‘We will not assess — we welcome the boost to revenues’

The Cabinet has introduced amendments worth 139.8 billion rubles

The “Budget” Committee of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan has discussed amendments to the draft republican budget for 2026 and for the planned period of 2027–2028. The occasion for this was the approval by the Russian Ministry of Finance of the volume of federal transfers that will be received by the republic’s treasury over the next three years. Primarily, this concerns federal subsidies provided on the basis of co-financing regional programs. Tatarstan is considered a donor region, so the provision of unconditional grants to balance the treasury’s revenue is almost never practiced. Adjustments to the draft republican budget are regularly made before the second reading, as the extent of federal participation remains unclear until the last moment.

The amount of targeted funds the republic will receive was reported to parliamentarians by the Minister of Finance of Tatarstan, Marat Faizrahmanov. According to him, next year the federal “transfer” is planned at 50.3 billion rubles, while in the following two years it will be significantly lower — 42.9 billion and 46.6 billion rubles respectively. Based on these figures, the government of Tatarstan prepared 324 amendments to redistribute expenditure obligations within republican programs. Their total amounted to 138.9 billion rubles. The changes affected 122 budget expenditure items — in the printed version of the budget, the adjustment occupied 481 pages. The largest allocations are for road construction, healthcare, and the social sphere.

“It is pleasant to consider a project when it involves an increase”

In detail, most amendments — 194 — were made to items related to the co-financing of program activities. Before the new year, sectoral authorities will need to sign agreements with federal bodies to establish indicators, maximum co-financing volumes, and other conditions for providing federal funds, the Minister of Finance warned. Co-financing from the republic is ensured through the redistribution of reserved funds.

Another six amendments were introduced due to changes in the Russian Tax and Budget Codes, and 15 amendments were added following parliamentary hearings in the State Council, the Minister added. He did not specify the circumstances.

“It is pleasant to consider a budget project when it involves an increase,” supported Leonid Yakunin, head of the Budget Committee. “Thank God, in ten years we have never had to review a budget due to falling revenues.”

According to him, the republic’s treasury will receive 54 billion rubles next year. “They will be distributed across areas where federal and regional regulatory acts have already been adopted,” he said diplomatically.

As a result of the adjustments, the initial deficit of the 2026 budget project will remain. Total revenues will amount to 552.2 billion rubles, expenditures — 566.6 billion rubles, deficit — 13.8 billion rubles. “Compared to the first reading, the budget deficit has not changed,” reported Marat Faizrahmanov.

However, over the next two years, it will increase noticeably — to 16.9 billion in 2027 and 18.7 billion rubles in 2028. Deputies had no comments or questions regarding this.

“Federal money will go to national projects. We direct it to areas where we are involved: roads, social needs, and healthcare,” explained Leonid Yakunin later in a conversation with journalists.

“Is this enough? We will not assess it — we welcome the increase in revenue,” he added.

Communists withdrew 16 amendments worth 23 billion rubles

However, before the discussion of the amendments began, the head of the CPRF faction, Khafiz Mirgalimov, announced the withdrawal of almost all proposed amendments to the draft republican budget. The communists had prepared 16 reasoned amendments totaling 23 billion rubles, six of which were sent to the Ministry of Finance of Tatarstan. “We had a frank discussion there. We fully understand that it is a difficult year, wartime, money is never enough, it is always in short supply,” shared the head of the CPRF faction.

Nevertheless, the communists managed to defend one issue. “Today I have two letters, signed by the president, for almost 200 million. We consider this a form of constructive cooperation between the CPRF faction and executive legislative bodies. We were heard,” he said. In this regard, the faction withdrew the remaining 15 amendments.

“We have often faced a shortage of hotels”: benefits extended until 2030

At the end of the session, parliamentarians recommended extending benefits for hotel developers. The reduced property tax rate was introduced several years ago for those building three-star hotels with more than 50 rooms. The size of the benefit is 4.55% of the assessed amount. The support measure has been extended until 1 January 2030. It is expected that this will improve competition in the hotel services market.

The Deputy Chair of the State Committee for Tourism of Tatarstan, Anastasia Sofina, reported that the Millennium Hotel, built by the children of Shafagat Takhutdinov, has not yet used the benefits. “Many facilities are at the commissioning stage. Their owners have not yet applied for the benefit. We expect that they will submit applications,” she said. In 2024, the benefit was granted to two taxpayers for a total of 2.6 million rubles.

“So many international, republican, and other events are held in the Republic of Tatarstan, and naturally we have often faced a shortage of hotels,” supported Leonid Yakunin. “If we want to solve this issue, it probably needs to be extended. Many events are still ahead of us,” he urged. Continuing the topic, deputies pointed out the shortage of hotels in the regions of the republic, after which they voted in favour without hesitation.