Speaking at the Federation Council, Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said that the key goal for the Russian economy is to attain an annual GDP growth rate of 7%-8% between 2014 and 2018. He expects the country's gross domestic product to grow 4% this year and continue to grow by 4.2%, 3.9% and 4.5% in 2011, 2012 and 2013, respectively.

The deputy prime minister said that the tax burden on Russian businesses will increase by 2.3% in 2011 and by 3.6% in 2013 compared to this year's level. And as the insurance premium will grow from 26% to 34%, excise taxes on petrol, tobacco and alcohol will rise, and so will the mineral extraction tax on oil and gas.

The finance minister said that the deficit of regional budgets will shrink significantly from 417 billion roubles in 2010 to 296 billion in 2011. "In 2012-2013, revenues will be growing by 5%-7%, and the deficit will be decreasing," he said.

He also said that the Moscow government had failed to provide adequate support for road construction this year. "Moscow's spending onroads has fallen sharply this year. City hall has failed to support adequate spending on road construction as other regions did," he said.

According to the finance minister, Moscow needs to double spending on road construction.