29 May 2004 22:33
Top Kremlin official outlines plan to streamline officials` perks
The Kremlin has announced a "social package" for senior state officials in Russia which will reform the
current system of perks and privileges, Vladimir Kozhin, the head of the Russian president's administrative
department, said in a TV interview. The idea is to obtain better value for money while motivating them and reducing the
temptation of corruption, he said. The following is the text of Kozhin's interview to Russian external TV service
NTV Mir on 29 May, with subheadings inserted editorially:
[Presenter] The perks enjoyed by senior functionaries - car, dacha, health care - are not going to be replaced by
their monetary equivalent [reference to previous report about proposed changes to pensioners' perks]. That is the
Kremlin's official position. The president's administrative department drew up what it calls a social package
for civil servants this week. It is intended as compensation for officials' low pay as they labour honestly for the
good of the state. The question of what kind of perks and who will be worthy of them is undecided. But it is known that
all the money earlier issued to ministries for this purpose will now be diverted to the administrative department.
Vladimir Kozhin, who runs the president's administrative department, explained to us who will decide, and how, the
amount of flats, dachas, and cars with special numberplates and flashing lights the government, MPs and the judiciary
will get.
Value for money
[Question] Given what's happening now with public perks, converting them into cash, why don't you just
distribute the money to ministries, government departments, agencies and services so that they can decide for
themselves, at the going rate, what kind of cars or what kind of housing to buy for their people? Maybe that would be
cheaper?
[Kozhin] No it wouldn't. It's absolutely clear that it'll be neither cheaper nor more efficient.
[Question] Why?
[Kozhin] Because everyone should stick to their own job. You mentioned converting into cash. At first glance it might
seem better to gather up all the cash and hand it out to each individual. But the result is in fact quite the opposite.
If you have ten roubles in your pocket, you can buy for those ten roubles -
[Question] Bulk buying?
[Kozhin] That's right. You get different terms when you've got a thousand roubles to spend. You're
already a different type of buyer or customer and you behave differently on the market.
Safeguard against corruption
[Question] A social package for civil servants. Is this a carrot, a kind of incentive to work more efficiently, or is
it a measure against the corruption of which there is so much talk these days?
[Kozhin] It's certainly not a carrot. It's probably closer to the second scenario.
[Question] So it's a kind of incentive so that people understand that things will get better and better, or is
it something entirely different, something as mundane as help at work?
[Kozhin] It's definitely an incentive to a degree.
[Question] So it is an incentive.
[Kozhin] Of course, and that is naturally our basic principle here. Because it would be great if a top-level official
of the Russian Federation got the kind of pay that properly catered for all his requirements.
[Question] So he doesn't look around [for bribes]?
[Kozhin] Quite right, so he doesn't look around. So he can rent or buy a dacha. This is definitely a safeguard
against corruption. And it's creating an environment in which we can make demands of our officials. For example,
coming back to your first question, if a minister has to spend three hours getting to work by tram or metro and the same
to get back home then we can't expect much of him.
Official housing
[Question] As we know, the new prime minister was allocated a country residence recently, as is his due. Does he pay
for it?
[Kozhin] The prime minister pays for specific services. But he is the prime minister, a protected person, so the
state picks up those costs. It's not his personal housing, it attaches to his position.
[Question] And ministers?
[Kozhin] All other officials pay for their housing. The whole question is the extent to which they pay.
[Question] How much approximately do country homes for state officials cost, on average per square mete?
[Kozhin] Well, if we take the Rublevskoye highway area as an example, then the actual cost of upkeep for one
building, one dacha, varies from R10,000 to R25,000.
[Question] A month?
[Kozhin] A month. A functionary currently living in a dacha like that will pay about - again, it varies depending on
the condition of the building - from 25 to 35 per cent of that actual cost.
[Question] After the administrative reform, there are new faces in the new cabinet of ministers such as [Natural
Resources Minister Yuriy] Trutnev and [Transport Minister Igor] Levitin. Do any ministers not have [presumably official]
housing?
[Kozhin] Yes.
[Question] Who?
[Kozhin] The two whom you named and a few others.
[Question] Can you say who?
[Kozhin] [Education Minister Andrey] Fursenko, as far as I recall. Of the new members of the government, that's
probably all.
[Question] The housing that's issued to state functionaries - it's forever, yes? It's not just while
in office?
[Kozhin] It's normal housing and in this case it's issued in perpetuity.
[Announcer-read profile: Vladimir Kozhin, 45, from St Petersburg. Graduate of the Leningrad Electrical Engineering
Institute. Began his career in the Petrograd district Komsomol committee. Entered business after 1991. Headed the Joint
Ventures Association. Headed the Russian Federal Service for Currency Export Control. Head of the Russian
president's administrative department since January 2000. An expert billiards player and, of course like the
president, into alpine skiing].
The administrative department
[Question] How many people work for you?
[Kozhin] At the moment, after the reorganization and the president's decree, the total number in the central
apparatus is just over 500.
[Question] And in the entire department?
[Kozhin] Just over 60,000 people work in the entire department, in the system.
[Question] Governors aren't in your remit?
[Kozhin] No. The president's administrative department caters to the top level of authorities in the Russian
Federation.
Federal plates and flashing lights
[Question] After the administrative reform, after this initial step that's been taken, ministers have gained in
status on the previous understanding. As far as I recall, until then Duma deputies regarded themselves as equal to
ministers, at least in terms of the services they could expect. Has that equation changed at all?
[Kozhin] What you're talking about here, equating MPs to ministries, for us was always something of a creative
nature, so to speak. There's plenty to discuss here, and we have been discussing it with the new leadership of the
State Duma among others. In particular, the fairly difficult topic of MPs travelling, of issuing what are called federal
numberplates to MPs' privately-owned cars -
[Question] You know, I once saw a convertible with federal numberplates.
[Kozhin] Yes, I've seen plenty of things in my time, but I won't list them here. We believe that this is an
obsolete practice, a leftover from the perestroyka times or whenever.
[Question] How many federal numberplates are in use at present?
[Kozhin] I can't give the exact figure.
[Question] Approximately?
[Kozhin] It's several thousand.
[Question] Does each federal numberplate automatically come with a flashing light?
[Kozhin, chuckling] No, not automatically. And we're consistently, and with much difficulty, working towards
reducing the number of these attributes, as we call them, attributes of power.
[Question] Can you tell me what is the lowest rank entitled to a flashing light?
[Kozhin] Currently we regard it as minister, or head of a service or agency.
[Question] Not even deputy ministers?
[Kozhin] Correct.
[Question] Good grief, you really don't love your officials, do you? [laughs] This is truly tragic.
[Kozhin] We do love our officials [chuckles], because we look after them every day so that they do their job and
discharge their duties.
[Question] To wind up our discussion of flashing lights and federal numberplates, realistically, when will we have
the picture that you portray, of only ministers and higher having flashing lights and the number of flashing lights
seeing a real decline? The timescale, roughly?
[Kozhin] A month.
[Question] In a month?
[Kozhin] Yes.
[Question] Thank you.
[NTV Mir] |
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