This decision is stated in Government Resolution No. 753 of August 30, 2013, posted on the Government’s website.

Reference

In accordance with the instructions on the preservation of the Amur tiger issued by President Vladimir Putin on February 11, 2013, the Government was to cut the hunting area fee to the Khabarovsk Territory level when signing agreements with hunting farms in the Primorye Territory without holding an auction.

Under Government Resolution No. 490 of June 30, 2010, the hunting area fee in the Khabarovsk Territory is one rouble per hectare.

The Strategy to Protect the Amur Tiger in Russia says that it would be expedient to create conditions for the economic stimulation of hunting farms in the territory in which Amur tiger lives, in particular by attracting investment and other non-budgetary funds in order to protect the Amur tiger and its habitat outside the specially protected areas more effectively.

Hunting farms in the Primorye Territory are taking biotechnical measures to supply fodder for hoofed animals (the wild boar, the Far Eastern red deer, the roe deer and the axis deer) and to improve feeding conditions in their habitat in order to increase their populations in hunting areas to an optimal number. The above mentioned hoofed animals are vital for the survival of the Amur tiger.

The federal law On Hunting and the Preservation of Game Resources  On Introducing Amendments to the Certain Legislative Acts of the Russian Federation reads that hunting area agreements are to be signed with legal entities and sole proprietors so as to attract investment in hunting areas. Under these agreements, the legal entities and sole proprietors shall be given the right to hunt game as part of their activity.

Clause 3 of Article 71 of the law On Hunting reads that hunting farms which have a long-term right to hunt game in their territory under long-term licences for the use of game resources may sign hunting area agreements without an auction. The said hunting farms are to provide a one-time payment for the signing of these agreements in the amount equal to the hunting area fee multiplied by the size of the hunting area.

To date, the hunting farms in the Primorye Territory which hold long-term licences have signed 53 (39%) hunting area agreements, with 60 million roubles deducted to the federal budget. The low activity of the hunting farms is due to the high hunting area fee, which currently amounts to 10 roubles per hectare.

To encourage the hunting farms to sign hunting area agreements which stipulate taking biotechnical measures to maintain the optimal population of hoofed animals, which form the main diet of the Amur tiger, the hunting area fee shall be cut to one rouble per hectare of the hunting area.