Military and government wages will not be indexed next year, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said right after the end of the Government Commission on Budgetary Planning for 2014-2016. Shuvalov highlighted the fact that the Commission’s decision applies only to the wages that will be paid in 2014 and the changes for 2015-2016 have not been discussed yet. The members of the government are in austerity mode now and cannot spend too much on themselves and their departments. The wage freeze is a part of the government plan to cut the costs of bureaucracy. In addition, the authorities intend to bump up the procurement efficiency of ministries and agencies for state-run companies’ investment programs. Austerity policy was personally approved by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. He described the elimination of non-core assets and cost optimization in general. “If we talk about economy, we should start with ourselves, making other people follow our lead. That is why we need to kick off with government agencies and companies where the state has a large share. The costs of state apparatus should also be reduced," the head of the government said. Moreover, Medvedev ordered that the budget for next three years must be drafted as soon as possible. “We have little time left so I hope the discussion will be brief. The decision must be taken tomorrow at the government meeting,” he concluded.
