Penza, 2 December 2014. PenzaNews. The decision to reduce the number of officials, made by the governor of the Penza region Vasily Bochkarev, can be a timely one, said Georgy Kamnev, member of the Legislative Assembly of the Penza region, first secretary of the Regional Committee of the Communist Party, in an interview with PenzaNews agency.

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“Executive discipline of the officials is very poor at present. Here we see a direct correlation: the more officials, the poorer the executive discipline is, and, therefore, the more state spends. Now, in these difficult times, reducing bureaucracy is what we need,” the agency interlocutor said.

However, he added that the cuts alone are not an indicator of success.

“We have been through such campaigns on reduction of officials, work improvement, but inevitably and traditionally they brought us to increase of officials,” he explained.

Responding to a question about how appropriate it was to unite four departments of different fields in the Department of Industry, Business Development, Innovation Policy and Information Support of the Penza region, Georgy Kamnev suggested that it is unlikely to somehow affect the current state of affairs in these departments.

“Frankly, it is unlikely that their merger will bring great changes. Maybe it would be more logical to think about merging other departments. Maybe it would be more logical to look for an opportunity to reduce staff somewhere else,” the Penza Communist party leader suggested.

Speaking about the prospects of employment of officials subjected to dismissal, Georgy Kamnev said that they will have to face the realities of life.

“State TV channels claim that everything is fine in our country. And these things – that there is small deterioration in the economy, but on the whole, all is well – are said by those very state servants. I think it would be great if some of the officials faced the realities of life,” the deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Penza region concluded.

As PenzaNews agency reported earlier, on Monday, December 1, the Penza region governor Vasily Bochkarev signed orders to lay off 79 state servants, introduce changes in the Penza region government layout, and transform eight branches and executive institutions.