A number of parliament deputies now admit that the economic downturn in the country will result in serious cuts in regional budget spending. The budget could be cut with 30-40 percent, Rosbalt reports. That will have consequences also for social programmes in the region. Parliament speaker Vitaly Fortygin now confirms that he will gather committee leaders for talks about cuts in social programmes. In December 2008, regional Governor Ilya Mikhalchuk underlined that the harder economic times would not result in less social spending. Now, reality is hitting hard both on him and the regional parliament. Among social cuts will be a close to 100-percent cut in allocations to the regional youth programme.
