Finance ministry: serious violations in Arkhangelsk
A number of Russian regions violate federal budget legislation and pay their officials way beyond their capacities. Worst off is Arkhangelsk Oblast, a report from the federal Ministry of Finance reads.
The violations could eventually make the Finance Ministry halt or cut transfers to the region, newspaper Vedomosti reports. However, that is unlikely to happen. The ministry will first address the region with a demand to eliminate the violations and then later, if necessary, issue a public warning to the regional administration, the newspaper adds. The report adds trouble to the already heavy burden of the Arkhangelsk regional administration. As reported by BarentsObserver, Arkhangelsk Oblast is among the regions in Northwest Russia with the biggest cuts in budget revenues. The announcement from the Finance Ministry comes after Prime Minister Vladimir Putin last year publically warned the federal subjects about increased spending in the times of crisis. Then, also Murmansk Oblast was on the list of trouble-regions. The list from the Finance Ministry does however not include Murmansk. A total of eleven regions are included, of which Arkhangelsk Oblast and Kostroma Oblast are the worst.
