Izvestia: "Baba-Yaga is always against"
Vladimir Putin compares the Communists to a fairy-tale witch
The prime minister met with Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov, Liberal Democrat Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov. They discussed the budget, the terrorist act in Grozny and US chicken imports.
In 2011, inflation in Russia will stand at 6.5%, said Putin. Federal budget revenue will total 8.8 trillion roubles and federal budget expenses, 10.7 trillion roubles. The budget deficiency will be around 3.6% of GDP. GDP will stand at 50.4 trillion roubles.
"I would like to keep these parameters," the prime minister said, turning to Zyuganov. "I expect the Communist Party to treat this problem seriously, as usual."
The Communist Party leader answered that his party always approaches budget issues seriously.
"Very seriously, indeed, but like in the cartoon, Baba-Yaga is against," Putin smiled, adding that he had discussed the budget parameters with United Russia leaders and now wanted to hear the Communist Party's opinion.
Gennady Zyuganov said that Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin had recently visited the State Duma and spent a few hours discussing budget parameters with the State Duma members so the party was prepared for the discussion:
"We have analysed each section, consulted analysts and prepared opinions on each section."
In particular, the Communist Party members had strong opinions about the agriculture and forestry sections. Agriculture still lacked money, according to Zyuganov, and the education sector too. Zyuganov also noted that it was necessary to adjust the process for paying sick leaves which now depend on work experience.
Vladimir Putin talked to Zhirinovsky about chicken imports. We used to buy 1.5 million tonnes of chicken from the United States each year, but now we buy only 300,000 tonnes a year. In the future we plan to do without U.S. chicken altogether.
"I think in the years to come we will be able to do without imports, as our sanitary inspectors often have doubts about the quality, the transportation and the preservation of these products," Putin said. "The production of chicken in Russia grew by over 70% and the production of pork by 39% in just a few years. This is a considerable growth."
The prime minister talked to Alexander Zhukov about the terrorist act in Grozny and the natural disaster in the Krasnodar Territory. The bereaved families will get one million roubles each from the budget, and the injured will get from 200,000 to 400,000 roubles, Putin promised. He asked Zhukov to track the money allocated for these people. The government's resolutions have been signed, the prime minister said, ending the meeting.
Yulia Shestopyorova
