Russia’s lawmakers will collect their bonuses early this year, just before they face reelection
State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin complained during a closed-door session about news reports on early bonuses for deputies, the Russian business daily Kommersant reported, citing a source in the lower house of parliament.
On July 7, the Russian business daily Vedomosti reported that State Duma deputies would receive their annual bonuses early — in early September — after Volodin announced the plan during a closed-door session. This means lawmakers will get the money before the eighth Duma’s term ends, at the height of the election campaign. Parliamentary elections in Russia are scheduled for September 20.
Vedomosti’s sources said the payments were made possible by 2 billion rubles in savings that had accumulated in the State Duma’s budget. The bonuses could go to all deputies regardless of party affiliation, though the amounts may vary.
The following day, at another closed-door session, Volodin complained that the information had made its way into the press — a disclosure that prompted journalists to seek comment from him.
Volodin also said that ministers’ salaries are not comparable to what deputies earn, even though the two hold equal status. The State Duma leadership is therefore trying to use the bonuses announced the day before to offset the difference, a Kommersant source added.
As the independent Russian political newsletter Faridaily notes, deputies’ official salaries are not precisely known because their financial disclosures are no longer published. Several years ago, the budget was calculated at 650,000 rubles per month per deputy, with committee and faction chairs receiving significant additional pay beyond that.
Faridaily calls the current perk the equivalent of the deputies’ “golden parachutes” that appeared in 2015. At that time, elections were moved from December to September, and deputies who were not reelected were allowed to keep their salaries and benefits through December — receiving pay for months they had not worked. Media estimates put the amount each could have received at around 1.5 million rubles.
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