Moscow, 17 June 1997 (RFE/RL) -- Russia's State Duma today rejected a government bill that would have cut 30 trillion rubles' worth (5,000 million dollars) of housing, transport and other social subsidies to law-enforcement workers.
The vote by the Communist-dominated Duma against the plan was 231 to 80. The government said it wanted to redistribute part of the savings to poor families.
There has been no immediate reaction from the government. But government ministers and President Boris Yeltsin himself have repeatedly warned that Communist-era subsidies to tens of millions of people will have to be cut to narrow Russia's huge budget shortfall.
The vote by the Communist-dominated Duma against the plan was 231 to 80. The government said it wanted to redistribute part of the savings to poor families.
There has been no immediate reaction from the government. But government ministers and President Boris Yeltsin himself have repeatedly warned that Communist-era subsidies to tens of millions of people will have to be cut to narrow Russia's huge budget shortfall.