Russian businesspeople contributed nearly $4.7 billion to the budget
Following Vladimir Putin’s call for “voluntary” contributions to the state treasury, major Russian business leaders transferred nearly 400 billion rubles—or about $4.7 billion—to the federal budget.
As of mid-August, the amount of non-refundable contributions from non-governmental organizations stood at 383.69 billion rubles. Even before Putin’s meeting with representatives of big business in March, this amount was significantly lower—only 15.6 billion rubles. Following the Russian president’s appeal, business leaders sharply increased their transfers to the budget.
Within the following month, the volume of such contributions had increased roughly tenfold—to 159.7 billion rubles. In May, the amount increased by another 45.5 percent, in June by 27 percent, and in July and the first half of August by approximately 30 percent.
Alexander Shokhin, head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, acknowledged that Russian businesses are indeed helping the state budget. At the same time, he emphasized that these transfers are officially voluntary and do not involve fixed amounts set for companies. According to Russian media reports, the government expects to receive about 300 billion rubles in such contributions from businesses by the end of the year.
According to Shokhin, entrepreneurs could transfer funds not only from corporate accounts but also from family trusts. He also opposed the idea that voluntary payments should be accompanied by an additional tax burden on companies.
The issue of these contributions was discussed against the backdrop of a rapid increase in Russia’s federal budget deficit. From January through July, it reached 6.455 trillion rubles. This is 1.4 times more than during the same period last year and nearly double the deficit of 3.786 trillion rubles projected for all of 2026.
At the same time, a significant portion of Russia’s government spending is directed toward the war against Ukraine. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, the Russian budget has already spent approximately 50 trillion rubles on military needs.
To finance the military and defense production, the Kremlin has drawn on reserves from the National Welfare Fund, introduced new duties, and raised taxes. In addition, Russian authorities have confiscated private assets worth approximately 4 trillion rubles. In 2025, Russia raised taxes on the profits and incomes of wealthy citizens, and in 2026, it increased the VAT and the tax burden on small businesses.
This is reported by Russian propaganda media.
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