Four Centrist Factions To Consider Budget Issues With Kudrin Today

The coordination council of four centrist deputy factions and groups - Yedinstvo, Fatherland-All Russia, Regiony Rossii and People's Deputy - will hold a meeting with the participation of Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin today. This meeting will be devoted to the budget issues of the current year. According to Gennadiy Raikov, head of the People's Deputy group, deputies will discuss the settlement of the debt of public utilities, a salary increase for state employees in the Russian regions as well as the possibility to wipe off the debts of some regions to the budget. Raikov maintains it is necessary to allocate RUR3 to 4bn (about $118m) in additional budget revenues to clear the debt of the public utilities.