Press Release, 9.11.2020

Photo: Boris Vishnevsky, head of the Yabloko faction in the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg

Boris Vishnevsky, head of the Yabloko faction in the Legislative Assembly of St. Petersburg, sent an appeal to the city Governor Alexander Beglov from municipal deputies who strongly oppose the municipal “budget reform” proposed by the Governor: 121 deputies from 41 municipal councils of St. Petersburg put their signatures under the appeal. The essence of the reform is to sharply reduce the municipalities’ own revenues and replace them with subsidies from the city budget.

“Such a step will deprive the municipalities of independence and make them dependent on the actions of the executive power of St. Petersburg. Also, in a number of municipalities, primarily in the central part of the city, the revenue part will sharply decrease, which will lead to a serious financial crisis in these municipalities. I ask you to abandon this reform,” the head of the Yabloko faction of the St.Petersburg city parliament emphasises in his cover letter.

It should be noted that Governor Alexander Beglov made an amendment to the second reading of the draft law of St. Petersburg “On the budget of St. Petersburg for 2021 and for the planned period of 2022 and 2023”, according to which the municipalities’ own revenues are sharply reduced and replaced by subsidies from the city budget.