10 June 2004 11:42
Western Siberian region does not have funds for benefit payments
Novosibirsk, 10 June: The trade union leader of Kemerovo Region has said that the region does not have funds to
replace concessions [for pensioners and disabled people] with benefit payments.
"Kuzbass [Kemerovo Region] does not possess even half the means needed to replace concessions with benefit
payments," Vladimir Skotnikov, the chairman of regional trade unions, said at a rally in Novokuznetsk staged to
mark the all-Russian Day of Trade Unions.
The bills proposed by the government "provide for the replacement of concessions with benefit payments. Also,
extra R3bn [103m dollars] are to be allocated from the Kemerovo Region budget", he added.
"This innovation could bring pensioners' living standards down and damage the authorities'
prestige," Skotnikov said.
He went on to say that the regional trade unions had made a decision today not to go on strike. They limited their
protests to pickets in Kemerovo. The pickets demanded that a dialogue with the Russian government and the State Duma be
stepped up.
"Adoption of key decisions on the federal level without public discussion must be ruled out. It applies to the
upcoming change in the system of social concessions for veterans, first of all," Skotnikov said.
The pickets have supported Kemerovo Region governor Aman Tuleyev's initiative "to carry out in all regions
within a month an assessment of bills in the social domain with the participation of trade unions and local legislative
authorities. The State Duma should then take into account the results of the assessment".
[RIA news agency] |
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