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Russian Pundit Says Medvedev's Investment Initiatives Critical Of Government

Moscow, 2 April: Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev, in presenting initiatives to improve the investment climate has, in essence, subjected to tough criticism the work of the government, which he cannot dissolve before the election, Gleb Pavlovskiy, president of the Effective Policy Foundation, believes.

"This is indeed a quite firm demand of the president, which shows the scale of his complaints over the activities of the executive branch of power, that is, the government. But, as is known, the dismissal of the government is not possible during the election year when it is banned by law. The president cannot express his dissatisfaction through the resignation of the government. Therefore, he is doing what he can," Pavlovskiy told Interfax.

The expert believes that the firm position of the head of state was prompted by certain inertia of the executive branch of power, which could lead to a substantial increase of social tension. "Surely, inertia is starting to pose a threat to the country's security, and the president directed his attention to this, having said quite outright that the chaos which occurred in the conditions of the slow and paralyzed nature of the executive branch of power is leading to a reduction in the level of security, including that at the social level, and leading to an increase in risks," Pavlovskiy said.

"When people feel uncertain, they ask about what guarantees their interests. The boat is rocked in the system. In a sense, this paralysis of executive power creates a threat to the stability of the system. The government announced the priority of macroeconomic stability but we do not have macroeconomic stability. The risks are growing and that is why the president intervened," he added.

Pavlovskiy went on to say that he agrees with presidential aide Arkadiy Dvorkovich who said that Medvedev's initiatives are not an election manifesto. "Dvorkovich is right! This is not an election programme, but, I would say, Medvedev's firm correction of the activities of the executive branch of power, which is slowing down the decision-making process and creating uncertainty among business and public circles. The president called this a crisis of confidence," the expert said.

"This is a very serious problem because it hits both credit and capitalization. Nobody wishes to invest money: it is not only foreign investors that are afraid, but domestic ones are afraid as well. Therefore, the president offers measures in this field," Pavlovskiy said.

In essence, Medvedev's initiatives are an instruction for the activities of the government in the near future, Pavlovskiy said. "These are, in fact, directives of the executive branch of power for the few months to come. The election programme must be of a more strategic nature and, certainly, it will have a strategic nature," the political scientist said.

At the same time, Pavlovksiy believes that the head of state placed a special emphasis exactly on the urgent nature of the measures that are being adopted. "The measures that Medvedev has been suggesting are urgent. They must be adopted now, before the election. We cannot wait for 2012 to start restoring trust in business and in investment activities. This now concerns the social interests of millions of citizens," he said.

"Putin's careful expressions regarding the existence of problems in the tax system and the problem of the budget shortfall are understandable, but, I believe, the topics that were named by Medvedev are a priority. And he will achieve a situation whereby this will be taken into account in the government's work," Pavlovskiy said.

He added that the idea of removing top government officials from the boards of directors of companies has a special place among the initiatives that the president suggested.

"This is a response to a demand that is actually quite old. The demand was voiced not only by businesses and public circles but also, in a certain sense, this is a demand of the top circles in the establishment. This problem was raised back at the end of Putin's presidency. This has been discussed as a problem since as early as that time," Pavlovskiy said.

The expert said that Medvedev's preoccupation with the practice of "overlapping posts" has to do with the fact that this practice, in essence, prompts the Russian people's mistrust towards the authorities' anti-corruption policies. "A confusion has occurred in competency. The overlap between these posts leads to conflicts of interest and to the appearing of certain close businesses that, in fact, destroy the competitive environment," Pavlovskiy said.

"Medvedev cannot bear any further the situation in which the overlap of posts leads to mistrusting the country's leadership because it is impossible to conduct an anti-corruption policy in a situation when citizens believe, even if they do so mistakenly, that such an overlap will lead to corruption at the highest level. (Passage omitted)


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