That is one of the paradoxes of our government: no money spells trouble, lots of money spells more trouble. Throughout the first half of the year, all ministers go begging for money for projects for the next year, while in the second half it turns out that the allocated funds remain unspent.
Every autumn, therefore, the prime minister calls the budget "offenders" on the carpet. Last Tuesday, when the government met to discuss targeted programmes, Putin reminded his ministers that it was September already.
This year, he said, we have 54 federal targeted programmes in hand (health resort development in the North Caucasus, education, medicine, etc.) and two state programmes, all costing a total of 916.18 billion roubles. Yet, he said, almost half of them were only 25% financed, and nine did not get off the ground at all, even though the funds were ready and available.
"We all know that working on a budget is a hard job, sometimes with tears and fisticuffs," the prime minister continued. "Every department head fights for his or her interests. This pleases me because you care about your jobs. But when it comes to making things work, problems appear."
Providing money for a project is half the effort; the other half is bringing the project to fruition.
"It should be always reiterated," Putin said in the tones of a teacher who has spent 10 years persuading students to bring school shoes. "There is budgetary discipline and it must be strictly observed. Unwarranted delays and postponements in contractual relations are out of the question. Deadlines for most projects and tasks fall due before the year's end. They must be all finished on time and without losses."
In the second part of the speech he dealt with competition. On the one hand, he said, the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service had achieved a lot...
He listed Russia's sore spots – oil products, food, and domestic electric appliances – where the competition is weak or altogether absent. Ordinary citizens, he said, have to pay for the monopoly.
True, he admitted, these old problems that have piled up over years cannot be solved overnight.
"But neither can we leave them unsolved," he said. "We need a logical and weighed state policy to support competition, with clear guidelines and a system of criteria to judge it, and with a set of justified rewards and inescapable punishments for market players."
But the trouble is not just the rule of monopoly, it is also the lack of equal opportunities. The prime minister again requested the removal of "cumbersome registration procedures," "far-fetched requirements, heavy fees, and limited access to infrastructure."
He noted that the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service is constantly monitoring the prices.
"Sharp and sometimes unwarranted price hikes are fixed regularly," the prime minister said. "As a rule, the companies seek to take advantage of their top positions on the market and turn their monopoly into revenue."
The prime minister urged more transparent market rules and, in the first place, a clear mechanism whereby the prices for basic necessities are stated.
"A business is expected to bring profits and make economic life feasible," Putin concluded. "But when bonanza gains are obtained by ratcheting up prices or at the expense of the quality of essential goods, speaking of a "market" here in Russia is pointless, because market principles have a long way to go. "
By Nigina Beroyeva