Vice-premier Alexei Kudrin informs Vladimir Putin of the redistribution of taxes in the 2003 budget

The Russian budget for the next year has stipulated the redistribution of some taxes in favour of the constituent members.

At the Tuesday meeting with Russia's President Vladimir Putin, Vice-Premier and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said that some taxes that earlier went to the federal budget will be now added to the local ones.

In his words, the excise tax on petrol will completely go to the local budgets.

Moreover, the right to collect the tax on land will be transferred to the regions. In Kudrin's words, 50 percent will be paid to the municipal budgets and 50 percent to the budgets of the constituent members.

The vice-premier said that 1.5 percent of the profit tax will be deducted to the regions' budgets.

Kudrin thinks that while elaborating the budget address, "it is necessary to establish more stable relations with the constituent members of the Russian Federation." It is necessary "to establish close interbudgetary connections" for a long period of time, which will allow "taxes and sources of revenues" of budgets of different levels to be forecast, the vice-Premier explained.