Russian Budget Upsets Gorbachev

President Mikhail S. Gorbachev today condemned the Parliament of the Russian Federation, the largest of the 15 Soviet republics, for passing a 1991 budget that he said is dramatically at odds with national plans.

Gorbachev, speaking to the national Parliament, said Russian lawmakers agreed to provide only 23.4 billion rubles toward the national budget for next year, 119 billion rubles less than the republic’s contribution this year.

If other republics follow Russia’s lead and cut their contributions to the 250-billion-ruble national budget, he said, the result will be “a collapse, not only of the economy but of the union.”

“What are we supposed to do, disband our military entirely and stop all fundamental scientific research? That’s not serious,” Gorbachev said.

The Soviet president urged the Russian Parliament to suspend its decision.

He also asked the Congress of People’s Deputies, the national legislature, to pass a resolution calling for actions to resolve the budget dispute, including creation of a national economic stabilization fund.

The Soviet Union is passing through turbulent times of bare grocery store shelves, ethnic violence and nationwide political paralysis. The national government has been at odds with Russia over how to proceed with the economy.

The Russian legislature’s newspaper reported today that the republic’s finance minister has resigned, saying the federation had made no progress in the transition to a market economy.

Boris Fyodorov, 33, was quoted as saying that lawmakers in the Russian republic have been unwilling to take responsibility for necessary but unpopular measures, such as lifting price controls.

On Nov. 1, the republic began a program to switch from a centrally planned, command economy to a free market within 500 days. Russian lawmakers said they wanted to move faster than the national government, but their policies often conflict and create confusion rather than reform.