Russia tightens budget rules for occupied Crimea

Russian Finance Ministry together with Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak have put the illegitimate Ministry of Finance of the peninsula in a rigid framework in the redistribution of resources in the budget for 2016 – the incorrectly planned expenditures will be allocated for repayment of the subsidies, according to Crimean publication Novosti Kryma.

"Russia's Finance Ministry together with Dmitry Kozak have put us in very tught limits. The fulfillment of the revenue part of the budget will be divided: 70% will remain with us, and we can distribute it, while 30% will be spent for the repayment of subsidies," Crimean "Finance Ministry chief" Vladimir Levandovskiy said.

According to Levandovskiy, the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation firces the Crimean government to plan the costs so that no changes are introduced over the year. "They have found a method: if we make adjustments, and they see that is incorrectly planned expenditures, therefore, this sum will be spent for the repayment of subsidies, and if they see that it was done for objective reasons, they will allow us to leave 50%, while 50% will [still] be spent for the repayment," he said.

Levandovskiy said that in other regions the budget couldn't be adjusted after its approval. "Other regions approve the budget once and, in the worst case, it can be adjusted once or twice in the second half of the year. We will also strive for this, but we understand that in any case, next year, as it was this year, the budget will be revised often."

It is expected that the budget revenues of Crimea for 2016 will amount to RUB 67.4 billion, while the expenses will amount to RUB 86.65 billion ($1 trades for nearly RUB 70).