Re: Russian health care

["Chris Doss" <nomorebounces@xxxxxxx>]

Let's see, why oh why would anyone prefer Putin to Yeltsin? To assert that Putin is not preferable to Yeltsin would take goofyness to levels of surreality.

Zhukov: the incomes of the population grew by 13.2 per cent between January
and April

MOSCOW, May 17 (Itar-Tass) - Acting Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Zhukov
told President Vladimir Putin on Monday that the growth of consumer prices
falls in line so far with the forecast, made for 2004, and is not expected
to exceed 10 per cent in annual terms.

 Consumer prices grew by 4.6 per cent between January and April, while in
2003, in the same period they grew by 6.2 per cent,  Zhukov said at a
meeting in the Kremlin.  We still keep within the limits set by the
forecast for 2004, which says that the annual growth of prices should not
exceed 10 per cent.

Zhukov said at the meeting that the incomes of the population grew by 13.2
per cent between January and April, this year.

According to his information, investments also grew by 12.6 per cent as
against 2003.  This creates conditions for a further economic growth,  he
said. According to Zhukov,  the situation improved a little after a slight
slowing down of the economic growth in March. In April the increment
amounted to 0.7-0.8 per cent in comparison with March.

He added that those were just preliminary results of the economic
development in the January-April period.

Zhukov made a report on the economic situation on the order of President
Putin.  So far as I know, we already have some figures on the results of
the economic development and the growth of industrial output in April,  the
President said and asked Zhukov to tell more about it.