OREANDA-NEWS. December 23, 2010. The total budget deficit of Moscow is nearly RUB 100 bn; the city’s debts total RUB 250 bn, the Moscow mayor, Sergei Sobyanin said.

“The city budget is very problematic, but the deficit does not mean anything by itself: the city’s total debt exceeds RUB 250 bn, it is more than spending on education and welfare”, the mayor said. He added the Moscow authorities would focus the budget on the city’s most acute needs. “We must study the very nature of the debts and understand their dynamics, and focus on the city’s most acute problems”, Sobyanin said.