Parliamentary Assembly of the Union between Belarus and Russia Approved Union State Budget for 2010

As is reported, Union State budget for 2010 was approved at the 36th session of the Union State Parliamentary Assembly that took place in Moscow on 26th November, 2009.

As is reported, Union State budget for 2010 was approved at the 36^th session of the Union State Parliamentary Assembly that took place in Moscow on 26^th November, 2009.

According to the press service of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union between Belarus and Russia, budget revenues and expenditures will total RUB

4 872 000 thousand.

Budget revenues are formed with agreed assignments of the member states, i.e. Russian Federation – RUB 3 167 000 thousand while the Republic of Belarus – RUB 1 705 000 thousand.

Expenditures of the Union State budget for 2010 cover 42 programmes and annually held events.

On the whole, budget 2010 will preserve the pattern of expenditures in 2009; fundamental research and advancement of scientific and technical progress, industry, energy sector, construction, transport, communications, information technology – 35%; military and technical cooperation, law enforcement activities and ensuring of the Union State's security – 39%; social policy, public health and physical culture, ecology, elimination of emergency situations, education, culture, mass media – 19%, and others.

In an exclusive interview with the Information Analysis Portal of the Union State Vadim Popov, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Economy, Budget and Finance at the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus, member of the Parliamentary Assembly Committee on Foreign Policy, said that the reason for such budget size is not only the global financial and economic crisis. According to the parliamentarian, one more reason why the budget hadn’t been increased was a far too long process of harmonization of the Union State working programmes, which, in its turn, results in the chronic failure to draw on the budget funds.

“We should halve the time for drafting and approving programmes. I believe it will become a powerful incentive to a significant increase of the budget. Not by some per cent, yet many times,” noted V.Popov.