The Rich Get Richer: Moscow Receives More Federal Subsidies than Any Other Russian Region

Paul Goble

            Staunton, December 24 – Most Russians believe that the chief beneficiaries of transfer payments by the central government are the republics of the North Caucasus where federal subsidies provide in some cases more than 80 percent of the republic budgets, a notion that is regularly promoted by the central media.

            But in fact, according to a study conducted by the editors of the Profile portal, Moscow now receives the most subsidies from the federal government – some 75.3 billion rubles (1.25 billion US dollars) – even though those payments make up only 4.5 percent f the city’s budget (profile.ru/economics/item/113990-moskva-stala-glavnym-regionom-poluchatelem-subsidij-iz-federalnogo-byudzheta-v-2016-godu).

            According to the broader analysis of official statistics from which that conclusion springs (profile.ru/economics/item/113832-lidery-na-dotatsiyakh), that fact reflects the broader reality in which the chief beneficiaries of federal largesse are the northern territories and the two capitals but one in which Russia’s poorest regions have seen the largest increases.