Bowing to pressure from President Mikhail S. Gor-bachev, the Russian republic will reconsider a plan to dramatically cut its contribution to the national budget, a spokesman said Friday.
The change of heart by the largest and wealthiest of the 15 Soviet republics increases Gorbachev's chances of forging a workable budget and preventing a breakdown of the economic union between the restive republics.In an angry speech nine days ago to the national Congress of People's Deputies, Gorbachev condemned the Russian Federation's plan to cut its contribution to this year's national budget by 85 percent.
The Russian republic wants to contribute only $37 billion compared to $227 billion last year.
If other republics similarly reduced their contributions to the $400 billion national budget, Gorba-chev warned, the result could be a "collapse not only of the economy, but of the union."
Yuri N. Grishin, a spokesman for Russia's Supreme Soviet legislature, said in a telephone interview Friday that the Russian lawmakers would consider a revised budget proposal when they reconvene in mid-January.
He said the republic would consider turning over revenues of at least $128 billion and might possibly make a contribution equal to last year's $227 billion.
Grishin said the new figures were submitted to the legislature by Yuri V. Skokov, the top deputy to Russian Federation President Boris N. Yelt-sin. Grishin said he did not know how the figures were reached.
Skokov did not answer his office telephone Friday. Yeltsin's press aide, Valentina Lantseva, said the Russian president would not comment on the budget.
Gorbachev met Thursday behind closed doors in the Kremlin with his Federation Council.
After the meeting, Gorbachev told Soviet television that the council had "found a principle on which we can form the union budget and the budgets of the Soviet republics."