deputy speaker of the Federation Council predicts lack of financing

Vladimir Platonov, deputy speaker of the Federation Council, believes that future members of the parliament's upper house, who will be appointed in accordance with a new law on the formation of the Federation Council, will experience hardship due to the lack of financing. "Looks like authorities do not need the new order of the Federation Council formation. They are ready to leave everything as it is, because neither legal not financial preconditions have been created for a new Federation Council," he stressed. Platonov is sure that the Russian regions should not finance their representatives in the upper chamber, because it is the responsibility of the federal center. In his opinion, the Audit Chamber can take interest in the misappropriation of funds, because under law, regional budgets shall not provide for new senators, RBC reports. "We said that this law should be different, but nobody believed us," Platonov stated. He also said that the working conditions of both chambers should be equal, and it concerns their financing in particular.