(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, October 14, 2013) Almost one-quarter of government spending in Russia is to become classified within the next three years, according to findings by a Moscow research institute that will raise concerns of decreasing economic transparency in a country already plagued by corruption. Vedomosti business daily said in a report Monday, citing a study by the […]
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(Interfax – VLADIVOSTOK, September 28, 2013) – Russia will take a break in megaprojects under the current complex circumstances but will continue to develop its transport infrastructure. “There will be no such megaprojects as the Sochi Games in 2014 but there will be other very important projects, such as transport infrastructure for greater passenger and cargo mobility. They will not […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, September 23, 2013) The 2014 budget that is being drafted by Russia’s government is the most austere in years, according to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. “It will be a difficult budget, the most difficult in recent years. It aims to ensure the stable development of Russia in a deteriorating global economic environment,” Medvedev said at a meeting […]
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(Interfax – September 23, 2013) Russian Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev has acknowledged that security and the armed forces are a priority for state spending and social needs will have to take their place in the queue, Interfax news agency reported on 23 September. “I hope that after we complete the reorganization and restructuring of the armed forces, on which we’re […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW/KAZAN, September 17, 2013) Russia could cut budget expenditure by more than 1.2 trillion rubles in the next three years. Some of this as well as money saved by other means may be redistributed or used for other priorities. Cutting and maneuvering The Kommersant newspaper said the Russian Finance Ministry was proposing to slash budget spending by more […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – September 11, 2013) Audit Chamber chief Sergei Stepashin, who is being replaced by presidential aide Tatyana Golikova, said goodbye to his colleagues at the chamber’s headquarters in downtown Moscow on Tuesday, to a round of applause and the patriotic marching tune “Farewell of Slavyanka.” Stepashin, who earlier headed the Interior Ministry and […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Pavel Vasiliadi, Analyst at the UFS Investment Company, special to RBTH – September 10, 2013) Economist Pavel Vasiliadi describes how Russia has more options than most of its G20 peers in choosing to either save or spend its way out of the crisis. In the debate on international financial architecture, Russia, having picked […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, September 9, 2013) Presidential aide and former health minister Tatyana Golikova was nominated by President Vladimir Putin Monday to head Russia’s Audit Chamber, the Kremlin said. Golikova was selected by Putin from a pool of three candidates for the position put forward by a State Duma commission that also included Sergei Stepashin, the Chamber’s head […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 10, 2013) Russia will not see any significant changes in its tax system within the next three years, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said at a meeting with members of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RUIE) board. The government has endorsed the principal areas of its tax policy development for 2014-2016, he said. “No […]
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(Business New Europe – bne.eu – MOSCOW BLOG – July 9, 2013) The Russian government has just approved the next three-year budget that runs to 2016 that has cut spending on education and health in favour of boosting it on reequipping the armed forces. Relations between Russia and the west are probably at their lowest ebb since the fall of […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – July 5, 2013) Former Health and Social Development Minister Tatyana Golikova could be appointed head of the Audit Chamber as early as Friday by President Vladimir Putin, several government sources said, Vedomosti reported Thursday. Golikova, currently a presidential aide, was tipped to replace Sergei Stepashin as soon as a new law prescribing the re-election of […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, July 5, 2013) The development of Russia’s armed forces should not deprive the national economy and public sector of financial resources, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. “The defense programs should be reasonable and should not be a heavy burden on the country’s economy and public sector,” Putin said at a Russian Security Council meeting dealing with the […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Guennadi Moukine – July 2, 2013) The State Duma has approved the nominations of Sergei Stepashin, Tatyana Golikova and Andrei Makarov as candidates to head the Audit Chamber, leaving it up to President Vladimir Putin to choose one of them or award the position to somebody else by October 1, 2013, news reports said Monday. […]
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(Kremlin.ru – June 21, 2013) Text of report “Answers to questions from St Petersburg International Economic Forum participants, 21 June 2013, St Petersburg” published in English by Russian presidential website on 24 June; subheadings added editorially: Russia’s priorities in G20 MODERATOR (retranslated): Mr President, the St Petersburg International Economic Forum is being held in your hometown. I would like to […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 25, 2013) Russia’s Finance Ministry is proposing three maneuvers to balance the federal budget in 2014-2016 – reduce transfers to the Pension Fund of Russia (PFR), cut budget earmarks for government procurements and postpone some spending on the government arms program until after 2016, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told reporters on Monday. “Right now the situation […]
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(Interfax -ST. PETERSBURG, June 20, 2013) It would be feasible to introduce a progressive income tax scale in Russia in 2018, when the current political cycle ends, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov told reporters on the sidelines of the St Petersburg Economic Forum. “It would probably make sense to make the transition to different taxation for personal income from […]
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(Russia Beyond the Headlines – rbth.ru – Tatyana Lisina, special to RBTH – June 17, 2013) Despite initial reluctance, Moscow might help the U.S. hunt down tax evaders. Russia appears to have finally yielded to American pressure to adopt a tax dodgers’ law known as the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA). Arguments advanced by Russian economists may have […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, June 13, 2013) The World Health Organization has no right to dictate to Russia how to develop its tobacco pricing policies, Russia’s chief health inspector said Thursday. The head of the WHO office in Russia, Luigi Migliorini, had earlier expressed disappointment in lower than expected increase rates for tobacco excise in the country after 2016. […]
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(Kremlin.ru – The Kremlin, Moscow – June 13, 2013) Vladimir Putin announced the signing of the 2014-2016 Budget Policy Address at a meeting with members of the Government Cabinet, heads of both houses of the Federal Assembly and the Presidential Executive Office. The address outlines the basic budget policy objectives over the next three years. The Government will use the […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Alexander Panin – June 14, 2013) In the coming years, the government will get less revenue than was expected before, and the budget policy for 2014-2016 has to be planned accordingly, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday while presenting the budget policy to senior government officials and lawmakers. Putin also said that while revenues from […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 11, 2013) Russian President Vladimir Putin says he expects the government to take extra measures to stimulate the national economy in the near future, but Russia is not going to start a currency emission process. “I hope the Russian government, after our numerous meetings, will propose extra steps to stimulate economic development,” Putin said while taking […]
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(Interfax – MOSCOW, June 3, 2013) Experts at the Audit Chamber and economists it recruited who work at government, corporate and research institutions are questioning the Russian government’s social and economic scenarios and forecasts for 2014-2016. The social and economic development forecast that the government considered on May 16 was discussed on May 29 at a meeting at the Audit […]
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(Interfax – Gorki, April 3, 2013) Russian Prime Minister Dmitriy Medvedev has said the social obligations taken by the state are unconditional and set the task of optimizing spending in this area. “A very considerable sum is provided for these purposes (in the social sphere) in the federal budget this year: over R5,000bn (about 160bn dollars at the current rate […]
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(RIA Novosti – MOSCOW, April 4, 2013) The Russian authorities are dodging vital but unpopular measures and structural reforms necessary to spur Russia’s faltering economic growth, former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on Thursday. “The government is making use of measures other than those necessary while being afraid of real measures because they are not always popular,” said Kudrin, […]
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MOSCOW. Feb 19 (Interfax) – The long-term forecast for Russia’s social and economic development in the period to 2030 will be the foundation for the country’s long-term budget strategy, as well as federal and regional programs, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said. “Long-term budget strategy, federal and regional programs should be formed on the basis of this document, but we need […]
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(Moscow News – themoscownews.com – Irina Granik, Moskovskiye Novosti – February 11, 2013) Old arguments have risen again in the government, after the publication of the “Five Years of Effectiveness” economic program earlier this month. The themes, as before, are how much money should remain in the state reserve in case of a crisis, and how to finance investment projects […]
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(Moscow Times – themoscowtimes.com – Irina Filatova – February 1, 2013) Finance Ministry and Central Bank officials on Thursday called for strict adherence to existing budget policy, saying the measure is critical to achievement of the high rates of economic growth set by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. Attaining an annual 5 percent increase in gross domestic product is “very ambitious,” […]
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(Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org – Eurasia Daily Monitor: Volume 9, Issue 200 – Pavel Felgenhauer – November 2, 2012) Last week, the public standing of one of President Vladimir Putin’s most powerful cohorts — Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov — was seriously undermined when Russia’s Investigation Committee (Slyedstvenny Kommitet RossyeSKR) publicly accused the defense ministry-controlled holding company “Oboronservis” of corruption and […]
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MOSCOW, October 7 (RIA Novosti) – Although salaries for members of the armed forces are rising fast, Russia will continue to rely on conscription in coming years, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said in an interview with the newsweekly Itogi to be published on Monday. Serdyukov touted the fact that commanders of Russia’s Pacific Fleet nuclear ballistic missile submarines will earn […]
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MOSCOW. Oct 3 (Interfax) – Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich has called it impossible for Russia to simultaneously have a high level of social protection, a large army, and a lot of state properties. “We cannot allow ourselves to simultaneously have a very high level of social protection in a system built on paternalistic principles, at the same time […]
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Dmitri Travin – www.opendemocracy.net – September 28, 2012 Dmitry Travin is Research Director at the European University in St. Petersburg’s Centre of Modernization Studies As the Russian government tries to put together its budget plan for 2013-2015, it is clear that it cannot possibly meet all its pre-election promises. Dmitry Travin looks at the financial crisis facing the country. The […]
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Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume 13 Issue 19 – By Pavel Felgenhauer – Jamestown Foundation – jamestown.org– September 17, 2012 In an interview published on September 26 in the official government Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of armaments Dmitry Rogozin, highly praised President Vladimir Putin’s plans to “reindustrialize Russia” by spending hundreds of billions of dollars to rebuild its defense […]
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(Interfax – Moscow, 19 September) The Russian president’s decrees of 7 May, which reflect (Vladimir Putin’s) election campaign ideas, are a priority, and R1,145bn (36.7bn dollars) is to be spent on their implementation over the next three years, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov told journalists. “The implementation of the decrees is a priority. For all the ministries and agencies, this […]
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By Irina Filatova – Moscow Times – September 18, 2012 President Vladimir Putin slammed government officials Tuesday for failing to implement the decrees containing his election promises, with the regional development minister and the labor and social services minister coming under fire. Putin said that he had discussed the assignments with almost all ministers, but there had been major failures […]
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