Paul Goble
Staunton, Aug. 27 – In what is likely a countrywide trend, the Kemerovo Oblast in southwestern Siberia has cut the regional budget for the support of the two numerically small Turkic nations who live on its territory, the 2800 Shors and the 2500 Teleuts, for the third year in a row.
This trend is not something Moscow wants to advertise or that the regional government in Kemerovo is even prepared to explain, given the fact that it contradicts the region’s plan for the development of these two peoples. But alongside other budgetary cuts for the population as a whole, it is certainly hurting these two small nations ( indigenous-russia.com/archives/49850).
According to the Indigenous Peoples of Russia portal, Kemerovo allocated 19 million rubles for the support of the two minorities in 2024 but is providing only 16 million now. These funds are supported to help preserve traditional ways of life, develop infrastructure in remote settlements, provide medical care and education, and support research on these nations.
Given that these figures have not been adjusted for inflation, the real cuts in support for these minorities are likely to be much larger, something that will make it ever more difficult for the Shots and Teleuts to survive given the multiplicity of tasks this small amount of funds is supposed to support.
There is every reason to belief that most of the federal subjects are doing the same thing even though no details are available, given their deficit financing and need to reduce spending so that taxes from them can support Putin’s war in Ukraine.
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