Translated material
: Gosoboroncrisis
Kudrin reserved the last word in absentia to a dispute with Medvedev. The ex-minister expressed his intention to go to the private sector and continues to criticize the policy of the authorities in the field of state defense order. Apparently, Prime Minister Medvedev will have to save, apparently, really will have to save.
The explanation of the former Minister of Finance Alexei Kudrin regarding the economic policy of the government in Kommersant sounds, if not by the sentence of the national economy, then certainly a serious call. The whole article by Kudrin can be retold in two words - we must save.
Budget expenses, as the former minister and Deputy Prime Minister rightly notes, is strongly inflated. In 2008, the budget was balanced (expenses are equal to income) at a price of $ 57.5 per barrel of oil, in 2011 - $ 109, and for 2012 it was already planned to be 117 dollars. Conducts impassive figures of Kudrin.
Meanwhile, the price of $ 117 is not so far from the historical maximum of $ 140 per barrel, recorded shortly before the acute phase of the crisis.
Meanwhile, the federal authorities (and this decision, as you know, caused the resignation of the Minister of Finance) increase expenses. Kudrin admits that all the tasks that the state set in the social and defense sector - raising pensions, salaries to teachers and re -equipment of the army - the state must decide. However, it warns that there is not enough money. And again, it offers to reduce the re -equipment of the army or, at least, stretch it for 15 years instead of 10 as it is planned now.
History with rearmament is significant for a military lobby. The Ministry of Defense stated that a fantastic amount was required to re -enforce the army: 36 trillion rubles. According to the plans of the Ministry of Defense, such investments would allow us to bring the share of modern weapons in the army to 70 percent by 2020. How many of them now, however, the military did not know - the assessment ranged from 15 to 25 percent. In extreme cases, the military were ready to be satisfied with 28 trillions, but they specified that this would not be enough to re -equip the ship group.
The Ministry of Finance was not expected to arrange such requests: after hot debates at all conceivable sites, the rearmament program was reduced to 13 trillion. The military moved into a counterattack and pushed the amount of more than 20 trillion rubles. Against such a large -scale, Alexei Kudrin opposed.
After which there was a performance in the United States, and then a public diving with the president, which gave rise to the joke "President while I am still, I myself will consult with the Prime Minister." However, the last word in this story seems to remain with Kudrin. It is difficult to say that they can still come up with financial authorities in order to satisfy the growing requests of the Russian army.
However, the state defense order also has natural limiters. It is extremely difficult to execute state defense order. The Ministry of Defense believes that suppliers from the defense industry are overestimated in prices (and rightly believes) and complains about the quality of products and the breakdown of the deadlines. Overalgers complain about excess control by the ministry and delay in transferring funds. As a result, despite the impudence from the president and the prime minister, the state order was torn in 2010, until his fate was completely clear in 2011.
The problem of excessive budget expenditures, however, remains. And the government will soon have to solve it. The government that will lead, if there are no surprises, Dmitry Medvedev.
The president, thus, fanning the arms program, created problems for himself, but already in the rank of prime minister. There are really few recipes - to reduce expenses for others, almost completely social articles of the budget, increase taxes or print money (Kudrin analyzes all these options). Well, or reduce the state program for the re -equipment of the army. It will be interesting to see what Dmitry Anatolyevich will choose.
Another nuance. With his article, Kudrin outlined the transition in his personal biography. According to the ex-Minister on the sidelines of the Moscow financial week, he is thinking about abandoning the idea of public service. “At some point, I got up at a crossroads, and I had to decide: I was ready to become an independent specialist or to act from state structures. It now seemed to be more interesting to speak independent, ”he said. Earlier, Vladimir Putin stated that Kudrin remains in his team, however, without indicating personnel prospects.
If in Kudrin’s position nothing changes to May, then the power team, which has already lost many key players, will also lose Alexei Kudrin. Who will manage finances is difficult to imagine. Only someone from the St. Petersburg FSB.