to complete the second gubernatorial term

Yesterday, the governor of the Saratov region, Dmitry Ayatskov, at the last meeting of the regional Duma before the holidays, told deputies that he intends to attract a bank loan of 1 billion rubles to the region to fulfill all the obligations assumed by the regional government in recent years. From whom and when the loan will be received, as well as what it will be spent on, is still known only in general terms. The deputies, apparently, will hear the specifics at an extraordinary meeting of the Duma, to which they will be called back from vacation within the next two weeks.

Dmitry Ayatskov thought about where to get a loan and how to spend it
PHOTO BY IGOR CHIZHOV

Kommersant Currently, the volume of public debt of the regional budget based on the results of six months of 2004 is 1.33 billion rubles. At the end of 2003, it was fixed at 2.1 billion rubles. The region owes commercial banks 2.19 billion rubles. With the revenue side of the 2004 budget amounting to 12.63 billion rubles. The maximum volume of external borrowing for this year is 2.3 billion rubles. The credit history of the Saratov region is generally positive. A loud scandal happened to her only once. Rusatommet LLC demanded that the region be declared bankrupt for failure to fulfill debt obligations on agricultural bonds.
However, not a single court made a decision in favor of Rusatommet.
It was planned that yesterday's meeting of the regional Duma would be the last before the holidays, which will last until September. Therefore, the deputies greeted Governor Dmitry Ayatskov calmly when he came to the podium, clearly preparing to listen to a parting speech. She really was like that for the first ten minutes. Mr. Ayatskov remembered all the good things that happened in the regional Duma during the ten years of its existence. And the phrase about the loan, heard at the very end of the speech, took the deputies by surprise.
“In the near future, I will come to you with a request to approve the region’s receipt of a loan of 1 billion rubles,” the governor stunned the silent hall. “By the end of the year, we need to implement all regional target programs and fulfill all the obligations undertaken by the authorities.” In addition, Mr. Ayatskov said that he would soon meet with Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov and ask for money from the federal budget to complete two long-term construction projects: the theater for young spectators in Saratov and the second stage of the bridge across the Volga near the village of Pristannoye.
Kommersant In total, there are about 50 targeted programs in the Saratov region, mainly of a social nature. Among the most important: the development of housing construction, the introduction of mortgage lending, and support for healthcare. They are financed from the regional budget and are regularly underfulfilled due to lack of funds.
The deputies were so surprised that they didn’t even ask Dmitry Ayatskov any questions. But the news about the loan for the implementation of regional programs, apparently, was received positively by them. Because already during the meeting they increased the budget expenditures by 529 million rubles. by reducing funding for targeted programs by 20%. This decision did not cause any debate.
“We will take this loan from commercial banks,” Dmitry Ayatskov told Kommersant during a break in the meeting. — Despite all the machinations against the region, we have good investment attractiveness. Large businesses are coming to us: Shatura, Bosch, Siemens. Therefore, we will receive a loan, I am sure of it.” The head of the region did not specify where exactly the funds would be taken, saying only that “we will not take all our eggs from one basket.” According to Kommersant, the loan will be received from four or five banks in approximately equal shares. Officially, Mr. Ayatskov named only one of them - Vneshtorgbank. When asked by Kommersant when the governor intends to turn to deputies for permission for a loan, Mr. Ayatskov replied that this would happen in the very near future. “Today I saw that the deputies will support me,” the governor shared his observations.
It seems that the intuition of the Saratov governor was correct. Even opposition deputies have not yet clearly spoken out against the loan. “If this billion goes to football, I, of course, will be against it,” regional Duma deputy Nikolai Semenets told Kommersant. — But in general, first you need to find out more about where the loan will be taken and what it will be spent on. Maybe there won’t even be a need for a billion.”
Whatever good purposes the governor plans to spend the billion on, outside observers associate this with the start of Mr. Ayatskov’s election campaign. Let us recall that Dmitry Ayatskov’s second term in governing the Saratov region expires in March 2005.
ANDREY KOZENKO

Kommersant (Volgograd) No. 127 from 07/15/2004

Dmitry Ayatskov wants a billion