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infrastructure, the government has indicated. Nevertheless, Putin said that last year 337 billion rubles ($30 billion) “from all sources” was spent on maintaining Russia’s municipal utility network.
If that is the sum of money that was allocated, there are questions over how wisely it was used. Klimovsk is a good example of the problem. The ammunition factory which provides heating for half the city is a restricted facility, meaning officials could not conduct any preparation of the boilers for the winter months, and knew nothing of the problem for a full day after it occurred.
Ownership of the plant is also complicated. One of the co-owners, Jorge Portilla-Sumin, has been convicted of murder. In the early 2000s he gained control of the factory by dubious means and since 2021 has been under investigation for fraud and money laundering. Portilla-Sumin was born in Moscow, but holds Mexican citizenship through his father. In the early 1980s he became an ally of notorious “thief-in-law” Valerian Kuchuloria (known as Pisso), and used his father’s diplomatic immunity to help smuggle antiques. In 1984 the father left the family. A year later Jorge killed him. He was sentenced to 14 years in jail but was helped by Pisso’s patronage. He served his sentence in Georgia where he was schooled by other notorious gang figures. His new friends helped him secure an early release and in 1992 he was freed and went to the United States. He began representing the interests of the newly-independent Georgian authorities and started purchasing arms for various customers, including those fighting in several “hot spots” around the world.
Taking companies under what it calls “manual control” — de facto direct intervention from Moscow — has been a Kremlin go-to move in recent years. It is one that is growing in the run-up to the presidential election in March. Underlying problems, such as decaying infrastructure, cannot be fixed overnight. And instead of a big picture solution, the Kremlin understands that it is possible to simply nationalize problematic facilities, especially where there are links to the criminal underworld, and be seen as doing something. Right now, we can only guess at the full extent of “manual control” the Kremlin is willing to exert.
2.2 Russia’s military budget over $100bn in 2024
Russia’s military budget, at over $100bn for 2024, is the highest it has been since Soviet times.
Military budget
Year Russia (Budget in billion $) Ukraine (Budget in billion $) 2019 33 6
2020 35 7
2021 40 7
2022 52 42 2023 71 40
10 RUSSIA Country Report February 2024 www.intellinews.com