The training model is based on CIPFA’s and has been devised by the Centre for Public Financial Management at Russia’s Financial Research Institution and the Institute for Financial and Economic Monitoring (IFEM).

Svetlana Tabalina, a researcher at the Centre for Public Financial Management, said Russia needed to urgently improve its PFM system in order to help it survive the economic shocks posed by declining oil prices.

A rapid improvement in PFM would increase the effectiveness and efficiency of public resources used in Russia, she told PF International.

In particular, there is a need for more focus on PFM qualifications for civil servants working in Russia’s Ministry of Finance, Tabalina said. She estimated that more than 1 million government workers need PFM training.

The model defines the categories of civil servants that need to be trained, their training requirements, sources of finance for training of civil and municipal servant and certification procedures.

‘[The training system] is closely connected with the introduction of the professional standard for the accounting profession in the Russian Federation,’ Tabalina said.

The first pilot training programmes are expected to launch for government workers next year. Tabalina added that there would be up to four pilot groups, each consisting of about 25 people.

‘There will be several stages for the development of the training system for civil servants in the Russian Federation. In 2016 we plan [to focus] on the accounting and financial reporting of public sector entities,’ Tabalina said.

If approved by the Ministry of Finance, the training model will be rolled out to encompass a wider range of civil servants.

IFEM in the past has worked with World Bank projects on administrative, civil and budget reform in the Russian Federation, as well as looking at national IPSAS-based accounting standards for public sector units.