Finance Minister says that government will find money for Chechnya and salary arrears
Deputy Prime Minister Kudrin also said
that the government's large gold and foreign-currency reserves and the
new export tariffs will enable the government both to weather the consequences
of a possible war in Iraq and to find money for social programs. According
to a directive from President Vladimir Putin, the Finance Ministry will
pay financial compensation to civilians in Chechnya whose property has
been damaged during the military operation there (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
28 February 2003). Kudrin said the government will spend about 20 billion
rubles ($645 million) on this over the next two to three years. He also
admitted that the problem of wage arrears to state-sector workers has become
worse in recent months, with total indebtedness rising to 12 billion rubles.
Kudrin said the government will work with regional administrations to solve
this problem quickly. VY
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