Russia's Home Improvement

It started out as a simple idea, but now controversy is stirring in Russia over the exorbitant amount of money spent on a recent project to restore a national treasure.

Restorations made to the Kremlin are looking rather regal to ordinary citizens whose existence is, at best, meager, reports CBS News Correspondent David Hawkins.

The official cost of repairing the offices and reception halls of Boris Yeltsin's residence was $823 million. Many believe the true expense to be much higher but since the Yeltsin administration won't open up its books to government auditors it's almost impossible to know for sure.

Yelstin's aide in charge of the project, Pavel Borodin, is now a target of a Swiss money-laundering investigation. Prosecutors suspect Borodin took bribes in return for construction contracts. Twenty-two of Yelstin's staff members are also under investigation.

Borodin maintains he's done nothing wrong. Besides, he says, the Kremlin renovation was a bargain.

Whether or not this Russian home improvement was a bargain, it's a luxury in a country where thousands of workers are waiting to receive paychecks. The $823 million dollars spent on the Kremlin is almost exactly what the government owes to unpaid workers and retirees.

Russia's poor and elderly have gone for months without paychecks and pensions while the government paid for antiques, gold leaf, and the Kremlin's crystal chandeliers.

While the Kremlin may now be fit for a czar, Russia has stiffed its international creditors and continues to hold out its hand for even more loans from the West. The loans were underwritten by the U.S. government so, at least in part, American tax dollars helped pay for the Russian restoration.