Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will begin a series of meetings this week to determine budget policy for 2009 and 2010-2012. Anticrisis measures for the budget are expected to be ready by December 5 and draft budgets are due December 9. The actions taken by the government will depend on November’s economic indicators. Among the deciding factors will also be the Ministry of Economic Development’s new prognoses for 2009-2011. Sources say that the ministry is choosing between versions with economic growth set at 0-5 percent. They say Economics Minister Elvira Nabiullina miss her deadline.
First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov is compiling anticrisis measures. He held four meetings on that topic in a row, in reference to transportation, agriculture, finance and construction. All the other deputy prime ministers took part in those meetings as well. They were followed by a closed meeting between Shuvalov and members of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, where at least three options for economic development were discussed.
Russian Railways head Vladimir Yakunin stated after the consultations between Shuvalov and the RUIE that he was sure the government would not lower tariffs for natural monopolies. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexey Kudrin stated that the government may place a moratorium on new investment projects, while a source in the Ministry of Economic Development said that current projects may bit receive full funding.
It is already known that domestic demand for natural gas and cargo shipments on Russian Railways were both down 20 percent in November. Those bleak data suggest that the government anticrisis measures will be geared toward a pessimistic outlook and be more active in nature. Gas consumption is down because of unseasonably warm weather, which is expected to last until December 20. |
