Pavel Borodin: Union State budget may reach 3.5-4 bln rubles

In the year 2003, the budget of the Union State of Russia and Belarus will "grow a little" and reach 3.5-4 billion rubles, Pavel Borodin, the State Secretary of the Union State, told RIA Novosti on Thursday.

According to Borodin, the Union State budget, which amounted to 3.3 billion rubles this year, is financing about 50 programs. 25 new projects are being drafted. There is also a number of off-budget Russian-Belarussian programs involving the fuel and energy complex, automobile industry, and food industry.

Borodin said the lack of laws and bodies of the Union State was considerably slowing down the economic integration between two countries.