Russian regions allowed to spend more actively funds from loan restructuring

Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Mikhail Mishustin signed a resolution, according to which the regions got the opportunity to more actively spend the funds released as part of the restructuring of budget loans on important projects.

“Among such areas are the design of infrastructure facilities, the connection of residential buildings and enterprises to engineering networks. The funds spent on this will be taken into account when assessing the fulfillment of the obligations assumed by the regions. The decision made will help speed up the creation of infrastructure,” the message on the website of the Cabinet of Ministers says.

At the same time, it is emphasized that additional agreements have been concluded between the regions and the Ministry of Finance as part of the restructuring of budget loans. They oblige the subjects to adhere to obligations to improve their own finances and comply with the deficit and public debt parameters.

“The funds released as part of the restructuring can be used to finance infrastructure facilities for new investment projects in such sectors as agriculture, tourism, manufacturing, mining (except for oil and gas), housing and road construction,” the government said.

Earlier, Mishustin called on ministers to quickly prepare a third package of anti-crisis measures against the backdrop of sanctions imposed against Russia due to its special military operation in Ukraine. The first anti-crisis package has already been approved by the parliament, and the second one was submitted to the State Duma last week.

Recall that on February 21, 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed decrees recognizing the independence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), and on February 24 he made an emergency appeal to the Russians and announced a special military operation in Donbass. In his speech, he stated that “circumstances require decisive action from Russia” and stressed that “Russia will not allow Ukraine to have nuclear weapons.”

In response to Russia’s actions, Western countries (USA, Canada, European Union, Great Britain, Japan) announced new, tougher sanctions against the Russian Federation, including financial and economic ones.

Thus, in particular, Russian banks fell under the sanctions, including Sberbank, VTB, Novikombank, FC Otkritie and Sovcombank, and for a number of state-owned companies it was difficult to attract foreign capital.

Later, the EU countries and the United States agreed to disconnect Russian banks that fell under sanctions from the international system of interbank transactions and information exchange SWIFT. In addition, it was decided to freeze the assets of the Bank of Russia, which will create difficulties for its use of international reserves. EU countries also pledged to take steps to limit the sale of citizenship — the so-called “golden passports” that allow wealthy Russians connected to the Russian government to become citizens of EU states and gain access to their financial systems. In addition, the European Union, the United States, Canada and a number of other countries have closed the sky for Russian aircraft.

You can follow the chronicle of events around Ukraine here.