Russia will increase spending on Putin's upkeep by 20%

Moscow Times reports that the upkeep of Russian leader Vladimir Putin over the next three years will cost Russian taxpayers 74.7 billion rubles. The government has included this amount for the "functioning" of the state leader in the draft federal budget for 2024-26, which was submitted to the State Duma on Friday, September 29.

Compared to the previous 3-year budget, spending on Putin will increase by 20%, or RUB 12.79 billion, according to an explanatory note to the document posted on the website of the lower house of parliament.

In 2024, the budget will allocate RUB 24.64 billion for the "functioning of the president and his administration," in 2025 - RUB 24.65 billion, and in 2026 - RUB 25.74 billion.

Expenditures will increase by RUB 4.66 billion in 2024 (+23%), by RUB 4.055 billion in 2025 (+19%), and by RUB 4.087 billion in 2026 (+19%).

In total, over three years, Putin will cost the treasury an amount comparable to the annual budget of an average Russian region, such as Ivanovo region (73.3 billion rubles) or Kurgan region (74.6 billion rubles).

More money will be spent on the president's maintenance than on entire industries and government programs in Russia: Almost 5 times more than the federal project for the development of artificial intelligence and 20 times more than the project to provide healthcare with qualified personnel.

The increase in spending on the president will be a record among all branches of government. Thus, allocations for the government apparatus in 2024 will increase by only 9%, to RUB 10.655 billion.

Funding for the Federation Council is planned to be "frozen" at RUB 7.795 billion in 2024. The maintenance of the State Duma and its 450 deputies will cost the budget RUB 15.086 billion and will increase by only 3.6% compared to the previous 3-year budget.

The "other bodies" of the federal government will "eat" RUB 835.2 billion, which is 43.2 billion or 5.4% more than was included in the budget law adopted a year ago.

• Recently, it was reported that the share of military spending in the draft federal budget for 2024 will increase to RUB 10.8 trillion from RUB 6.4 trillion this year, or to 6% from 3.9% of GDP.

• According to Forbes, the cost of one day of a major war with Ukraine for Russia is about $300 million. In total, Russia has spent more than $167 billion over the past year and a half