Georgy Borodyansky
Why is Prime Minister Vladimir Putin punishing the Omsk Region for his own decision?
The region will deal with the financial crisis at the expense of public sector employees in rural areas. Deputies of the regional legislature adopted a 2009 budget that, for the first time, does not include tax breaks for health and cultural sector workers. They paid housing and communal bills at half the rate. As Andrei Alyokhin, Omsk Communist leader, told Novaya Gazeta, United Russia deputies, who hold 38 out of the 44 seats, "would have gladly voted for taking benefits away from teachers, too, but these are protected by a federal law".
Meanwhile, Governor Leonid Polezhayev recently reassured the population, saying that the financial turmoil would not affect their region: "Its results will be minimal for Omsk." He probably hoped that the federal centre, in the person of Prime Minister Putin, would provide the region with a safety net. The Governor, according to regional Finance Minister Rita Fomina, asked the Russian Prime Minister to "compensate missing revenues" from a number of companies that have moved from Omsk to Moscow and St Petersburg in recent years. The most important of them is Sibneft, which is known to be registered in St Petersburg.
Mr Putin, however, left the request unanswered: the Omsk Region was not included in the twenty areas to which the Russian Government extended bonuses. Mr Putin explained that these would be sent only to regions that reported "growth in personal incomes, successes in education, healthcare, and housing and communal reform, are attractive for investment, etc." That is to say, those that are doing well without any bonuses. Those with low living standards and bad management do not qualify for bonuses.
A compelling, if strange, logic: after all, it was not the people of Omsk who have chosen Polezhayev as their Governor, at least not on the last occasion.
