On Thursday March 29, 2001, in Tomsk the Head of the Yabloko faction Grigory Yavlinsky and the Governor of Tomsk Region Viktor Kress signed a cooperation agreement.

At a joint press-conference which took place after the signing of the agreement, Yavlinsky singled out, when speaking about its contents, the five key issues that the two sides decided to focus on.

First, the formation of inter-budgetary relations during the formation of the budget of the Russian Federation for the next year with regard to the interests of Tomsk Region. During the parliamentary elections of 1999 Yabloko obtained more votes in Tomsk Region than on average in Russia as a whole. Therefore, according to Yavlinsky, the members of the Yabloko party consider it an honour to work on the budget of Tomsk Region and undertake to do all they can to ensure greatest possible representation of the interests of Tomsk Region in the state budget.

In addition in the nearest future Yabloko will send to Governor Kress a draft document entitled “A Model Budget Code of a Russian Federation Subject” that will help Tomsk Region to form their own budget code, ensure transparency of the budget and guarantee that the money reaches its targeted recipients.

Second, in view of all the things related to the 400th anniversary of Tomsk, the celebration should take place in 2004. The President issued a decree on preparations for the celebration. Yabloko also regards this task as important. Representatives of the Yabloko faction in the State Duma would like to implement it, based on their meeting with the President and work with the Government.

Other items of the Memorandum are related to elaboration of economic and social development programmes of municipal entities. First of all this refers to Article 17 of the Civil Code on the circulation of lands. The nest step should concern the adoption of a decision to transfer a considerable part of this land to municipal property. This implies a municipal tax, which will form the financial basis for local government.

According to Kress, the administration of the region did not pay much attention to work with the deputies of the State Duma in lobbying the interests of their region. The signed Memorandum represents only the first step. The process of negotiations and discussions with the heads of other factions of the Duma is in full swing. “I think that we will sign such memoranda with all of them,” added Kress. The interest of the region here is pragmatic, as there are problems that cannot be resolved without the assistance of parliament. During the recent visit to Tomsk of Igor Artemyev, an economist and member of the Yabloko faction, it was decided that Yabloko would help the region. According to Kress, the region would not have lost 800 mln roubles last year, if they had worked on the problems of the region together with the Duma.

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