Monday, Jul 05, 2004
Kremlin to gain from Communist split
By Vladimir Radyuhin
MOSCOW, JULY 4. A split in the Russian Communist Party over the weekend will play into Government hands by weakening Opposition protests against painful social reforms launched by the Kremlin. ---
There is a question as to how "painful" said reforms will actually be. Mainly, we are talking about switching over from a system of giving benefits (like free telephone calls and public transport) to certain sections of the population (pensioners, invalids, Heroes of Russia and the Soviet Union, etc.) to one where they simply receive cash from the federal budget.
Presumably, if you are someone who uses these benefits a lot, you will be worse off than before. On the other hand, if you don't use them, you will gain from the switch. E.g. to rural residents, who don't have telephones or public transport, the benefits they were entitled to receive are useless.
Another reform is the increase in energy bills. This is an attempt on the part of the government to get money from a populace that does not pay taxes -- almost the whole Russian middle class is a free rider on the state. Bills have doubled -- from nothing to almost nothing. My total bill for everything last month was about $8, after the increase, in a big apartment with the lights on all the time. The average income in Moscow is probably about $300-$400 a month.
In short, I think most of the hubbub over this is populist hot air.
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