Participation in Budget Process in Russian Cities: St. Petersburg, Murmansk, Petrozavodsk, Pskov, Velikije Luki, Samara, Novosibirsk, Yuzno-Sakhalinsk
This brief report outlines the participatory planning initiative enacted by the Russian NGO, Strategy. A summary of their six-year approach (1998-2002) is included, along with an assessment of challenges, lessons learned, and breakthroughs experienced.
Russia
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Transparency
72
out of 100
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Public Participation
13
out of 100
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Budget Oversight
78
out of 100
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[/vc_column_text][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]IBP considers countries that score above 60 on the Open Budget Index as providing sufficient budget information to enable the public to engage in budget discussions in an informed manner. IBP considers countries scoring above 60 on participation and oversight as providing adequate opportunities for the public to participate in the budget process and providing adequate oversight practices, respectively.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_separator color=”white” border_width=”10″][/vc_column][/vc_row][/vc_section][vc_section el_id=”transparency”][vc_row equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”top”][vc_column][vc_column_text]
Transparency (Open Budget Index)
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72
out of 100
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]Russia provides the public with substantial budget information.
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Recommendations for Improving Transparency
Russia should prioritize the following actions to improve budget transparency:
- Publish a Pre-Budget Statement online in a timely manner.
- Increase the information provided on tax expenditures and transfers to public corporations in the Executive’s Budget Proposal.
- Increase the information provided on comparisons between planned revenues and actual outcomes, as well as comparisons between original macroeconomic forecasts and actual outcomes in the Year-End Report.
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Public Participation
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13
out of 100
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]Russia provides few opportunities for the public to engage in the budget process.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”top”][vc_column width=”1/2″ el_class=”country-summary”][vc_progress_bar values=”%5B%7B%22label%22%3A%22Global%20Average%22%2C%22value%22%3A%2212%22%2C%22color%22%3A%22custom%22%2C%22customcolor%22%3A%22%23d2d2d2%22%7D%2C%7B%22label%22%3A%22Kyrgyz%20Republic%22%2C%22value%22%3A%2231%22%2C%22color%22%3A%22custom%22%2C%22customcolor%22%3A%22%230087d1%22%7D%2C%7B%22label%22%3A%22Georgia%22%2C%22value%22%3A%2222%22%2C%22color%22%3A%22custom%22%2C%22customcolor%22%3A%22%230087d1%22%7D%2C%7B%22label%22%3A%22Kazakhstan%22%2C%22value%22%3A%2213%22%2C%22color%22%3A%22custom%22%2C%22customcolor%22%3A%22%230087d1%22%7D%2C%7B%22label%22%3A%22Russia%22%2C%22value%22%3A%2213%22%2C%22color%22%3A%22custom%22%2C%22customcolor%22%3A%22%23ff7a22%22%7D%2C%7B%22label%22%3A%22Azerbaijan%22%2C%22value%22%3A%2211%22%2C%22color%22%3A%22custom%22%2C%22customcolor%22%3A%22%230087d1%22%7D%2C%7B%22label%22%3A%22Mongolia%22%2C%22value%22%3A%227%22%2C%22color%22%3A%22custom%22%2C%22customcolor%22%3A%22%230087d1%22%7D%2C%7B%22label%22%3A%22Tajikistan%22%2C%22value%22%3A%227%22%2C%22color%22%3A%22custom%22%2C%22customcolor%22%3A%22%230087d1%22%7D%2C%7B%22label%22%3A%22Turkey%22%2C%22value%22%3A%220%22%2C%22color%22%3A%22custom%22%2C%22customcolor%22%3A%22%230087d1%22%7D%5D” bgcolor=”custom” title=”How Does Public Participation Compare to Other Countries in the Region?” units=”/100″ el_class=”country-summary” custombgcolor=”#ffffff” customtxtcolor=”#333333″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]
Recommendations for Improving Participation
Russia should prioritize the following actions to improve public participation in its budget process:
- Pilot mechanisms for members of the public and executive branch officials to exchange views on national budget matters during both the formulation of the national budget and the monitoring of its implementation. These mechanisms could build on innovations, such as participatory budgeting and social audits. For examples of such mechanisms, see fiscaltransparency.net/mechanisms.
- Hold legislative hearings on the Audit Report, during which members of the public or civil society organizations can testify.
- Establish formal mechanisms for the public to assist the supreme audit institution in formulating its audit program.
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Budget Oversight (by Legislature & Audit)
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78
out of 100
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”5/6″][vc_column_text]The legislature and supreme audit institution in Russia provide adequate oversight of the budget.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_progress_bar values=”%5B%7B%22label%22%3A%22Formulation%2FApproval%22%2C%22value%22%3A%2272%22%2C%22color%22%3A%22custom%22%2C%22customcolor%22%3A%22%23d2d2d2%22%7D%2C%7B%22label%22%3A%22Execution%2FAudit%22%2C%22value%22%3A%2280%22%2C%22color%22%3A%22custom%22%2C%22customcolor%22%3A%22%23d2d2d2%22%7D%5D” bgcolor=”custom” title=”To What Extent Does the Legislature Provide Budget Oversight?” units=”/100″ el_class=”country-summary” custombgcolor=”#ffffff” customtxtcolor=”#333333″][vc_column_text]The legislature provides adequate oversight during the budget cycle. This score reflects that the legislature provides adequate oversight during the planning stage of the budget cycle and adequate oversight during the implementation stage of the budget cycle.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row equal_height=”yes” content_placement=”top”][vc_column][vc_progress_bar values=”%5B%7B%22label%22%3A%22Adequate%22%2C%22value%22%3A%2283%22%2C%22color%22%3A%22custom%22%2C%22customcolor%22%3A%22%23d2d2d2%22%7D%5D” bgcolor=”custom” title=”To What Extent Does the Supreme Audit Institution Provide Budget Oversight?” units=”/100″ el_class=”country-summary” custombgcolor=”#ffffff” customtxtcolor=”#333333″][vc_column_text]
The supreme audit institution provides adequate budget oversight.
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Recommendations for Improving Oversight
Russia should prioritize the following actions to make budget oversight more effective:
- Ensure a legislative committee examines and publishes reports on in-year budget implementation online.
- Ensure audit processes are reviewed by an independent agency.
- Consider setting up an independent fiscal institution to further strengthen budget oversight.
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Learn More
The information on this page presents a partial country summary. For more detailed information, please download:
- Russia Open Budget Survey 2017 Country Summary – English
- Russia Open Budget Survey 2017 Questionnaire
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Center for Applied Economics
Russia
Transparency (Open Budget Index) 74/100
The Government of Russia provides the public with substantial budget information.
Public Participation 25/100
The Government of Russia is weak in providing the public with opportunities to engage in the budget process.
Budget Oversight
By legislature 79/100
Budget oversight by the legislature in Russia is adequate.
By auditor 100/100
Budget oversight by the supreme audit institution in Russia is adequate.
Recommendations
Improving Transparency
Russia should prioritize the following actions to improve budget transparency:
- Increase the comprehensiveness of the Executive’s Budget Proposal by presenting more details on the classification of expenditures and debt and interest for prior years.
Improving Participation
Russia should prioritize the following actions to improve budget participation:
- Establish even more credible and effective mechanisms for capturing a range of public perspectives on budget matters. When the research was conducted, the Russian government had plans to do so, which included working with reference groups; independent anti-corruption expertise and public monitoring; interacting with community councils and mass media; and engaging citizens, organizations, and public associations.
- Hold legislative hearings on the budgets of specific ministries, departments, and agencies, as well as on audit reports at which testimony from the public is heard.
- Establish formal mechanisms for the public to assist the supreme audit institution to formulate its audit program and participate in audit investigations.
Improving Oversight
Russia should prioritize the following actions to strengthen budget oversight:
- In both law and practice, ensure the legislature is consulted prior to the spending of contingency funds that were not identified in the Enacted Budget.
- Ensure the legislature holds public meetings to review Audit Reports.