The draft federal budget for 2002 amended by the government has taken into consideration virtually all of Yabloko’s proposals regarding additional revenues (that are unrelated to oil prices), that were not included in the first variant of the budget.

On August 24, 2001, the government submitted to the State Duma the draft budget with the following parameters: GDP amounting to 10 trillion 600 bln roubles, revenues – 1 trillion 998 bln 400 mln roubles, expenditures – 1 trillion 871 bln 900 mln roubles.

On September 15, 2001, Yabloko forwarded its proposals to the government. On September 25, 2001, the draft budget was amended as follows: the government increased GDP by 350 bln roubles, revenues by over 127.318 bln roubles, expenditures by 75.486 bln roubles (Yabloko had proposed an increase of each of these items by 280 bln, 139.288 bln and 139.288 bln roubles respectively).

Yabloko is pleased that the government agreed with its proposals to a greater extent than last year.

A year ago Yabloko disclosed in the draft budget for 2001 about USD 3 bln roubles of additional revenues unrelated to oil prices. At that time the government acknowledged the need to add USD 1 bln out of this amount to additional expenditures justified by the Yabloko association. Today the government admitted over 100 bln roubles of additional revenues, i.e. over USD 3 bln, detected by Yabloko’s experts.

Yabloko proposes using additional revenues to resolve large-scale strategic tasks, primarily for military reform, transfer of the armed forces, the interior, the security and the defence ministries, departments and military organisations to a contract basis. It also proposed the allocation of additional funds to reinforce Russia’s borders with Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan (in Central Asia and Northern Caucasus), security at nuclear power stations and air flight safety.

Yabloko also proposes increasing federal budget expenditures on education by 6.7 bln roubles.

The position of the Yabloko faction in the Duma vote on the draft federal budget for 2002 in the first reading will be determined on September 27 2001 at a meeting of the faction, where Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin will answer questions from deputies.

Yabloko drafted an alternative budget for the third time. In the budget for 2001 the government considered 70% of Yabloko’s proposals, which enabled the Yabloko faction to vote for the first time on the adoption of the budget.

Unlike the previous two years (Ed. Yabloko’s alternative draft budgets for 2000 and 2001), today Yabloko has prepared a document covering a three-year term entitled “Proposals of the Yabloko Association for Changes to the Financial Plan, as well as Corrections to the Main Directions of the Tax and Budget Policies of the Government of the Russian Federation for 2002-2004”.

In particular, Yabloko proposes the introduction of a flexible taxation system for sub-soil users, which make it possible to obtain differentiated rental payments from these users. This measure could yield an estimated USD 10 bln.

Yabloko also proposes an amnesty for capital within the next three years.

In addition, Yabloko proposes substituting the single social tax with differentiated sources of taxation for the federal budget and cutting the single social tax allocated to pension provisions from 35.6% to 21.6% of wages. Yabloko also proposes measures to increase the efficiency of management over state property.

Yabloko also considers it necessary to introduce state measures to promote population growth, and other measures encouraging migration to the regions of Siberia and the Far East and the inflow of young people to agricultural centres with a low population density. It is also necessary to continue judicial reforms and further spread the introduction of trial by jury.

Yabloko hopes that the government will take these proposals into account when drafting federal budgets for the next years.

See also:

Budget 2002