04/07/2005 Yaroslav Kuzminov, rector of the High School of Economics and one of the authors of the “administrative reform” in Russia, in an interview to “Finansovye Izvestiya” (Financial News) newspaper said the following:
 
Question: Ministers are complaining that now they are allowed only two deputies, according to the new government structure …
 
Answer: It was a very unwise decision. I think it was due to the attempt of the Ministry of Finance to keep the budget during general salary increase. In the Ministry of the Economic Development and Trade, each of the deputies processes approximately 800 records per day. Usually the department of 25 employees doesn’t process that many. That means that the deputies are signing records without reading them.
 
Q.: But the salary increase of the government officers is considered as an important achievement of the reform.
 
A.: The salary increase was inadequate. Deputy Ministers earns 50,000 rubles per month (1,850 US dollars), that’s the level of middle manager of the average firm. Head of the federal agency earns as much money as a young saleswoman in a boutique. Our salaries are not attractive for experienced managers. At the same time Russian economy’s annual losses due to corruption are estimated in tens of billions of dollars.

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