The minimum wage in Russia will be further indexed in 2024.

On Tuesday, February 21, President Vladimir Putin made such an initiative in his address to the Federal Assembly.

As the head of state recalled, in 2022 the minimum wage was increased twice - by a total of almost 20%, and from January 1, 2023, the amount increased by another 6.3% (to 16,242 rubles).

In the future, the authorities are going to further increase the indicator, and at a rate higher than inflation, the Russian leader stressed.

“I propose from January 1 next year, in addition to the planned increase, to carry out another one, by an additional 10%.

Thus, the minimum wage will increase by 18.5% and amount to 19,242 rubles,” Putin said.

According to him, the government and the regions today are faced with the task of ensuring a tangible increase in the real wages of citizens.

In this context, the minimum wage remains an important indicator, the president added.

Note that the minimum wage sets the minimum wage that a full-time employee can receive.

In addition, the indicator is used to calculate benefits for temporary disability, as well as for pregnancy and childbirth.

The planned indexation will affect at least 7 million Russians, Svetlana Bessarab, a member of the State Duma Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans Affairs, said in a conversation with RT.

“The increase in the minimum wage will lead to a natural increase in wages in the real sector of the economy.

At the same time, the initiative will have a positive impact on the size of benefits and social payments, which will give impetus to the growth of consumer activity,” the deputy added.

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At the same time, from March 1, 2023, benefits, pensions and other forms of social support will be accrued to residents of new regions in accordance with all-Russian norms.

In addition to this, the families living there will begin to receive materkapital, Vladimir Putin said.

“I propose to provide maternity capital in the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions to families in which children were born since 2007, that is, from the moment this program began to operate throughout Russia.

Let me remind you that we made the same decision at one time for the residents of Crimea and Sevastopol, ”the president said.

As the head of state noted, since February 1, the size of the mother's capital has been indexed by 11.9%, taking into account actual inflation for 2022.

As a result, 586.9 thousand rubles are now allocated for the first child, and 775.6 thousand rubles for the second, if the family did not receive a certificate before his birth.

If earlier parents were already credited with money for the first child, then when a second child appears, they are paid extra 188.7 thousand rubles.

The funds of the mother capital cannot be cashed out, but it is allowed to spend for several purposes.

In particular, the family can allocate money to improve living conditions, arrange monthly payments for children under three years of age, form a funded pension for the mother, receive education for the child, purchase goods and services for social adaptation and integration of children with disabilities into society.

“That is, now residents of the new regions will receive exactly the same support in terms of maternity capital that all other Russians have received since the start of the program in 2007.

Most importantly, mother capital will also be indexed annually, taking into account the growth in consumer prices,” said Svetlana Bessarab.

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In addition, as part of supporting families with children, Vladimir Putin proposed increasing the amount of the social tax deduction for spending on a child’s education from 50,000 to 110,000 rubles a year, and for personal education and medical expenses from 120,000 to 150,000. rubles.

As the president explained, the state will return 13% of these increased amounts to citizens in the form of income tax paid by them.

“Starting last year, families with two or more children are exempt from paying home sales tax if they decide to purchase a new, larger apartment or house.

We need to use such tools more actively, they turned out to be in demand so that there are more funds in family budgets, and families can solve the most important, pressing problems, ”Putin explained.

During his speech, the President also stated the need to create all conditions for citizens to have the opportunity to invest and earn money within the country.

In this regard, the head of state called for ensuring the safety of Russians' investments in voluntary pension savings, by analogy with the bank deposit insurance system.

“Such deposits of citizens in the amount of up to 1.4 million rubles are insured by the state, and their return is guaranteed.

For voluntary pension savings, I propose to set twice the amount - up to 2.8 million rubles," the Russian leader said.

The initiative may be in demand among citizens, Svetlana Bessarab is sure.

In her opinion, such an innovation will restore confidence in the system of voluntary pension insurance, which many today are doubtful about.

“As a result, Russians will not invest money in financial and credit organizations or unreliable investment instruments, but will start saving more for retirement, knowing that the amount is fireproof.

Thus, more people will decide to take care of their old age and start building savings,” the deputy added.

Help for the military

Vladimir Putin also proposed the creation of a special state fund to help veterans and the families of the deceased participants in the NWO.

The initiative should start working already in 2023 and will allow coordinating the provision of social, medical and psychological support, solving issues of sanatorium treatment and rehabilitation, helping in the areas of education, sports, employment, entrepreneurship, with advanced training and obtaining a new profession.

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A separate task of the foundation will be the organization of long-term home care and high-tech prosthetics for everyone who needs it.

According to the president, the procedure for providing assistance will be simple - to act on the principle of one window, "without treasury and bureaucracy."

At the same time, each family will be assigned its own personal coordinator, who will help in resolving emerging issues.

“Our duty is to support families who have lost their relatives, loved ones, help them raise, raise their children, give them an education, a profession.

The family of each participant in a special military operation should be in the zone of constant attention, surrounded by care and honor.

Their needs must be responded to immediately, without red tape,” Putin stressed.

In addition, the Russian leader proposed to establish for all participants in the special operation a vacation of at least 14 days every six months, excluding travel time.

Along with this, the head of state instructed to provide additional support to employees of the country's military-industrial complex.

“I propose launching a special program of preferential rental housing for employees of defense industry enterprises.

The rental rate for them will be significantly lower than the market rate, since the state will assume a significant part of the housing fee ... I instruct to work out all the details of this program and, without delay, start building such rental housing, ”Putin said.

According to Svetlana Bessarab, all the state's social obligations to citizens, including military personnel, and the president's new instructions have already been calculated in detail by the government's financial bloc.

Thus, the funds in the budget for the designated purposes are reserved and will be allocated in full.

“As for the creation of a special fund, it is necessary that veterans and relatives of the military do not experience inconvenience.

Assigning an employee to each such family is necessary, first of all, for the employees themselves, so that they understand the circle of their wards, resolve issues related to treatment, education of children and other everyday issues as soon as possible, ”added the deputy.

In turn, the program of preferential rental housing for defense industry employees should have a positive impact on the industry, as it will increase work mobility.

Georgy Ostapkovich, director of the Center for Market Research at the Institute for Statistical Research and the Economics of Knowledge at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, shared this opinion in an interview with RT.

“For people, social rent at affordable prices is important.

This should motivate citizens to work, and they will be more willing to move for a good job.

Also, the employee will not think about how it is cheaper for him to rent a house, but will concentrate more on work, which will increase labor productivity, ”the economist explained.

Better than predicted

Vladimir Putin paid special attention to the general situation in the economy.

According to the president, the West, through sanctions, has tried to crash the ruble, provoke devastating inflation, sever ties with Russian companies, and deprive the country of access to financial communications channels and export markets in order to hit incomes.

Ultimately, these plans failed, the head of state stressed.

So, if back in the spring of 2022, a number of experts predicted a collapse of the Russian economy by 20-25% by the end of the year, then the real decline was only 2.1%, Putin noted.

At the same time, unemployment dropped to 3.7% for the first time in history, and inflation should slow down to 4-5% in the coming months, the president added.

“The Russian economy and management system turned out to be much stronger than the West believed.

Thanks to the joint work of the government, parliament, the Bank of Russia, the constituent entities of the Federation and, of course, the business community, labor collectives, we ensured the stability of the economic situation, protected citizens, saved jobs, prevented a shortage in the market, including essential goods, supported the financial system, entrepreneurs,” Putin said.

At the same time, he said, the initiators of the sanctions punished themselves, as anti-Russian restrictions provoked an energy crisis in the West, job losses, plant closures and rising prices.

Thus, in some EU countries, inflation today exceeds 12, 17 and even 20%, the head of state noted.

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Russian business, meanwhile, has managed to rebuild logistics and strengthen ties with more responsible and predictable partners, the president added.

Against this background, in 2022, the share of the ruble in the international settlements of the Russian Federation doubled and amounted to one third, and transactions in national currencies with friendly countries now account for more than half of all transactions.

According to Georgy Ostapkovich, the restrictions of Western countries have accelerated the process of de-dollarization in Russia, since against the backdrop of a partial blocking of the gold and foreign exchange reserves of the Russian Federation by unfriendly countries, settlements in dollars and euros have become dangerous.

“If we talk about the impact of sanctions on the economy as a whole, then due to the actions of the authorities, it was possible to prevent a financial and currency crisis, as well as to stimulate business.

Entrepreneurs received preferential loans, which helped them to stay afloat, and were also able to quickly adapt to new conditions.

Plus, there were high prices for raw materials, the budget received good income from the sale of oil and gas, which helped us to adapt.

Also, the work of the defense industry had a positive impact on the GDP,” Ostapkovich noted.

business approach

Under the circumstances, Vladimir Putin instructed the government to introduce additional measures to accelerate the deoffshorization of the economy.

As the head of state emphasized, businesses in key sectors and industries should operate in Russian jurisdiction and invest in their country.

At the same time, in order to support entrepreneurs, the president proposed decriminalizing a number of norms of the Criminal Code on the economic elements of crimes.

“Of course, the state must control what is happening in this area, permissiveness cannot be allowed here, but there is no need to go too far either.

It is necessary to move more actively towards this decriminalization, which I spoke about.

I hope that the government, together with the parliament, law enforcement agencies, and business associations, will consistently and thoroughly carry out this work,” Putin said.

It is noteworthy that today a number of companies have already begun to transfer their business to the so-called Russian offshores.

We are talking about special territories where attractive tax conditions and other incentives for the operation of enterprises have been created.

This was told to RT by the president of the all-Russian public organization of small and medium-sized businesses "Support of Russia" Alexander Kalinin.

“At one time, many businessmen exported assets abroad, and now all this is seized by the Western authorities.

Unfriendly countries will continue to impose sanctions, so it will be more and more difficult for Russian companies to conduct normal business in the West, so the authorities are urging them to invest in Russia.

As for the Criminal Code, some of our proposals were heard by the authorities, but there is still room for work.

Further easing and the return of business will allow the economy to recover faster from sanctions losses,” Kalinin concluded.