Press-service

The deputies of the Yabloko faction think that they have managed to improve the draft federal budget for the second reading. Consequently most of the faction will vote for the draft at the second reading.

The faction is satisfied that during negotiations with the government before a review of the budget at the second reading they managed to “legalise” 30% of additional non-oil revenues (from a total of 88 bln roubles) that had

been detected by the faction.

In accordance with the proposal of the Deputy Head of the faction Sergei

Ivanenko, Yabloko adopted a decision to revise the revenue part of the budget without returning to the first reading. It was decided to allot almost all proceeds from the profits tax (99%) to the regions. Accordingly, the expenditure of budget revenues (almost 28.6 bln roubles will be allotted to the regions) will be balanced by the additional revenues detected by Yabloko, which will be earmarked for the financing of priority items that were stated by the faction. Consequently, the following funds will be allocated in addition to the

- regions – 30 bln roubles. Therefore Russia reverts to a distribution of the funds between the Centre and the regions envisaged by the Budget Code (50:50);

- defence and military reform – 12.6 bln roubles;

- education – 3 bln roubles (the government promised to provide an additional 1.8 bln roubles from additional revenues, which corresponds completely to Yablokos demands);

- science – 1 bln roubles;

- health care – 1 bln roubles;

- legal authority – 0.5 bln roubles instead of the 1.3 bln roubles proposed by the faction.

The conditions proposed by the Yabloko faction at the third reading will

involve a distribution of the funds on the “Defence and Military Reform”

item and parliamentary control over the government’s use of additional revenues.

At the time of the review of the draft budget for 2001, Yabloko submitted to the Duma a complete range of proposals (“Yabloko’s proposals to the draft budget – 2001).