Actuality February 15,2008

   Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov hurries his government.

However, it is quite clear, he has been given not so much time to achieve concrete results.

But Zubkov has no other way out: the president gave tasks that the Cabinet should execute, though for a short period of time.

   Therefore, prime minister demands from his subordinates to the utmost, creating the most necessary tension. Zubkov actually followed the way of his predecessor Mikhail Fradkov, upholding the alleviation

of tax burden. He demanded from the heads of the federal executive body – by all appearances, from the Ministry of Finance – to prepare own suggestions about taxes exemption of companies' expenses and citizens for education and medical insurance, and also for co-financing of pension accruals and to pass them to the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade within the month.

   "Our priorities and global tasks remain unchanged, but the center of attention of all our activities is a man, he exactly is given the part of the main object for state investing", explained Zubkov.

   Thus, the government hopes to solve the problems of demography, stabilization of population quantity in the nearest years, decline of death rate more than one and a half times, increase of life span up to 75 years by 2020.

   "Russia should become the attractive country for living, to solve these not simple tasks is possible only if Russia develops by the innovative scenario", prime minister said.

In fact, tax exemption of social expenses of citizens is the easiest way. It is much more difficult the government to agree about the execution of another task: reduction of value added tax (VAT).

   As it is known, the ex-prime minister has long disputed with the minister of finance Aleksey Kudrin and ex-minister of economic development and trade German Gref about the VAT reduction up to 13%. Thus, the business periodically occupied both position of prime minister or position of his two opponents – Kudrin and Gref, who consider that reduction of this tax is untimely.

As a result, the government almost rejected the idea of VAT reduction.

But now the topic of VAT reduction already sounded from Kremlin.

About this the president said the day before, and that simply "elated" the businessmen. But the vice prime minister, the minister of finance Aleksey Kudrin, in response to this, declared only about the intention to conduct the calculations of influence of VAT reduction on taxes' collection, business activity and yet invincible inflation.

The business was taken aback, in fact the vice prime minister did not designate

the terms of reflections completion. Therefore, businessmen decided to make the demand on the government: to reduce the VAT rate up to 10% since 2009. It means, they actually demanded from

the Cabinet to execute the presidential instruction.

However, the government will have to think it over yet. And to hurry up also.