Russian President Vladimir Putin will receive a 5.5% salary increase from October 1, in the middle of the war he is waging with Ukraine.

By presidential decree, Putin ordered that the salaries of Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Deputy Head of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, as well as the heads of other government structures and federal officials would also increase.

In addition, Putin issued separate decisions on the salary increase of the Prosecutor General, Igor Krasnov, and the head of the Investigative Committee, Alexandr Bastrikin, which is investigating alleged war crimes committed by the Ukrainian army.

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As the economic newspaper RBC reports, the government will not index the salaries of Russian civil servants in 2024.

On the other hand, the salaries of employees of public enterprises will be increased by 4.5% from October 1 and those of employees in the health, social, education and cultural sectors by 9.8% from January 1.

“To ensure social guarantees… I decide to increase the monetary remuneration of persons holding public positions in the Russian Federation by 1,055 times from October 1, 2023,” the decree said.

With this increase, Putin would reach an annual salary of almost $180,000. Despite high defense expenditure, the minimum wage will increase by 18.5% from January 1, 2024. (JO)