Press Release, 11.12.2020

The Yabloko party deputies in the Moscow parliament did not support the Moscow draft budget adopted late in the evening on December 10. Maxim Kruglov, Sergei Mitrokhin and Daria Besedina voted against, Yevgeny Bunimovich abstained.

Discussion of the amendments to the budget lasted over 11 hours, 93 amendments were submitted by deputies from the Yabloko faction.

The faction presented eight amendments, including allocation of funds for free after classes groups in schools, creation of an alimony fund and allocation of funds to support individual entrepreneurs and organisations affected by restrictions related to COVID-19.

The leader of the faction Maxim Kruglov presented 57 proposals of municipal deputies from different Moscow districts and defended them for almost four hours. The amendments were not adopted, since many deputies of the pro-government factions ignored their discussion and did not participate in the voting.

Other proposals submitted by Yabloko related to the suspension of the capital construction programme in Bitsevsky Forest and the Moskvoretsky Park, revision of the improvement programme of the Arbat District, construction of several clinics and hospitals in the areas where they are especially needed during a pandemic.

At the same time, the Moscow City Duma took into account the amendments of Yevgeny Bunimovich,  head of the Education Commission of the Moscow City Duma, concerning the solution of the district’s problems: on the allocation of funds for installation of an automatic station for environmental monitoring and construction of a sports and recreation centre in the Golovinsky district. In addition, the Moscow City Duma supported his proposal to launch an improved navigator for vocational education.

“It was a good stress test for both the Moscow government and our parliament,” Maxim Kruglov commented on the voting process. “We proposed amendments to the budget that are really needed by the residents of the city. Although formally they have now been ignored, I am sure that in the departments of the Mayor’s Office every request was heard and analysed. It will be interesting to observe changes in the policies of the Mayor’s Office,” he said.