The Finance Ministry suggested stripping government officials of high-priced smart phones claiming that the cost of mobile phones for senior officials of various government agencies must not exceed RUR 15K ($234).
The Finance Ministry is concerned with its excessive spending on mobile communications and devices for civil servants. Paid for by the federal budget, they are often unnecessarily pricy. The ministry proposed to restrict the cost of the devices and communications for government officials depending on their ranking, Izvestia reports.
Heads of administrative offices in federal government bodies will no longer be allowed to buy phones costing over RUR 15K ($234). However, they can still spend more on tablets (RUR 60K ($937) tops). Restrictions have also been imposed on laptops for this category of officials (not more than RUR 100K ($1.5K)). Cell phone bills must not go beyond RUR 4K ($62) per month.
Advisors and assistants will have to buy even cheaper devices. Their cell phones must not cost more than RUR 10K ($156), tablets more than RUR 50K ($780). This category of civil servants will still be able to purchase relatively expensive laptops, up to RUR 80K ($1.2K). Their monthly cell phone expenses have been significantly cut down to RUR 2K ($31). No such restrictions have been enforced until now, resulting in public officials buying extremely pricy devices that they often did not need for work.