RUSSIAN GOVERNMENT DID NOT MIND THE NO-CONFIDENCE MOTION








MOSCOW, March 14, 2001, /from a RIA Novosti correspondent/--Despite the general hostility towards the cabinet of ministers displayed during the voting on the no-confidence motion, Russian Vice Premier and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin believes the parliament's lower house, the State Duma, actually trusts the government when it comes to the key items of economic policy. In Kudrin's opinion, the fact that the parliament passed the government-proposed amendments to the Federal Budget Law proves his assumption. "Important decisions are the best way to test the parliament's trust," Kudrin told journalists while commenting on the fact that the voting was a flop.


	According to the vice premier, he "did not mind hearing" the State Duma discuss the no-confidence vote. "In fact, I was thinking about the voting on the budget law at the moment," he said.


	The fact that the overwhelming majority of senators backed amendments to the budget can serve as a response to sceptics who thought that alteration of the budget would "cause a crisis and have the parliament demanding resignation of the government."