PRESS: New Russian economy minister presents development plan

MOSCOW, Dec 14 (PRIME) -- New Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin has submitted a 2017 growth plan the government, business dailies Vedomosti and Kommersant reported on Wednesday citing the document.

The plan provides for spending of 488.45 billion rubles, including 379.7 billion rubles from the budget. A 2017-2019 draft budget envisages 200 billion rubles of budget loans to regions and 178.9 billion rubles of spending on priority projects, while the government is to find 109.55 billion rubles on support of some industries after January–March 2017.

The Industry and Trade Ministry and the Transport Ministry included proposals on subsidies for transport and agricultural equipment producers and a capital injection to the fund for support of industry and light industry into the plan, Vedomosti said.

Kommersant said that only point of the plan has firm financing -- 800 million rubles are envisaged for the fund for industry development, which is asking for another 17.4 billion rubles but the government will discuss it after the first quarter of the year.

The plan prolongs 2016 support measures, but will gradually move away with one-time decisions and develop long-term strategies for improvement of different industries in 2017, Vedomosti reported.

Kommersant said the plan illustrates the government’s operating plans for 2017. By the summer, Alexei Kudrin’s Center for Strategic Research is to finish basic discussions of reforms, and the government is to reject or accept them while drafting a 2018–2020 budget.

(61.0690 rubles – U.S. $1)

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