Gulbanu ABENOVA
ASTANA, Sept 8 (THE GLOBE)
Debts under the credits of international financial institutions, which come to 16.6 billion tenge, will be repaid from the budget at taxpayers� expense. This was announced by the deputy of the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister of RK on September 8 in Astana.
Uraz Dzhandosov stated that the IMF mission supported the government�s position, and on the whole they agreed with main concrete indices of the budget�99. However, according to Mr. Dzhandosov, IMF is anxious, as the tax on profit is set in the draft budget too high (approximately 0.8% of the gross national product). �Position of the Kazakhstan party is that this level of taxes seems tense, but realistic,� he emphasised. One of the reasons taken into consideration by the Kazakhstan government was that during the last months the volume of collected taxes was observed to grow. The Minister announced that the final negotiations with IMF mission would be held in a month, when the complete results of 9 months of this year were summed up, and the tax legislation was supplemented with a number of changes. It is planned to conclude a 3-years agreement with IMF �in order this program promote the growth of investors and creditors� trust to the economy of our country.�
The credit in the amount of US$ 200 million to be allotted by the World Bank is expected in this year. First of all, this is the second credit line to realise the pension reform.
The Finance Minster agreed with the President�s criticism sounded at the opening ceremony of the 5th session of the Parliament regarding the tactical mistakes of the National Bank during the introduction of the free-floating tenge�s rate. (THE GLOBE, # 66(384), 03.09.99).
�In my opinion (I have been speaking about this for a long time), we introduced the free-floating tenge�s rate too late. We had to make progress. But as such serious decisions required a significant degree of unanimity, it took several months to work out such a unanimity,� he stated.
As far as wasted US$ 100 million which were allotted for import-substitution are concerned, he said that according to the import-substitution program, several small projects had been supported, though the total amount invested to those projects was less than the above-mentioned one. �The main point is that the government took a decision not to give state money, if there are no guarantee that this money will be repaid, as it happened before,� Mr. Dzhandosov said. In addition, all money given to import-substitution projects was allotted through second-level banks and the latter are to bear all non-repayment risks.
�Before we introduced the free-floating tenge�s rate, there was a small number of enterprises wishing to deal with import-substitution, as at the former �tenge/dollar� proportion it was more profitable to import than to produce their own goods,� he emphasised. According to the Minister of Finance, after April the situation changed and projects began to work. But he did not mention the spent amount.
At the press-conference the Finance Minister announced that within three following years the Finance Ministry was planning to reduce the budget deficit to minimum. In the draft budget expenses are reduced and they staked on increase of tax collection. The pension reform is to be corrected, as the government considers that too much money is being transmitted to the pension fund. Besides, from the next year the Kazakhstan population will pay 5% tax on salary.
At the same time, financing of the Ministry of Revenues will be significantly increased. Salary of personnel of the customs and tax departments will be increased.
Finance Ministry mentions names of the debtors
�We are ready to submit more complete information regarding any credit to mass media, to influence morally the guilty persons received these credits, as some of these persons still take a respected place in the society,� Uraz Dzhandosov announced on September 8 in Astana.
THE Finance Minister submitted journalists the information regarding both the debt of enterprises and organisations before the republican budget under non-state external loans, and the fulfilled work on repayment of credits allotted from the republican budget.
It is known that within the two years the present government has not managed to take back loans allotted by the former government. We remind you, that the Prime Minister speaking at the Parliament in June said that it was difficult to make persons who received credits in 1994 to 1997, but had not returned them, answerable. �Somebody is behind these people,� the Prime Minister said that time.
Uraz Dzhandosov announced that two meetings of interdepartmental commission devoted to repayment of loans by debtors, had been held. Tenge 16.6 billion are expenses of the republican budget towards reimbursement of external debts �of those economic subjects, which received credits under the state guarantee and now do not repay them.�
The list submitted by the Minister consists of 44 so-called subject. Let�s give just a single example. The first in the list on the Austrian credit line is the JSC �Phosphor� (Shymkent), which is headed by E. Zhomartbaev (the editorial staff has the full list). the objective of the credit was to purchase equipment to produce window frames and door blocks. The amount of the utilised credit (in the hard currency of the loan) is ATS 64 671 331 20 (the utilisation period was from 10.01.1994 to 05.12.1994). As on 01.07.1999, US$ 6 313 508.18 was repaid by the republican budget. As on 01.07.99 the debtor repaid US$ 164 856.57. In 1997 shareholders of the JSC �Phosphor� took a decision to separate the shop producing window frames and door blocks from the composition of the enterprise and to establish an independent juridical person. In April 1998, according to the resolution of the Territorial Committee on State Property, the JSC �Stroiplastdetal� with 100% of state share was established. Equipment purchased for the credit money was transferred to the new enterprise. The Contract dated 08.09.95 concluded between �Donneks Enterprises Limited� and the State Committee on Governing the State Property. According to the letter No. KH�-4-43-3068 of the Tax Policy Committee of the Revenues Ministry of RK dated 01.07.99, the resolution regarding the rejection to lay a criminal case against the debtor was taken, as no corpus delicti had been found.
�EXIMbank Kazakhstan� sent to the Territorial Committee of Southern Kazakhstan region originals of the credit agreement and contract on pledge, to be resigned by the new enterprise �Stroiplastdetal�, which is a successor of the credit received from the Austrian credit line. According to the notification of the Finance Ministry dated 11.08.98, the state shareholding of the JSC �Stroiplastdetal� was to be sold by auction. According to the decree of the government of RK No. 3405 dated 12.04.99, the state shareholding of the JSC �Stroiplastdetal� was transferred to the municipal property of the Akim of the South Kazakhstan region.
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