How the Russian government plans to adjust pensions, wages and social benefits
The Cabinet of Ministers has put forward proposals to the President of the Russian Federation aimed at indexing pensions, the minimum wage, and various social benefits. Anton Kotyakov, the Minister of Labor and Social Protection, announced this on a Monday in early May.
“Today we submitted our recommendations to the government apparatus, and the government has taken them to the president”, Kotyakov stated. He noted that these measures are designed to lower poverty levels in the country. The minister emphasized that multiple options exist for how the indexing parameters might be set, and the final decision has yet to be announced.
Kotyakov explained that there are several baseline scenarios under discussion. He added that while there is agreement in principle, not all expert assessments align perfectly with real-world conditions, so it would be premature to forecast exact outcomes. “As of today, the situation is under control”, he said, citing ongoing evaluation by the ministry and its partners.
The minister also touched on unemployment monitoring, stating that it is tracked through official information systems. At the regional level, working groups have been constituted to oversee enterprises facing difficulties on a weekly basis. These groups consider a wide range of support measures for both companies and residents at risk of job loss. Kotyakov asserted that these efforts have yielded measurable results and highlighted that the country currently has approximately 3.1 million unemployed people.
Svetlana Bessarab, a former member of the State Duma Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans Affairs, offered her perspective on how automatic pension indexing might work. She indicated that discussions between the government and parliament are considering indexation rates in the vicinity of 8 to 10 percent, subject to parliamentary approvals and economic conditions.
Earlier in the spring, President Vladimir Putin stated that decisions on pension indexing, social benefits, and the salaries of state employees would be made soon. He reminded the public that increases for pensions, wages, and benefits had already been approved and were expected to be implemented in the near term.
Regarding pension schemes for retirees with specific work histories, the system includes additional monthly payments for certain groups, such as workers from the coal industry or civil aviation sectors. These extra payments are reviewed quarterly, with the amount influenced by the pensioner’s length of service, salary level, and total insurance contributions. Eligibility typically requires men to have worked at least twenty-five years and women at least twenty years.
How much do Russians spend on food? Against this backdrop, a recent study by the market research firm Romir indicates that weekly expenditures are on the rise, mirroring the general uptick in consumer prices. The study reports a weekly spend average of 5,143 rubles, up 1.5 percent from the previous week and 2.2 percent higher than a year earlier. When compared to the longer-term moving average, the weekly expenditure remains somewhat below the twelve-month average, by around three percent.
The average cost of a single purchase was about 677 rubles. The average receipt value rose by roughly five percent week over week and is up nearly ten percent from the same period last year. Compared to the past year’s average, the weekly receipt sits slightly higher as well, by about 2.9 percent.