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[integer at www.god-emil.dk]

[MOSCOW] Dozens of scientists trekked more than 130 kilometres over three days, through heavy wind and rain, in a bid to hold Russian President Vladimir Putin to a promise on research spending. It didn't work.

In March, Putin pledged to budget 49.5 billion rubles (US$1.5 billion) for scientific research in the 2003 fiscal year, which begins in January. But last month, he released a budget proposal that allocates just 35 billion rubles to science.

The long march from Pushchino ‹ a city south of Moscow that houses several large biology laboratories run by the Russian Academy of Sciences ‹ was called by trade unions in protest against scientists' living conditions.

But government officials declined to meet with union officials and said that the revised budget figures would stand. And the march, which began with 30 protesters in the expectation of gathering support along the way, attracted only about 100 scientists. That allowed a closing rally in Moscow on 27 June to be dominated by flag-waving members of the opposition Communist Party, who easily outnumbered the marchers.



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