Putin’s new anti-crisis orders: key takeaways

President Vladimir Putin of Russia approved a list of instructions after a meeting on socio-economic measures to support the country’s regions. It was on 16 March 2022.

Realnoe Vremya is publishing key takeaways of the president’s instructions. Their list is available on the website of the Kremlin.

Assistance for families whose incomes has fallen after 1 March and higher living wage

Anti-crisis instructions designed to support the population, particularly families with children include:

• to provide a fall in the population’s poverty level and income inequality in 2022;
• to establish a special order of evaluation of the needs of families that include citizens who have lost their jobs after 1 March 2022 and recognised jobless to provide them social support measures until 31 December 2022;
• to increase the availability of social support measures for families with children whose incomes has significantly decreased after 1 March 2022;
• to analyse the effectiveness of support measures provided to Russians who have lost their jobs after 1 March 2022 and recognised jobless, to take additional measures to support them, also to expand the practice of signing a social contract with them;
• to take measures within a social contract including by raising payouts.

In addition, the head of the state instructed the Russian government to make offers on the additional indexation of pensions until 20 April, including for people who did a military service, social payouts, salaries of state-paid workers. Putin is also waiting for ideas of raising the minimum wage and living wage from the Cabinet of Ministers before this term.

It should be reminded that Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said when delivering a speech in the State Duma on 7 April with a report that according to the president’s instruction social payouts and pensions would be indexed in the country, the minimum wage and living wage will increase too.

Burden on businesses will continue be lowered

Some of Putin’s instructions are aimed to support businesses. In particular, the head of the country ordered:

• to provide further reduction of the regulatory and administrative burden on businesses;
• to increase taxpayers’ highest incomes fixed by legislation applying a simplifying and patent taxation system;
• to provide the improvement of financial support conditions for enterprises provided by the Industrial Development Fund, Russian Bank for Small and Mid-Sized Entrepreneurship to expand the possibilities of entrepreneurs to receive such financial assistance;

• to provide proposals for allocating additional money from the federal budget in 2022-2024 to finance the construction of infrastructure, increase the purchase of commodities of Russian origin (including public transport), works, services provided by Russian people paying attention to the necessity of considerably boosting domestic demand for products of export-oriented sectors of the economy.

Some orders touched transport. Putin ordered:

• to hold the growth of fees in public urban, suburban and intercity transport;

• to postpone the date when mandatory requirements for the installation of tachographs into M2 and M3 vehicles regularly transporting passengers and luggage in urban, suburban and intercity transport will come into force.