LOCAL NEWS

2010 BUDGET PLANS HUGE CUTS IN EXPENDITURE

MOSCOW — The government last week approved a draft budget for 2010 that sees deep cuts in key areas while dramatically boosting social spending.

In total, a list of 56 federal programs received 30 percent cut in funding, including a 57 percent decrease in a program for transportation infrastructure and a 70 percent cut in spending on rural development.

Instead, the government will focus on social spending, devoting a whopping 70 percent of the budget to welfare programs. And a planned 36 percent increase in pensions will mark the biggest rise in retirement subsidies in the country’s history.

“We chose to increase the deficit rather than cut expenses, as it would, first of all, lead to a sharp drop in the level of social support for Russians, as well as the suspension of anti-crisis measures and development programs,” Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said at the Cabinet meeting Thursday.

CRASHES SPUR TALK, BUT ROAD THREAT REMAINS

MOSCOW — A series of horrific accidents has pushed road safety high on the political agenda, sending lawmakers and bureaucrats scrambling to suggest solutions, but experts said the reaction has been more about PR than improving the situation on the country’s dangerous highways.

Two prominent State Duma deputies from United Russia on Thursday called for another tightening of sanctions for motorists breaking the rules of the road and said they would submit a bill in the fall.

LUKASHENKO HOLDS OUT ON CREATION OF JOINT TASK FORCE

MOSCOW — Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko refused to sign an agreement Saturday that would create a rapid-reaction security force, casting doubt on Moscow’s plans to form a post-Soviet military alliance and suggesting that a serious rift in relations with Minsk continues.

STATE WEAPONS FIRM EXECUTIVE SHOT DEAD

MOSCOW — An unknown gunman shot and killed a manager at state-owned air-defense manufacturer Almaz-Antei late Thursday in what was the city’s third high-profile contract killing in three days.

NATIONAL NEWS

PRIME MINISTER SAYS LAKE BAIKAL NOT UNDER THREAT

MOSCOW — Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Saturday dived to the bottom of the world’s deepest lake aboard a mini-submarine, in a highly mediatized stunt unusual even by the standards of the Russian hardman.

Putin, wearing special thermal blue overalls, was able to examine the unique flora and fauna of Lake Baikal in Siberia during his four-hour journey underwater aboard the Mir-1 submarine.

“I’ve never experienced anything like it in my life,” the prime minister, who served eight years as Russian president, told state television aboard the support ship after resurfacing.

CRIME AMONG POLICE RISES 10%

MOSCOW — Top law enforcement officials continued their pledges to sniff out corruption and crime among their ranks Thursday, saying police had committed 10 percent more offenses this year and were the country’s biggest source of graft.

The head of the Interior Ministry’s internal investigation department, Oleg Goncharov, said Thursday that police officers committed 2,500 crimes in the first half of this year, or 10 percent more than a year earlier, Interfax reported.

MOSCOW, KIEV AVOID USE OF TIT-FOR-TAT EXPULSIONS

MOSCOW — Moscow and Kiev have tempered their retribution in the latest diplomatic spat, apparently agreeing to expel just one representative each and allow two consul generals to remain at work.

Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said Friday that it would not insist on expelling the Russian consul general in Odessa, Alexander Grachyov.

IN BRIEF

Phone Voting in 2010

MOSCOW (SPT) — Voters may be able to cast their ballots by cell phone as early as March 2010, Vladimir Churov, the country’s top elections official, said at the Seliger youth camp on Sunday.

LOCAL BUSINESS

AVTOVAZ WORKERS PREPARE FOR PROTEST

AvtoVAZ workers are set to begin protests this week after the carmaking giant halted production for a month on Friday because of overflowing inventories and flagging demand.

Yedinstvo, an independent labor union, will hold a rally on Thursday to appeal to the federal government to “create favorable living and working conditions in Tolyatti,” where AvtoVAZ employs more than 100,000 people.

IN BRIEF

Moscow Comes Closer

ST. PETERSBURG (Bloomberg) — Russian Railways, the country’s railroad monopoly, said its new high-speed Sapsan trains manufactured by Siemens will halve travel time between Moscow and St.

CULTURE

CONTROVERSIAL MUSICIAN PREPARES FOR LOCAL DEBUT

Amanda Palmer, who came to fame as the frontwoman of The Dresden Dolls, Boston’s self-described “Brechtian cabaret-punk” band, does not fit in with today’s declining and increasingly boring music industry. The big-voiced singer, who also plays piano, harmonica and ukulele and is in town this week for a joint concert with Jason Webley, is set to crush barriers, twist meanings, challenge audiences — and maybe provoke thought, although she insists that her approach to songwriting is generally spontaneous.

HACKERS STEAL PASSWORDS OF 1000S OF VKONTAKTE.RU USERS

MOSCOW — The country’s most popular social network, Vkontakte.ru, has been hacked, and the logins and passwords of nearly 135,000 users were distributed on the Internet.