The salaries of Russia's government officials increased on average by 2 percent in 2015 — while employees enjoyed a more than 40 percent wage hike at the upper chamber of parliament, and a more than 30 percent raise at the lower chamber, according to a state statistics service report.
The highest-paying jobs in the Russian government system — those at the presidential administration and in the Cabinet support staff — earned their holders an average monthly salary of 217,179 rubles ($2,966) at the Kremlin, and 231,757 rubles ($3,165) at the Cabinet, but both groups showed an approximate decline of 7 percent from 2014, according to the statistics service Rosstat report.
The average monthly salary in Russia stood at 32,176 rubles in mid-2015, but seven out of 10 employees earned less than that amount, according to Rosstat reports published in 2015.
The greatest wage increases were reported at the Federation Council, or the upper chamber of parliament, where the average pay reached 173,933 rubles per month last year, a more than 42 percent increase from 2014.
At the State Duma lower chamber, the average wage reached 136,975 rubles, or nearly a 31 percent increase from 2014, according to Rosstat data.
Russian Foreign Ministry salaries increased on average by nearly 30 percent, reaching 148,231 rubles.
At the opposite end of the spectrum, Russia's Investigative Committee saw its average salary shrink to 47,010 rubles a month, a 57 percent decline from 2014, while the Ministry for North Caucasus Affairs saw the average wage decline to 95,100 rubles per month, marking a 55 percent decrease, Rosstat reported.
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