The Russian government will have to significantly reduce costs, cancel a number of projects and reduce the number of employees, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said today at the meeting on the implementation of the federal budget for 2016.
"We will consider the costs that must be reduced and we will make a decision on which projects we have to abandon or postpone. I ordered all ministries to make proposals on reducing costs and the number of employees," Medvedev said, as reported by the Russian news agency Tas.
He also announced that the government will increase the amount of aid for the domestic automotive sector.
"If earlier there were plans to reduce aid to the automotive sector, it must not be done now. The decision was made not only to keep the existing aid, but also to increase it," stated Medvedev.
The Russian Prime Minister also referred to the oil and gas sector, saying that regardless of the outcome, the share of the oil and gas sector in exports and budget revenues should be reduced.
"We must reduce the share of the oil and gas sector in exports and in budget revenues regardless of the development of the situation," Medvedev said, adding that drastic changes in oil prices pose a serious risk to budget performance.
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