Vedomosti

Russian government officials declare modest incomes

Judging by their income and expense declarations, Russia’s top government officials lead much more modest lives than their Western counterparts. According to opinion polls, however, Russians do not believe a word of it.

Surprisingly, the expense declarations officials now have to submit as part of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s attempt to boost transparency contain no evidence of excessive wealth that the media covers with such relish.

Only a few officials – Alexander Khloponin, the presidential representative in the North Caucasus, Culture Minister Alexander Avdeyev, and the wife of presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko, have property abroad, which can easily be explained by their previous earnings.

The vintage cars that some officials own reflects a certain nostalgia for the Soviet era rather than any great wealth: President Dmitry Medvedev’s Pobeda, Putin’s Volga, Sergei Shoigu’s ZiM and others. Only the most ardent supporters of equality could be outraged by that.

Medvedev’s declared 2010 income was equivalent to 85,000 euros, and Putin’s to 125,000 euros. For comparison, French President Nicolas Sarkozy earns around 300,000 euros per year, and declared a 2 million euro income in 2007. Barack Obama makes about $400,000 (285,000 euros).

Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin has bought a Thinkcity electric car, displaying his concern for the environment for all to see, which should certainly be viewed as good news.

Only Khloponin and Nature Minister Yury Trutnev, former business executives, have incomes comparable with European officials.

Curiously, most Russian officials’ wives do not pursue their own careers, but are housewives or public activists. Only two of them – the wives of Sergei Prikhodko and Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, have incomes comparable with their husbands’. There are also a few successful businesswomen who make much more money than their high-ranking husbands.

It is also interesting that officials’ living standards do not differ as markedly as their declared incomes.

Yet, even an honest declaration does not provide an accurate picture. The magazine Finans estimated the net worth of former Moscow mayor’s wife Yelena Baturina at $2.2 billion but halved its estimate after her husband, Yury Luzhkov, was fired.

People are quick to notice if someone’s official income does not correspond to their property and lifestyle. It is really hard to believe that top-ranking officials drive the Volgas or Lada Kalinas listed in their declarations.

In a Levada Center survey, 78% of respondents said officials only declare a tiny part of their true assets. According to the VTsIOM pollster, 70% of Russians do not believe those declarations.

If top officials fail to declare their incomes and expenses honestly, one can hardly expect their subordinates to do so. Neither are business executives and other people eager to submit honest declarations. The government cannot even expect Russians to be honest in listing their property as part of the national census.

Moskovsky Komsomolets

Fifty years ago today Yury Gagarin said “Let’s go”

Today Russia celebrates a truly historic achievement: exactly fifty years ago, Yury Gagarin became the first man in space. At that moment, the era of manned space flights began. Today’s Moskovsky Komsomolets carries an exclusive photo of Gagarin taken in the first hours after he landed, a never before seen autograph, and the story of how this paper issued a special edition dedicated to the first manned space mission.

First photo on earth

Valery Ivachev, a member of the Writers’ Union of Russia, handed the paper a unique snapshot of Gagarin, taken shortly after he landed near the town of Engels. For 35 years he kept the photo at home, planning to publish it on the 50th anniversary of the first manned space flight.

Yury Gagarin recalled: “…then we all went down to the banks of the Volga, to a cottage. I showered, and hungrily sat down to a hearty meal.”

It was in this cottage, in Smelovka village, that a lieutenant colonel from the welcome party took this picture of Gagarin, right after he had showered and changed. The photographer’s sister gave it to Valery Ivachev, who “tucked it away in my archives, where it has remained until today.”

Special edition

Half a century ago, on April 12, 1961, MK issued a special edition devoted to Yury Gagarin’s flight. The two-page issue went to print late on April 12, and later that very same evening, the paper’s staff were handing it out on the streets. Not a single copy has survived. Newspaper editors have appealed to anyone out there who might happen to have a copy of this particular edition to come forward. So far without success.

Unknown autograph

Valentina Khmelnitskaya, veteran radio journalist, rang up the Moskovsky Komsomolets office and asked for a meeting. “I’ve got a great story for you,” she said. “Yury Gagarin was to come to the radio news studio on 25 Pyatnitskaya Street for a recorded interview ahead of April 12, 1962.”

“The office was all abuzz: everyone wanted to see cosmonaut No.1. But how? I looked at correspondent Dima Dmitriyev, who wrote about space. He told me to run down to a news kiosk and buy any photo of Gagarin.

“I went downstairs, rushing, taking the steps two at a time. I snatched the photo, and was heading back to the office. Then I saw him. Gagarin. Shy, smiling, he was standing to the right of the kiosk, near our building’s entrance, surrounded by our bosses and special correspondents. Dmitriyev gestured to me to pass him the photo. I pushed my way through to Gagarin, getting as close as I could, and held out the photo. He signed it. Dima took it, held it up, saying ‘not bad, not bad at all.’ Gagarin had written: ‘To Valentina Ivanovna in memory of our Radio House meetings. Yury Gagarin. April 10, 1962.’ ”

Nezavisimaya Gazeta

Russia takes fifth place in arms race

In 2010, global military spending growth slowed. This is even true for the United States, despite the fact that it still boasts the largest share of global military spending. China took second place, but it is still lagging a long way behind its putative enemy.

According to the Stockholm Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), in 2010, global military spending amounted to $1.6 trillion in real terms, adjusted for inflation – 1.3% more than in 2009. Nevertheless, defense spending growth has slowed due to the global financial crisis.

In Europe, where governments are battling budget deficits, defense spending fell as much as 2.8%. Greece and the smaller nations of Central and Eastern Europe are most vulnerable.

In China and other Asian countries, governments have sought to bring military spending into line with economic growth. China reined in defense budget growth in 2010 due to poor economic indicators in 2009.

South America saw the largest increase in military spending, at 5.8% or $63.3 billion, but the military threat in this region is negligible. SIPRI expert Carina Solmirano attributes this phenomenon to South America’s strong growth over recent years.

The United States is blazing a trail in the arms race, accounting for 43% of total global military spending ($698 billion in 2010). This is six times that of its nearest competitor: China ($119 billion). Nevertheless, growth in U.S. military spending slowed to 2.8% in 2010, while in the period 2001-2009 average annual growth stood at 7.4%. U.S. military spending has increased by 81% since 2001.

How does Russia compare to other leading major powers? In 2010 Russian military spending amounted to 1.782 billion rubles ($58.7 billion dollars, or roughly 4% of the GDP), senior researcher with the SIPRI Military Expenditure and Arms Production Program Sam Perlo-Freeman said. Russia has the fifth largest defense budget in the world – after the United States, China, UK and France.

Over the past year, experts note, Russian military expenditure declined 1.4% in real terms. “This was the first fall since 1998, and was mainly attributed to 2009’s severe recession,” Perlo-Freeman said. “Nevertheless, defense spending in Russia increased by 82% compared to 2001 and by 186% in relation to its lowest point in 1998, adjusted for inflation.”

The Russian army has not re-armed for a long time. Therefore, the military have developed a substantial arms purchasing program for the coming decade. During the period 2011 through 2020, military spending is set to grow from 500 billion rubles per year to 1.2 trillion rubles per year.

“These funds will go primarily to re-arming nuclear deterrent forces, the precision weapons and information systems which use these weapons, as well as space defense,” said Konstantin Makiyenko, deputy director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies.

Russia does not have any alternative but to re-arm, says Makiyenko. “Otherwise we will suffer the same fate as Libya,” he said “If we do not want to feed our own army, we will have to feed someone else's.”

RIA Novosti is not responsible for the content of outside sources.