Oreshkin plans to revive Russian economy with 500 billion rubles

The new Russian Minister of Economic Development Maksim Oreshkin sent to the government the first policy document - a draft "Action Plan aimed at increasing the Russian economy growth in 2017", the Russian media with reference to sources.

The total "cost" of the plan is 488.45 billion rubles, including 379.7 billion rubles from the federal budget. The document states that 200 billion rubles provided for in the budget credits to the regions and 178, 9 billion rubles for the priority projects of the government has been already taken into account in the draft budget for 2017-2019. Another 109 billion rubles the Economic Development Ministry plans to obtain in the first quarter of 2017. These funds will be directed to support individual industries.

The final part of the plan is mainly devoted to integration of proposals from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, as well as the Ministry of Transport. In particular, it provides the allocation of subsidies to mechanical engineering enterprises to partially compensate their costs, and recapitalize the Fund of the Industry Development, Vedomosti reports.

But only one item is based on a solid funding from the budget - the recapitalization of the Fund of the Industry Development by 800 million rubles. It should be noted that the Fund has requested another 17.4 billion rubles, but it will be discussed only after the first quarter of 2017.

A professor at the department of the stock market and investments at the Higher School of Economics, Alexander Abramov, speaking to Vestnik Kavkaza, noted that 109 billion rubles, which the ministry plans to make in the first quarter, could be sent for a targeted assistance to Russian enterprises in key industries. "It could be useful in the agro-industrial sector as support for specific projects in the field of mechanical engineering, as well as in the development of IT-technologies, in the work with small businesses in general," he pointed out.

The same applies to 200 billion rubles of budget loans to the regions. "200 billion rubles will not play any serious role after dividing them among all the regions. It is rather a targeted assistance to individual regional projects. Here, it is more important to stimulate people's initiatives in the regions through the improvement of the investment climate," Alexander Abramov stressed.

Speaking of the governmental support programs, to continue which the ministry will spend 179 billion rubles, the expert said that they helped the military-industrial complex and agriculture. "This year the stimulation of the defense-industrial complex has certainly been effective. The projects to support the agricultural sector were also effective in some way, because there has been a steady growth," he recalled.

According to the economist, the government full economic recovery program will amount to several trillion rubles. "For example, they can run the mechanisms in the field of infrastructure construction, a promotion of mortgage programs, housing and small businesses. It requires several trillion rubles. Of course, the main thing is that entrepreneurs are afraid to invest in Russia, they do not see any perspective. It is necessary to struggle with it," Alexander Abramov concluded.