Duma Members Increasingly Support Introduction of Food Stamps Everywhere in Russia

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Dec. 25 – Despite Putin’s constant claims that life is getting better for Russians, statistics show that the percentage of Russians who have trouble paying for basic needs has risen from 35 percent in 2020 to 48 percent this year, a trend that has prompted some Duma members to call for the introduction of food stamps for the poor across the country.
    Anatoly Aksakov, head of the Duma committee on financial markets, is among those doing so. He says that proposals for food stamps have “a sound basis” and should be extended throughout Russia so that ‘people in need’ will ‘under all circumstances know they will be provided with basic products and goods” (ehorussia.com/new/node/32006).
    The idea has gained support following the announcement by Kalinigrad governor Aleksey Bezprozvannykh that he was introducing food stamps in that Russian exclave, a place where transportation difficulties have sent prices up particularly fast and left many without the possibility of buying even basic foodstuffs.