The statement of the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, speaking the day before to protest against the sequestration of the revenues of the budget of the Republic, met neutral official reaction of the Kremlin. The Federal budget should consider not only the interests of one region, said the press Secretary of the President Dmitry Peskov. However, he did not rule out the revision of the proposed options in the discussion in the state Duma.
Three years does not cut it, and here again
The head of Chechnya Ramzan Kadyrov in the discussion of the budget for 2017-2019 years have objected to “the practice of budget cuts” of the Republic. The Kremlin noted that the budget discussion matter, but at the same time on the website kremlin.ru placed the order of the President to consider increasing funding of the state program of development of the North Caucasus starting in 2018.
The draft budget of the Chechen Republic has not yet been published. From the video and text that Kadyrov posted on his instagram, is not quite clear, on the reduction of public revenues of the Republic in question and for which year.
Talking about the continuation of budget cuts is not quite correct, the Director of the regional program of Independent Institute for social policy Natalya Zubarevich.
The last three years transfers to Chechnya from other budgets grew, she notes, even in spite of cuts in the incomes of other regions.
“In the first half of 2016 Chechnya received 14% of transfers more than the same period of the previous year, and total of all regions minus 12%,” — recalls the expert. The last time the income Chechnya was reduced in 2013, but after that the Republic again started to “knock out money from the feds” for three years and did it successfully.
Transfers Chechnya receives a variety of items, Zubarevich recalls: in addition to the state program of development of the North Caucasus, Chechnya receives a subsidy for the balance, “the rules of which are dark and incomprehensible.” This grant reached in some years, 40% of the revenues of the budget of the Chechen Republic, and now, a little decrease of approximately RUB 20 billion (with total revenue of about 70 billion rubles.)
Another significant transfer Chechnya receives the investment, it is a subsidy to co-Finance capital expenditures. “In 2015, it amounted to 7 billion rubles — that every tenth ruble budget, other areas of this magnitude does not see,” — emphasizes Zubarevich.
According to the state program of development of the North Caucasus by 2017 Chechnya is proposed to allocate 727 million roubles, follows from the draft budget submitted to the Duma. In 2018 and 2019, the amount is reduced to 500 million rubles per year. But the government by 2018 should consider increasing the total funding of the programme for 2018 to 2020, the orders of the President, published on kremlin.ru.
Complex substance of the discussion matter
A General statement of Kadyrov, who did not give specific numbers and areas in which the Republic offered to reduce costs, the press Secretary of the President Dmitry Peskov responded more General comment. “Continues the new phase of the budget process, though no less complex, as the President spoke. Main discussions will be in the lower house”, he said.
Peskov also said that it is not about the budget of one subject, and the General budget of the country, calling it a “debatable matter” and “complex substance”.
Kadyrov, possibly, nothing concrete yet and not meant, and his statement was purely political, analyst of the Economic expert group (EEG) Alexander Suslin. “Indeed, the budget focused on mobilization, the reduction of all transfers, including Chechnya. Apparently, it is absolutely not like that because he is not used to limit yourself”, she said.
The volume of transfers to regional budgets, the expert reminded, is determined according to the method, which aims to raise the weakest regions to the average level. “Another thing is that many decisions can now be taken out of these techniques, if someone is with someone friendly,” she adds. But now, during the economic crisis, are hard, therefore meeting the overall objective of fiscal consolidation should apply to everyone, without isolation of the favorites, concludes Suslin.
“Kadyrov is now protesting against it in the total number brought under the sequester. All regions this year will get less and he is likely to be more. And next year he won’t reduce what he’s got, whatever it was called,” agrees Zubarevich. But the terms of the financing of Chechnya is now too good, the expert believes. “The level of subsidization of Chechnya in 2015 81%, per capita incomes of the budget of the Chechen Republic is significantly higher than in Stavropol Krai, though it is less subsidized,” she notes.
Chechnya, which is one of the eight most heavily subsidized regions of Russia can not cope with the increase in his budgetary efficiency, also noted the chamber in October.
The new budget constraint, which in 2014 introduced for such entities, the Ministry of Finance, did not work, said the audit office on the results of the audit: the list of outsiders does not change, and their dependence on subsidies remains high. Recall that in the list of heavily subsidized, that is, those in which income subsidies from the Federal budget exceeded 40% (for two of the last three years), includes eight regions: Altai, Dagestan, Ingushetia, Chechnya, Tuva, Kamchatka Krai, as well as Crimea and Sevastopol.
