1811, the Police Ministry organised a Statistical Department which in 1823 was placed under the charge of the Ministry of the Interior. In 1852, it was renamed the Statistical Committee of the Ministry of the Interior, and, in 1857, the Central Statistical Committee. Russian statistical system was re-established in 1921 when the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was created. Until 1990, the statistical work of the statistical service of Russia was carried out under the direct guidance of the USSR Central Statistics Board. Since 1990, the State Committee on Statistics has been an independent government agency under the supervision of the Government, bearing full responsibility for the organization of statistical work in the country. In 1995 the statistical activities were regulated by the federal Law dated 5 February 1995 number 24-FS 'About information, normalization and information protection' (with changes and additions from 10 January 2003). In April 2004 it was renamed as Federal Agency of Statistical Services.

At the present time statistical activities are regulated by the federal Law No. 282-ФЗ of November 29, 2007, "On Official Statistical Accounting and State statistics system in the Russian Federation" and No. 399 July 30, 2004 "PROVISIONS on the Federal State Statistics Service".

Purpose of this Federal Law is creation of legal basis for implementation of the unified governmental policy in the field of official statistical accounting aimed to satisfy information needs of the state and society in comprehensive, reliable, scientifically based and timely submitted official statistical information about social, economic, demographic, ecological and other public processes in the Russian Federation.

A number of the state entities have a right to conduct statistical observations: Central Bank, tax and customs committees, ministries of education, health, culture, agriculture, transport, communication etc.

Federal statistical observation shall concern respondents, which shall be legal entities, established in the territory of the Russian Federation, state authorities and local self-government bodies, affiliates, representative offices, divisions of foreign companies conducting activities in the territory of the Russian Federation, citizens of the Russian Federation, foreign citizens and people without citizenship staying in the territory of the Russian Federation and citizens conducting business without establishment of a legal entity in the territory of the Russian Federation.

Operations pertaining to the federal statistical observation shall be performed by legal entities and physical persons engaged in these operations on a contractual basis in compliance with legislation of the Russian Federation.

October 2002

Federal Agency has a right to access to administrative data.

In accordance to the order dated 15 July 2002 no. 154, the Federal Agency follows the rules of the protection of statistical data. The Federal Agency guaranties the reporting confidentiality while receiving personal data using state statistical survey forms, which have the conformity guaranteed signature on state statistical survey forms. The presentation of statistical data, from state statistical survey forms to a third parties are carried out only with written permission of the reporting subjects, excluding when the law makes provision for such cases.

In accordance the 2007 law, Principle 5 of the Official Statistical Accounting and State statistics system guarantees confidentiality of the primary statistical data during official statistical accounting and their use for compilation of official statistical information.

Work is carried out to distribute the official statistical publications among different categories of the users, based on the principles of free access to statistical information. Practically all information about the social and economic situation in the country, that is sent to the president of the Russian Federation, his administration, the Government of Russian Federation, the federal government executive bodies, became available to the public. That is reached by different methods, not only traditional distribution of hard copies, as it was before the reform, but active distribution by using up-to-date electronic resources and also publishing operational data by mass media.

Publications are listed on the website:

Population
Labour
Living standarts of population
Education
Public health
Offences
Production and use of gross domestic product
Industry
Agriculture
Construction
Transport and communication
Trade and services rendered to population
Finances
Investments
Prices
External economic activities

Russian, English

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The access of interested users to data of juridical entities on micro level is carried out only with written permission of the reporting entities, except when the law makes provision for such cases. According to law of the Russian Federation, some bodies of state authorities have the right to ask and receive confidential data (Accounting board of the Russian Federation, state representatives, courts, prosecutors, legal institutions and etc.). Goskomstat made a special agreement for the presentation statistical data to them. The mentioned organizations must send in the territorial statistical bodies' written motivated requests in order to have access to individual data of state statistical accounts. Requests should be formulated on the appropriated blank and signed by an authorized person. After receiving such a request it is sent to the Goskomstat board of informational security for confirmation of its rightfulness. Assignment access to the statistical data may be given only after receiving written permission from this board taking into account of law of the Russian Federation. Access by researchers to micro level official statistics for statistical purposes takes place only after deletion of identifications.