Consolative social package

Proposals from the United Democrats from the Moscow City Duma made it into the budget

On Wednesday, the Moscow City Duma will finally outline city revenues and expenses for next year. But it can already be argued that officials of the city’s finance department tried to please all the deputies who proposed amendments to the bill “On the Moscow City Budget for 2008.” At least yesterday, at a meeting of the budget and financial commission of the Moscow City Duma, the head of the department, Yuri Korostelev, assured that when laying out the latest version of the estimate of expenses and revenues of the city, his subordinates “partially or fully took into account many of the proposals of legislators.” Including oppositionists .

Let us recall that in October of this year, representatives of the opposition in the Moscow City Duma chose to abstain during the vote on the budget, considering spending on the social sphere “inadequately underestimated” compared to the inflated, in their opinion, expenses of the mayor’s office on the investment program. As Mr. Korostelev said yesterday, the new version of the budget bill assumes, as a temporary measure, a reduction in funding for the targeted investment program by 9.1 billion rubles. and a significant increase in funds for social services due to this - about 21.3 billion rubles. The restoration of the investment program to its original volume will most likely occur after the income is clarified next year. As the leader of the Yabloko - United Democrats faction in the city parliament, Sergei Mitrokhin, notes, after such a recalculation, the city’s initially deficit budget usually turns out to be “in the black.”

Previously, the Moscow government provided 371.5 billion rubles for the fulfillment of social obligations in 2008, which is 26% more than this year, and more than 35 billion rubles. of which for additional payments to the pensions of Muscovites. Yabloko, in turn, proposed to allocate at least 42 billion rubles for pension supplements. And therefore, Mr. Mitrokhin was pleased with the authorities’ decision to increase the social share of the budget pie. “This is less than our demands, but we can assume that, in essence, our proposals were heard and accepted,” he told Vremya Novostei. The deputy promised that if “social money is not squandered on meaningless expenses,” then, most likely, the faction he heads will support the document in the latest edition.

The allocation of 3 million rubles as a separate line can be considered a certain concession to the opposition. to hold another “Night at the Museum” event next year. In principle, all deputies of the Moscow City Duma, without exception, are ready to be happy “for culture” and the preservation of historical heritage, but one of the initiators of this action, which involves free visits to galleries and museums, as well as extending their opening hours, is Yabloko deputy Yevgeny Bunimovich.

Yulia KHOMCHENKO