July 21:
The bloated Russian bureaucracy may have finally reached its limit. The finance ministry has decreed a mandatory reduction of 20 percent in the number of federal jobs in Russia by 2013, reports the Moscow Times. The cuts are to be staged in increments, with the expectation of a 5 percent reduction from current levels by April 1, 2011, 10 percent by April 1 of the following year, and ultimately 20 percent by April 1, 2013. Half of the revenue saved through job cuts will be used to bolster federal salaries, but the drastic reductions are still expected to save the government some $1.2 billion annually. President Dmitry Medvedev has publicly supported the idea of bureaucratic austerity, which now only requires Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s approval to become official.
July 22:
Days after admitting a lack of progress in his campaign against corruption, President Medvedev has signed a new set of laws to “tighten the screws” on corrupt policemen. According to Reuters, the new measures, which are intended to increase “accountability to the people and the country,” ban individuals with a criminal record from serving in the police, and make the refusal to obey a superior officer’s command a criminal offense. Medvedev likewise promised further, more significant changes to the main laws governing the country's police later in the year. The reforms come on the heels of a marked increase in beatings and murders by police officers in recent months.
As part of the same campaign, Russian officials have pledged to create a code of professionalism for government workers by October of this year. The code will reportedly be modeled after existing rules of conduct in European countries, reports RIA Novosti. The most basic principles will address bribes, conflicts of interest, and transparency. Perhaps with an eye to the thousands of workers soon to be unemployed by the Finance Ministry, and as a way to further combat illegal lobbying, President Medvedev concommitantly signed a decree “forbidding top level former federal and government officials from engaging in any business ventures in their sector — commercial or non-commercial — within two years after leaving office.”
July 23:
Two years after Russia broke off ties with NATO over the Georgian war, both the Kremlin and the Atlantic Alliance are moving toward a restoration of relations. The greatest interest on both sides, Reuters reports, appears to be Russia’s potential role in the fight against the Taliban in Afghanistan. NATO has reportedly requested help from Russian officials, though currently only through the provision of helicopters to assist the Coalition counterinsurgency effort. However, both sides plan to focus over the next few months on creating a program of collaboration for 2011. “We need to get back to a similar pace that we were at before and then go further,” one NATO official has said. “Bearing in mind the potential, the level of ambition is pretty high. The train, we are hoping, is gathering speed.”
July 24:
President Medvedev has signed a federal law reforming current legislation that addresses money laundering and the sponsorship of terrorism. According to Itar-TASS, the new legislation widens the scope of previous measures, banning the “notification of clients... of the measures being taken to combat money laundering and the sponsorship of terrorism.” It also seeks to address the “mechanism of criminal penalties” for those guilty of violating money laundering and anti-terrorism laws.
Want these sent to your inbox?
Subscribe