Putin: Parliament speech to focus on budget
June 13, 2013, 2:45 am

Putin is to focus on the budget when he address Parliament June 13 [Getty Images]

“In the message, the head of state will outline the key objectives of the budget policy,” it said in a statement.

“The event will be attended by the head of the Russian government, representatives of both houses of the Federal Assembly, deputy premiers and federal ministers, the heads of the Bank of Russia and the Audit Chamber,” the statement said.

The Russian government will take the president’s budget message as a basis to prepare a draft federal budget for the indicated period.

Last year, Putin called for Russia’s budget for the next three years to take into account all global economic risks while meeting all social obligations to Russian citizens.

“All of us know what has been going on in well-to-do developed countries, including the European states lately. There has not been a spending increase on a single budget item there and we can see only the so-called budget consolidation there and a reduction of all social expenditures and an increase in the pension age,” Putin said in statements carried by local media.

According to The Moscow Times, the upcoming budget is likely to see increases in spending on foreign cultural and educational projects as part of the Kremlin-backed ‘Soft Power’ concept that Putin has called for.

In it its June 6 edition, the paper said that Russia’s global assistance funds were always given to international organizations, such as the World Bank to back aid to needy nations. However, this approach left many unaware that Russia was funding development projects in Africa and Asia, for example.

RIA Novosti with inputs from Agencies