MOSCOW, April 19 (RIA Novosti) - Wage increases for members of the cabinet of ministers and the government apparatus are only the first step in combating corruption, Sergei Mironov, chairman of the Federation Council, told RIA Novosti.
"It is a step in the right direction. We are not so naive to think that the upcoming wage increases will resolve all the problems of corruption," Mironov said.
In the opinion of the chairman of the upper house of parliament, state officials should get "normal" wages, as is the case worldwide.
Mironov also said that wages will not be increased for senators. "The raising of wages for ministers and members of the government does not relate to senators," he said.
On April 10 Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a degree increasing wages for federal officials. In keeping with the decree, a minister will get, in conversion to USD, $3,000, a deputy minister about $2,000, the director of a department $1,500.
