| It is not enough just to increase the funding for
Russia's security services: it is necessary reform their modus operandi,
if they are to be effective in preventing terrorist attacks, Mikhail
Zadornov, a member of the State Duma's Budget and Taxes Committee,
told Ekho Moskvi radio station on September 21, 2004.
Zadornov said that the hostage crisis in Beslan had affected the draft
budget for 2005 and that extra funding was being planned for the security
services to help prevent terrorist attacks. He explained that national
security and defence would see a rise of about 30 per cent in budget funding against an average budget increase of about 15 per cent.
However, Zadornov said that he did not expect to see much discussion
of the budget's general parameters, as the pro-Kremlin United Russia party
has a majority and will vote as it is told by the government.
Money must be matched by reform
Zadornov also said that increased funding on its own was not enough.
"If we just give more money and don't systematically change the way
the security services work, this will not produce any result, and Beslan
demonstrated this very well," he said.
"I think that the money should follow a clear acknowledgement of
the modus operandi of the security services should work. If we just provide
more money without changing the way in which the security services work,
they will just give themselves a tick, calm down and wait for the next
such event," Zadornov added.
Zadornov said that the final priorities for funding increases should
not be set until the parliamentary commission investigating the Beslan
crisis and the security services themselves report and draw conclusions
on how the security services' priorities need to be changed.
Political authoritarianism threatens economic liberalization
Zadornov was also asked about political changes and the increased centralization
of power in Russia. He said that in his view an authoritarian political
system and economic liberalization could not exist side by side in Russia.
"First, there is huge monopolization in Russia. Gazprom, Unified
Energy System of Russia and Russian Railways, for example, are not the
only monopolies in Russia. In many Russian economic sectors monopolies
are the way business is done," he said.
"So far - perhaps this will change with the new government - the
state has shown no signs of working to create competition. With such monopolization
there can be no liberalization of the economy or competition," he
added.
Zadornov also predicted that the Russian economy would become less liberal.
"The state and business are very closely intertwined in Russia. De
facto the state directly influences the economy. It is impossible to build
a liberal economy under this model," he said. "As the political
regime becomes stricter, the economy will become more monopolized and
less competitive," he said.
Zadornov warned that he could already perceive signs that Russia's economic
growth was under threat. "The Russian economy is developing quite
well this year, but the first warning signals have already appeared. These
are capital flight, people's distrust of the banking system - September's
data shows that it has not been restored following the crisis - and, third,
the fact that investment has started to slow down: this has happened in
the most capital-intensive sectors," he said. "Business is investing
less than last year. This is the first alarm bell for the government and
the presidential administration," Zadornov concluded.
Based on BBC monitoring
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