Andrei Cherkassov: Federal money not enough for all recipients

Russia’s Labour Ministry is planning to considerably cut the financing of special programs (about three times). For the Volgograd Region (some 500km south-east of Moscow), preliminary figures look even grimmer. A. L. Komlev, the labour and employment chief in the region’s administration, says that “For this year, Rbs111m was allocated for the region, and all this money has already arrived. As for 2002, as little as Rbs26m is being allocated for the region.

The federal ministry thus sends a message to Russia’s administrative districts so they consider financing themselves part of the programs, for example, programs for employment of teenagers. Thanks to the federal money, 26,000 teenagers in the Volgograd Region had a chance to work. Next year, given that there is practically no money in municipal budgets, teenagers will have to look for additional earnings independently without counting on support from the state.

Pensioners, on the contrary, are lucky enough. The regional unit of the Federal Pension Fund has already by November 19th finished the financing of the November pensions and started the financing of the December pensions. Really, some one must be lucky, after all.

Andrei Cherkassov PRAVDA.Ru Volgograd

Read the original in Russian: http://www.pravda.ru/main/2001/11/27/34240.html