Russia’s Finance Ministry has proposed increasing the amount of money allocated to presidential administration expenses by 1.7 billion rubles ($26 million) this year, Interfax reported on Wednesday, citing planned amendments to the 2018 federal budget.
On December, 2017, the Russian government approved a draft federal budget for 2018 that allocated 10.1 billion rubles for the work of the president and his administration. The latest proposal will bring the total budget spending on the president to 11.8 billion rubles ($181 million) for this year.
Federal spending on events with Putin’s participation will increase by 786.3 million rubles ($12 million) under the new amendments, while an additional 799.4 million rubles will be be spent on increasing the salaries of the presidential staff, Interfax reported.
A further 40.4 million rubles will be earmarked for celebrations of the 25th anniversary of the adoption of the Russian Constitution on Dec. 12.
Interfax separately reported that the Finance Ministry is considering to allocate an additional 20.8 billion rubles ($318 million) on the renewal and modernization of the presidential air fleet.
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