MOSCOW, January 9 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's new political year opens as senior members of the lower chamber of parliament, the State Duma, convene Tuesday ahead of the Duma's first session January 10.
The State Duma Council, headed by speaker Boris Gryzlov, is set to discuss Tuesday preparations for the spring term, which begins Wednesday with a plenary session and is expected to focus on the country's first triennial federal budget.
"The spring session will certainly focus on a government variant of the [triennial] federal budget," Gryzlov said
Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin earlier said the government plans to introduce to the State Duma a draft budget for 2008-2010 in April 2007, but called on lawmakers to start working on the three-year budget in February or March.
The speaker said MPs will discuss some 40 priority bills between now and the summer.
