24 May 2004 16:40
Russia: Chukotka authorities reject audit report on region`s bankruptcy
Anadyr, 24 May: The Chukotka government has rejected a statement made by an auditor of the Russian Audit Chamber,
Sergey Ryabukhin, that the territory is bankrupt.
"We consider it necessary to say that currently the term 'bankrupted region' must not be used
concerning Chukotka. The area has all the resources needed to settle the state debt amassed by its former
leadership," Chukotka deputy governor Andrey Gorodilov told ITAR-TASS.
This can be confirmed by the fact that the Chukotka Autonomous Area government managed to restructure the area's
former debts owed to the Russian Finance Ministry and the Gosrezerv [State Reserve], to repay loans to a series of
commercial banks and to settle the debt for delivering supplies to the north.
In 2000 Chukotka's state debt exceeded its own revenues 14-fold, whereas this year debt was only 2.3 times
higher than revenues.
Thus the "Chukotka Autonomous Area government believes that the statements by the spokesmen for the Russian
Audit Chamber on the bankruptcy of the region fail to reflect the essence of Chukotka's financial position and
discredit the work of the authorities aimed at meeting their liabilities and improving the socioeconomic situation in
the region," an official statement released by the Chukotka government says.
[ITAR-TASS news agency] |
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