The meeting continued the work of reviewing the parameters of the federal budget and the budgets of state off-budget funds for 2009.

Over the past few days, the Government has held a series of working meetings presided over by First Deputy Chairman of the Russian Government Victor Zubkov to reconcile the budget estimates of individual federal executive bodies with the total expenditures on concrete programmes and projects. Today's meeting integrated all the prepared proposals and discussed remaining differences and unregulated issues.

The meeting continued the work of determining the overall parameters of budget spending adjustments, the volume of revenues, and the planned deficit. The expenditures that will remain priorities and those to be reviewed were identified.

The meeting continued discussing the financial support for anti-crisis measures and measures to support the financial system, the real sector of the country's economy, the payment of pensions and wages to public-sector employees, the fulfillment of commitments to the citizens as well as assistance to the regions in the framework of inter-budgetary relations and the state defence order.

Taking part in the meeting were First Deputy Chairman of the Government of the Russian Federation Victor Zubkov, Deputy Chairman of the Government and Head of the Government Staff Serei Sobyanin, Deputy Chairman of the Government Alexandr Zhukov, Deputy Chairman of the Government Sergei Ivanov, Deputy Chairman of the Government Dmitri Kozak, Deputy Chairman of the Government Igor Sechin, Deputy Chairman of the Government and Minister of Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, Minister of Regional Development of Victor Basargin, Minister of Economic Development Elvira Nabiullina, Minister of Health and Social Development Tatyana Golikova, Minister of Defence Anatoly Serdyukov, Minister of Education and Science Andrei Fursenko, Minister of Telecommunications and Mass Communications Igor Shchegolev, Minister of Industry and Trade Victor Khristenko, and others.