13.11.08

Russian regions are cutting down on bureaucracy to use the money thus saved to support the economy and social programmes.

The Republic of Altai plans to reduce its administration by 10 percent and cut transportation expenses for government officials by 30 percent, according to an order issued by Governor Alexander Berdnikov.

"The results of the work will be reported to the governor on November 20 and he will make the decision on personnel cuts," the republic's prime minister Viktor Trutnev said.

Estimates indicate that the cuts should save over 30 million roubles, which is equivalent to the construction and equipping of 30 infirmaries in rural areas.

Karelia also intends to cut its administrative expenses in 2009. The republic's finance minister Alexander Kolesov said, "The payroll fund for the republican government officials will decrease by 5 percent, and logistical expenses will be cut by 20 percent."

In order to save budget funds, the republic plans to curtail some of its investment programmes. For example, it will temporarily suspend the construction of several facilities, including an ice palace in Petrozavodsk.

The Ulyanovsk region will start optimising its government from November 1, Governor Sergei Morozov said. The number of government officials will be reduced by 20 percent. "The optimisation will make it possible to save up to two billion roubles in the budget a year and invest them in economy, primarily the agro-industrial sector," he said.

Urban and district administrations have been advised to reduce their administrations too.

Tyva has no immediate plans for government cuts, but if the financial situation worsens, it will have to "tighten the belt" and optimise the structure of its administration, too, in order to save budget funds, the republican government chief of staff Vladimir Kochergin said, adding, "The situation is not simple."

The previous government in Tyva created a bulky administration. In the republic with a population of 311,000, there are dozens of republican ministries, committees and agencies that employ thousands of officials.

Expenses incurred by the executive and legislative branches of government run into hundreds of millions of roubles a year.

The Perm Territory will reduce its government, administration and their payroll fund by at least 10 percent from January 1, 2009. Governor Oleg Chirkunov has signed the relevant order.

"In a situation where economic conditions change, we cannot stay away and have decided to begin with ourselves and save money on administrative expenses," the governor said, adding that a new staff schedule should be approved by November 10.

This is the second such order designed to optimise administrative expenses. On October 16, the Perm Territory temporarily suspended the hiring of employees into executive agencies that currently employ 3,036 people, which is slightly less than in the neighbouring Sverdlovsk and Nizhny Novgorod regions, Tatarstan and Bashkiria.

The government of Tatarstan is reducing its staff by 10%, a government official said. Pursuant to a presidential decree, the president's staff has been reduced by nine people to 149 since the end of August, presidential spokesman Airat Zaripov said, adding that similar cuts had been made in the republican government.

Ulyanovsk Oblast Governor Sergei Morozov urged the regional government and municipalities to reduce the number of their officials by 20% from January 1, thus saving up to two billion rubles. A regional government official believes that this is an anti-crisis measure to reduce budget expenditures.

The southern Volgograd region has cut administrative expenses by 130 million roubles. "The regional Duma has passed the first reading of the law .875 that provides for the consolidation of several committee into one. This will further optimise administrative expenses," region Governor Nikolai Maksyuta said.

According to the regional committee for budget and financial policy and the treasury, the committee on housing and utilities services will be merged with the construction committee. The labour committee will merge with the employment committee. The healthcare committee and the committee for state control over the use of the environment will also be consolidated into one.

The westernmost Kaliningrad region has almost halved administrative expenses over the past three years, "In comparable terms .875, we spend on administrative needs about 2.5 times less than the recommended limit," region Governor Georgy Boos said.

The Nizhny Novgorod region will reduce its administration by 100 people from December 1, thus saving more than 20 million roubles a year.

"The reduction of the number of government officials is a planned measure. We make such cuts in the administration every year," Governor Valery Shantsev said.

Shantsev has already signed the relevant resolution, his spokesman Yevgeny Muravyov said. However he said the resolution had been drafted a long time ago and was not connected with the financial crisis. Its purpose is to save budget money.

However federal agencies seem to be unaware of any pending dismissals due to the crisis. The Interior Ministry, which constantly optimises its structure, may make personnel cuts at some point, an official at the ministry's headquarters said, but noted that they would not have any relation to the crisis. The Finance Ministry, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Health and Social Development, the Justice Ministry, the Ministry of Regional Development, and the Ministry of Mass Communications have not heard of any planned personnel cuts.

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Source: Itar-Tass