Draft budget for 2003 should be adopted, Federation Council speaker believes

The draft Russian budget for 2003 should be adopted, Sergei Mironov, speaker of the Federation Council (upper house of the Russian parliament), stated at the press conference in Moscow Wednesday. He stressed that the government compiled quite a good version of the key financial document for next year.

At the same time, Mironov advocated that the percentage of tax revenue distribution between the centre and the regions should be radically changed in the draft budget for 2004. Currently, the centre receives 70 percent of tax revenues, while the regions have to be content with a mere 30 percent.

Sergei Mironov believes that the ratio of tax revenue distribution should be changed to fifty-fifty at least to make the centre and the regions receive equal parts.