Putin Vows to Create Firm, Effective GovernmentRussian President Vladimir Putin stressed Tuesday that Russia needs a consolidated and effective government to solve pressing problems confronting the country and to strengthen ties between central and regional authorities.To achieve the goal, Russia should make great efforts in three priority directions, Putin pointed out in his annual state of the nation address to the Federal Assembly (parliament) on Tuesday. First, the country should strictly define the respective power purview of the federal and regional administrations "under laws, first of all federal laws," Putin said. "Neither the federal nor the regional (administrations) can exceed their power limits." Secondly, "We will work to restore order to the territorial structure of the bodies of executive power. It is necessary because at present they very often duplicate the actions of the regional bodies of authority," said the president. The third priority direction is "to secure clear-cut distribution of resources and tax revenue," Putin said. "Last year, we effected a redistribution of tax revenue flows between the center and the regional constituents... A new technique of providing transfers is already applied in practice, but still needs to be enshrined in legislation," he said. It is in this sphere that a struggle is going on between the local bodies of power, where the budgets conflict and as a result, the budgets at all levels are not always used for designated purposes, he noted. The president also called for paying special attention to the subsidized regions of the Russian Federation. He said it is necessary to work out laws on financial management in such federal constituents. |
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