moscow

A reduction in science spending of about 12 per cent is being proposed in the Russian government's draft budget for 1998, which was submitted last month to the State Duma, the lower chamber of parliament. Duma members have expressed concern about the proposed cuts.

A parallel submission to the Duma threatens to make conditions for science even more difficult by abolishing many existing laws, such as that requiring at least 4 per cent of all budget expenditures to be spent on science and at least 3 per cent on education.

“The draft budget for 1998 allocates approximately 12 per cent less for the year compared with 1997,” complains Ivan Melnikov, the chairman of the Duma's committee on education and science. Under the proposals, financing of the Russian Academy of Sciences would be reduced by 19 per cent and that of its Siberian branch by 25 per cent, while the programme for boosting research in universities would receive only half of its 1997 allocation.

News of the proposed cuts for 19 98 follows a reduced budget for 1997. Melnikov says that in May the cabinet drafted a law holding back promised state expenditure in 1997, stating that education and science were to lose more than 4,000 billion roubles (US$700 million). These cuts were rejected by the Duma, but the government nevertheless went ahead with them.

The 1997 cuts meant that general expenditures for the first half of the year were only 70 per cent of those promised, with science receiving only 58 per cent of its planned budget, says Melnikov.