Translated material
Circus named after Shantsev
There is too little electricity and too many cars in the Nizhny Novgorod region
August 8 will mark a year since the former vice-mayor of Moscow Valery Shantsev took office as governor of the Nizhny Novgorod region. The head of the region came to his native Moscow to tell the Russian government, which was discussing the region’s development program at a regular meeting, and to journalists about his achievements and problems. After a year of leadership, Mr. Shantsev proposed solving regional problems radically - giving regional governments the opportunity to influence the funds collected by the center in the regions for redistribution. Simply put, give part of the money taken by Moscow to the regions.At a meeting of the federal cabinet of ministers, Valery Shantsev presented a program for the socio-economic development of the Nizhny Novgorod region. Several governors have already taken part in similar events. At the meeting, the government can approve the program or not, but so far these decisions have not had any real consequences for the life of the regions. By the way, all regions take turns submitting plans to the Ministry of Regional Development. The Ministry in response proposes to create a special fund from which particularly diligent subjects will be rewarded.
Valery Shantsev said that his region “has significant potential, but relies on the help of the federal center in many issues” - in particular, in solving the problem of energy shortages. According to the governor, the region's energy system is capable of meeting only half of the region's electricity needs. Mr. Shantsev told reporters that communication with the government inspired him with optimism - in particular, the timing of the construction of the main gas pipeline had been agreed upon.
Nizhny Novgorod expects help from the center in solving the problem of the transport system. The governor said that in the region “there are more than 600 thousand cars without taking into account transit, and the region is confidently turning into a nationwide traffic jam.” Help is also needed to complete the construction of the subway. Mr. Shantsev proposes to finance it in a 50/50 ratio, and not 20% - the federal center, and 80% - local authorities. He also demanded an increase in the defense order for the region.
But it was not this that struck the government representatives, but the proposal of the Nizhny Novgorod governor to finance the construction of the circus from the federal center, since it is federal property. To such an “impudent” request, the head of the Ministry of Economic Development, German Gref, replied: “The Federation should not be involved in the construction of circuses. We already have a lot of clowns, including at the regional level.” According to the minister, the federal budget can finance the construction of large defense and security facilities, but not regional circuses. In this regard, he proposed to consider the issue of transferring the circus into the ownership of the Nizhny Novgorod region, so that its completion would be financed by the regional budget.
Later, at a press conference, Valery Shantsev responded to German Gref. He proposed giving regional authorities the opportunity to influence the distribution of federal budget funds. Up to 50% of the funds earned by the regions goes to the federal budget, and regional governments should be able to influence their distribution, the governor explained. “When today the Minister of Economic Development, Mr. Gref, said: “I won’t give you money,” it hurt me. How can you say “I won’t give it to you”, they are not distributing their own money! This is a hired government, it should listen to us, and we should not listen to “I won’t give it.” You can’t talk like that to equal subjects of the Russian Federation.”
According to the head of the Nizhny Novgorod region, the size of investments per capita can be used as a criterion for determining the amount of funds that the federal budget should allocate to each region. That is, the governor proposed that the government move from the current system - when the center gives the region money for specific tasks - to a system of some kind of advance financing. “Unfortunately, many things, such as investment programs, federal programs, even funds for national projects, for some reason are distributed in the center,” complained Valery Shantsev. “The federal center should trust the regions more and give them more independence.”
The governor has already selected a team for the effective distribution of financial resources: “My team is fully formed, there is not a single ministerial vacancy.” On July 25, the legislative assembly of the Nizhny Novgorod region agreed on the latest candidacy for the post of deputy governor.