(Bloomberg) -- Russia is planning to spend more than 40 trillion rubles ($431 billion) over six years to achieve social targets Vladimir Putin set for his new presidential term, according to the Finance Ministry.
Over the next three years, the cost of those promises laid out ahead of his reelection in March will reach 18 trillion rubles, a draft of the state budget shows. The annual expenditure is roughly twice as much as Russia spent on its national projects in each of the previous six years.
The draft federal budget for the next three years prepared by the Finance Ministry contains funding for 19 projects “which are the main instruments for achieving the national development goals set by the president,” the ministry’s press service said in a statement. The draft was discussed at a government meeting on Tuesday.
Half of the planned sums are allocated to support families and resolve demographic issues. Other projects are aimed at developing the transport system, ecological well-being, economic competitiveness and even space activity. A separate initiative included in the funding is devoted to the production of drones, which have featured prominently in the war with Ukraine.
At the same time as the government plans massive outlays on the national projects, Russia intends to maintain defense spending at an historic high in 2025. The draft budget foresees only slight declines in the following two years as the war on Ukraine shows no sign of ending.
Amid the ongoing invasion that has consumed Russia’s financial resources, the government has had to increase taxes on businesses and individuals. Officials expect the higher levies starting next year to generate an additional 2.7 trillion rubles ($29.1 billion) in income, all of which will be spent on implementing Putin’s orders.
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