Saving the economy - plundering the treasury
When a person fills his house up to the ceiling with a variety of rubbish, he is considered insane. The woman who started the 40 cats in her apartment will also be called crazy. People who arrogate to themselves so much money that they plunge entire nations into poverty are taken as examples. We strive to repeat their success!
How many people in Russia have the opportunity annually to withdraw the amount of 1.000.000 conventional units (averaged) from the budget for personal use in various ways from the budget?
It is possible in another formulation: what is the number of people, by the efforts of each of which the Russian budget annually loses the specified amount of $ 1 million USD?
Who are these people? T.N. The new elite: leaders and officials with access to financial flows, and business representatives - winners of tenders, “their people”, participating in the redistribution of funds.
What are the secrets of their “mastery”? Among the most high-profile stories that have become the property of the media: illegal VAT refunds, investments in non-state and charitable foundations of dubious content, pursuit of personal interests in the implementation of projects on deliberately unfavorable terms and at inflated estimates. Direct embezzlement from the federal and local budgets in the form of purchases of material resources and services that are at the personal disposal of the customer (for example, the purchase of premium vehicles). The sale of state assets and property using one's official position and the subsequent appropriation of profits, etc., etc.
Based on sound logic, taking into account the population of the country, every Russian citizen is known for attractive positions and career paths, as well as scandalous revelations with the publication of criminals' positions and the number of stolen funds we can modestly name the figure in 1 million people (0,7% of the country's population).
The product of 1 mln. On 1 mln. Cu gives us an amazing number with twelve zeros.
1 TRILLION CU per year, or more 60 TRLN. RUBLES - this is the volume of annual expenses for maintaining the habitual standard of living of the “new elite”.
This is a personal opinion of the author. If he presents himself at the Last Judgment to be responsible for the accuracy of his calculations, he will only worry about how much the number would turn out to be greatly underestimated.
Of course, no research has ever been done on this subject. This is hampered by the scale, as well as the very sensitivity of the issue. Russia has not yet provided for a tax deduction for costs associated with direct interaction with officials.
And yet surprising: why no one bothered to search for such a truth.? And did not make at least an approximate calculation based on simple and obvious facts? Despite the lack of scientific justification, in the current situation this is the only possible way to assess the scale of the phenomenon!
No one is to blame, nothing is proven. According to serious experts, the accusation of the entire social group on the basis of individual examples is unacceptable, numerous precedents still do not speak about anything, and the calculation is incorrect.
Along with legal assessment, there is also public opinion. In this case, the author is convinced that most readers who have lived their lives in Russia will hardly have any doubts about the realism of the figures presented.
We can formulate the situation in a more streamlined form: the probability of the events described is quite large, and the presented hypothesis corresponds to the observed facts.
The arrested colonel with one and a half tons of cash in the apartment (14 billion rubles). According to the apt remark of the public: how much did the general have? The former head of the Moscow Tax Inspectorate No.28, which became the key person involved in the case of the illegal return of VAT in the amount of $ 153 million (the announcement was not submitted in connection with the departure of Mrs. Stepanova to her villa in Palm Jumeirah, UAE). Nobody knows bureaucrats and middle-level employees, whose achievements are worthy of the Guinness Book of Records.
With the increase of posts, the volume of “misuse of funds” is constantly increasing, it is accompanied by curious stories about helicopters, ikornitsah and exclusive gold toilets in the framework of the next “regional innovation and investment project.”
I do not think it makes sense to delve into such stories. The fact is that, according to the modern interpretation of Murphy's law, the maximum profit level of an official is achieved by implementing the most meaningless projects. From here comes the story of the Cormorant Arena, where the fantastic value is combined with the social significance of the object. Nanoplants, Skolkovo, the deliberate creation of loss-making industries (innovative plant "Liotech", for which the direction of product marketing was not even determined).
Actions of responsible persons, aimed at meeting personal needs, can cause additional damage to the budget by a similar amount.
Now is the time to turn to the most important. The draft federal budget for 2018 for the year implies spending on health care at the level of 438 billion rubles, for education - 626 billion rubles. According to official figures, the planned expenses of the Pension Fund of Russia (PFR) for the pensions of Russians will be 7,15 trillion. rub.
Any of the indicated amounts is lost against the background of possible losses associated with the need to ensure a decent standard of living for certain categories of the population (baseline: 1 million USD per year, 0,7% of the population of the country - state officials and heads of state-owned companies).
Due to the observed realities and facts that have become the property of the media, there are no doubts as to the fundamental possibility of such a situation. Moreover, it is very likely. And according to the personal conviction of the author, the only possible.
If this is true, then all the government’s explanations about the need to make “unpopular decisions” with respect to one or another category of the population seem untenable.
Bolivar will make two. And even three!
The situation in which everyone who has received a leading government position seeks to carry out the “heist of the century” is worthy of the pages of history. This rampant has not been observed since the days of Caligula.
Focus becomes possible due to the presence of the most powerful industry in the most resource-rich country. As a result, there is enough money for both the Olympiad, and the Akhmat Tower, and to ensure a decent standard of living for the “golden million” from among the public sector employees. Of course, a significant proportion of Russians express displeasure at the distribution of funds. But for them, the government is always on the lookout for “a package of unpopular decisions.”
The article used magnificent illustrations by Alexandra Zheleznova.
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