Page 110 - RusRPTMar23

● During the 2016 oil price slump, the Russian budget was saved by a deal to sell 19.5% of the state’s shares in oil giant Rosneft, which generated more than 700 billion rubles. The deal was extremely opaque.
Norwegian parliament approves 7 billion euro aid plan for Ukraine.
Norway’s parliament on Feb. 16 approved a 7.4 billion euro (75 billion kroner) support plan for Ukraine as part of a five-year support package, the Norwegian government reported.
Slovakian parliament recognizes Kremlin as terrorist regime. Slovak lawmakers condemned Russia’s large-scale attacks on civilians, civilian objects and critical infrastructure after the latest Russian missile strike unleashed on Ukraine on February 16.
6.1.4 Budget dynamics - regions
In an interview on NTV, Yury Trutnev, Deputy Prime Minister and Presidential Plenipotentiary in charge of Russia’s Far East, suggested creating a special industrial zone in the Far East (likely in the Maritime Territory) which would serve the needs of the military. Trutnev dropped the idea after highlighting that Far Eastern regions experienced faster growth in investments than Russia on average (albeit from a low base and concentrated in a few big projects). Following his interview, Trutnev traveled to the region to inspect local defence industrial factories.
Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed in his state of the nation speech on February 21 that the federal government will make an additional 250bn rubles ($3.3bn) available for the development of transit, decaying utility networks, and other infrastructure in the regions, as well as 50bn ($667.5mn) for public transportation. He specified that regions can use funds allocated for the implementation of the “National Projects” in 2024 ahead of time by taking out interest-free treasury loans. These will be automatically returned in April 2024—after the likely date of the presidential election—making it quite clear that the federal government expects regions to focus on keeping the situation stable until Putin and his administration clear that hurdle.
Sources quoted by RBC claim that the governing United Russia party has numerous concerns about the conditions in which this year’s regional elections will likely be held in September. Conditions such as increased anxiety in the population due to worsening “personal circumstances,” pushback for mistakes made during military mobilization, and “external pressure” inciting separatism (a longtime buzzword of securocrats eager to label any movement with a regional profile “separatist”). To make the conditions a little easier for the governing party, some regions are fiddling with election rules. The legislative assembly of the Maritime Territory raised the percentage of local deputies
110 RUSSIA Country Report March 2023 www.intellinews.com