Page 19 - RusRPTDec23

Additionally, the amount of money designated for preferential leases in 2024–2026 will increase from 10bn ($112.9mn) to 31bn ($350mn). Subsidies for the purchase of natural gas vehicles will increase by a factor of 1.5, reaching 16.7bn rubles ($188.5mn).
A modest increase in healthcare funding.
Lawmakers marginally increased spending on several items popular among voters: they designated an additional sixbn rubles ($67.7mn) for the purchase of medications for patients with cardiovascular diseases and another threebn rubles (33.9mn) for children’s recreation and health.
An increase in funding for law enforcement salaries Another notable change the Duma made in the federal budget is the indexation of salaries for security officers. The initial budget draft included provisions specifying that law enforcement salaries would not increase. By the State Duma’s second reading, however, lawmakers decided to remove these provisions, evidently taking care to preserve the loyalty of the country’s security apparatus in an election year.
Did anyone argue against spending so much on the military?
No — at least not openly. But some lawmakers did publicly criticize the decrease in spending on categories such as infrastructure as well as the inadequate funding on specific social programs.
Some State Duma deputies demanded certain rejected amendments be put to a separate vote. For example, Communist Party deputies Mikhail Matveyev and Nina Ostanina proposed increasing funding for housing for orphans, arguing that the program has been receiving only 10bn rubles ($112.9mn) annually for years and that this amount should increase to 30bn rubles ($339mn).
Is anyone worried about running out of money?
When the budget was first submitted to the State Duma for discussion, economists criticized its authors for being too optimistic. To cover the increased military expenses laid out in the bill, Russia’s Federal Treasury will have to take in 35 trillion rubles (about $395bn) in revenue — 22% more than it received in 2023.
Anton Siluanov explained that the funding will come from the introduction of export duties, the improvement of indirect tax collection processes, and an increase in excise taxes on tobacco and wine.
Nonetheless, analysts from the Telegram channel MMI referred to the budget revenue estimate as an “artistic rendering based on strategic objectives.” If Russia’s economy does worse than forecasted, the budget could fall short by up to one trillion rubles ($11.3bn), according to Denis Popov, an analyst at the government-owned bank Promsvyazbank. The Audit Chamber estimated the potential shortfall at 119.3bn rubles ($1.3bn) in 2024, 129bn rubles ($1.5bn) in 2025, and 151.7bn rubles ($1.7bn) in 2026. Andrey Baturkin, an auditor with
19 RUSSIA Country Report December 2023 www.intellinews.com