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Russia still has reserves of funds to continue the war against Ukraine, but the National Welfare Fund has already begun to spend more than they contribute to it. Ivan Us, Candidate of Economic Sciences, Chief Consultant at the Center for Foreign Policy Research at the National Institute for Strategic Studies, stated this on the FREEDOM TV channel.
“We still have supplies. And here the National Welfare Fund remains as the basis for supporting the war machine of the Russian economy. But now they spend more from this fund than they contribute money to it. Moreover, historically this fund was formed largely thanks to the leading Russian company Gazprom. But now Gazprom, on the contrary, receives money from the company that contributed to the work of the National Welfare Fund. Last year, if I’m not mistaken, Gazprom received 411 billion rubles from the National Welfare Fund. That is, this little egg is already slowly melting,” he said.
Us noted that many Russian economists recognize the likelihood that this year or at the beginning of 2025 this fund will cease to exist, since there is no longer enough money.
“In general, if we talk about Russia’s income, we must understand that last year, according to the Russian Ministry of Finance, it is necessary to make a clarification here, because it is not a fact that these data are true – the budget received more than 29 trillion rubles in income, this approximately 300 billion dollars. This is what the Russian budget earned in 2023. And the external sector also brings money to Russia, but much less, because Russia has lost the basis of its earnings, the sale of energy resources to the West,” said the candidate of economic sciences.
He recalled that the Russian Federation is now partially compensating for losses by redirecting trade flows to the East, but export logistics are not so easy to rebuild.
“When I said that Russia earned 300 billion, this does not mean that it has a lot of money. This means there is something to spend. And indeed, more is spent there than is earned. That is, Russia, which traditionally was a country with a budget surplus, that is, they earned more than they spent, now, on the contrary, they spend more than they earn. Nobody gives loans to Russia in particular. China, by the way, doesn’t give either. Therefore, for now there is a National Welfare Fund, okay, there is money, but we’ll see what happens when it’s gone. Then, probably, taxes will have to be raised,” Us said.
He stated that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s economic promises to the population are not worth the paper they are written on.
“Therefore, here we will again observe the dynamics of the economy, since what, it seems to me, will happen in the near future is a fall in the exchange rate of the ruble… Taxes will also, in principle, be raised, because the Russian authorities are now trying to find as many resources as possible “Us predicts.
In his opinion, problems may also arise with the payment of salaries and pensions.
Earlier, the executive director of the Economic Discussion Club, Oleg Pendzin, said that the increase in the level of military spending in the Russian Federation has a negative impact on the well-being of Russians: algorithms from the times of the Soviet Union are repeated.
