Multiannual budgetary frameworks in the Russian Federation

Abstract

The basis of multiannual fi nancial planning was laid in the Russian Federation by the Concept of budget process reforming in the Russian Federation (hereinafter ‘Concept’) in 2004-2006, approved by the Government of the Russian Federation. Earlier, in the post-Soviet period, budget planning had other approaches. By the beginning of the reform, Russian budget law provided for neither multiannual budget planning or estimation of budget expenditure results, resulting in the following: – mid-term fi nancial plans were developed for the annual budget cycle only; budget expenditure was planned just for the next year. Budget legislation did not defi ne sums or the structure of budget appropriations allocated to budget administrators; – budget expenditures were calculated by adjusting (indexing) the recent year expenditures. The Budget Code of the Russian Federation did not prescribe mechanisms of budget resource redistribution. We did not have clear criteria and procedures for the selection of areas to which funds were to be directed in accordance with the priorities of state policy; – there was no clear formulation of budget expenditure objectives as well as criteria for estimating budget administrator results.