Andrey Belyaninov hinted that the role of his agency is so big in the national economy that the White House should pay more attention to its employees.
Photo: Kirill Tulin
| Other Photos |
 |
|
 |
Russian Customs Officials Want More Money Back
Russia’s customs chief said Wednesday several ministries won’t let his agency work well while pay for customs officials is too low to fight corruption. The criticism is likely to be taken into account as Andrey Belyaninov’s agency accounts for almost a half of federal budget revenues.
Director of the Federal Customs Service Andrey Belyaninov spoke at the Federation Council on Wednesday to list all the reasons why he is not happy about some of Russian ministries. Mr. Belyaninov lashed out at the Economic Development and Trade Ministry which still retains some functions in setting customs duties. He criticized a decision to slash duties on digital cameras from 10 percent to zero and opposed plans against the similar move for mobile phones. “All of these goods are foreign-made, and we have become a consumerist society,” he lamented.
The Customs Service also expressed its concern that the Russian border is still patrolled and controlled by five different agencies including experts from the Consumer Rights Protection Agency. However, a law was passed last year to leave the border to customs officers and border guards only.
Mr. Belyaninov admitted that corruption is still a problem in his agency. The number of people charged with corruption-related crimes doubled to 5,121 in 2007. Pay rises, however, were inadequate to the situation. “What’s the point in opening criminal cases [against customs officials] if a new person comes, and there’s still no proper social backing for it!” said Mr. Belyaninov. “We were asking for 5.5 billion rubles to build housing for our employees and solve the corruption problem for years ahead. But the agency which gathers from 12 to 13 billion rubles a day did not get the money it was asking for.
Apparently, customs officials decided to give way to their anger after they got a target to gather 4 trillion rubles for state coffers in 2008. The Federal Customs Service’s contribution to the budget has already reached the level of tax receipts. “In other countries, customs give 10 to 12 percent of the budget but we are reaching 50 percent,” the chief customs official said hinting that the role of his agency is so big in the national economy that the White House should pay more attention to its employees.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Jan. 31, 2008
|
|
|
