Abstract
Putin’s budget policies are shown to be on the prudent conservative side, the logic being to avoid a re-occurrence of dependence on international finance as during previous Russian crises. Yet while some sectors, like the military, the security apparatus, the armaments industry, small foreign wars and Putin’s pet projects are generously financed, other areas like health, transport infrastructure, education, R&D, housing and poverty reduction remain grossly under-funded. The chapter shows that full control of the budgetary process by the Kremlin has made this misallocation possible.
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Notes
- 1.
Like in Japan or Germany pensioners in Russia in great numbers vote regularly (unlike youngsters) for the parties in power, provided that their pensions and health expenditures are paid generously and promptly. They cannot improve their lot through additional qualifications, job changes, search for promotions or do harder work (except for moonlighting jobs which are frequent in Russia’s informal sector), but mostly depend on politically set transfer incomes. They also have time at their hands, are quickly mobilized and keenly aware of their interests—which hence get preferential treatment at the expense of future generations.
- 2.
In the EU the state quota varies between 38% (Ireland) and 58% (Finland and France).
- 3.
Alexander Libman «Russische Regionen» SWP Studie, Berlin November 2016, p. 15.
- 4.
Janis Kluge «Rußlands Staatshaushalt unter Druck» SWP Studie, Berlin July 2018, p. 13.
- 5.
World Bank. “Preserving Stability, Doubling Growth, Halving Poverty—How?” Russia economic report, November 2018, p. 27.
- 6.
Kluge. Op. cit., p. 20.
- 7.
Kluge, Op. cit., p. 26.
- 8.
This is used i.e. for secret service operations which are none of Parliament’s business.
- 9.
Kluge, Op. cit., p. 40.
References
Kluge J (2018) Rußlands Staatshaushalt unter Druck. SWP, Berlin
Libman J (2016) Russische Regionen. SWP, Berlin
World Bank (2018) Preserving Stability, Doubling Growth, Halving Poverty—how?. Washington D.C, WB
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Rothacher, A. (2021). Putin’s Budget Policies. In: Putinomics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74077-1_4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-74077-1_4
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