What are the consequences of raising the minimum wage to the subsistence level? In Russia, the minimum wage is equal to the subsistence level

The minimum wage from May 1, 2018 is equal to the subsistence minimum for the working population in the second quarter of last year, and now amounts to 11,163 rubles. The decision to gradually increase the “minimum wage” to the “subsistence wage” was made last year.

From January 1, 2018, the minimum wage increased to 9,489 rubles, which amounted to 80% of the subsistence level. It was supposed to reach one hundred percent on January 1 next year, but the president decided that there was no point in delaying this.

“We have the opportunity to equalize the minimum wage and the cost of living from May 1 of this year, we will do this,” the president said at a meeting with workers of the Tver Carriage Plant.

According to the Minister of Labor and Social Protection Maxim Topilin, the May increase in the minimum wage may affect about 3 million Russians, of which 1.6 million are employed in state and municipal institutions.

“When we considered increasing the minimum wage from May 1, explanatory note we were talking about 5 million citizens, and the absolute majority of these citizens work in the public sector,” said the head of the committee on labor, social protection and veterans’ affairs Yaroslav.

According to State Duma deputy Mikhail Shchapov, there are serious disagreements between the regions and the Ministry of Finance on the number of state employees who need to increase the minimum wage. “Regions give quantities on average 15-20% more than calculated. For now, the Ministry of Finance promises to synchronize the lists,” Gazeta.Ru’s interlocutor cited the data.

Yaroslav Nilov is skeptical about the Central Bank’s forecasts, “especially after statements about the existence of the Olivier index and the herring under a fur coat index.”

“Firstly, we don’t know what the situation will be like in the country and in the world by the end of 2018. We see how our national currency collapses sharply over the course of a month against the dollar and euro, and how the financial markets are in a fever. What will happen next in the economy? How will external sanctions affect it and the purchasing power of the population? No one can say for sure,” the head of the State Duma Labor Committee expressed his opinion.

According to Mikhail Shchapov, the increase in the minimum wage in the regions may turn out to be significantly more than 2 thousand rubles. Subjects have their own minimum wage and subsistence level, which are often higher than federal indicators.

“The Constitutional Court quite rightly ordered that regional allowances be taken into account when increasing the minimum wage. For example, in my Irkutsk region, taking into account regional allowances, from May the minimum wage should be equal to 17,860 rubles in the southern territories, and taking into account the northern coefficients - 27,907,” the deputy noted.

The regions will decide independently whether to equalize their minimum wage and subsistence level or not. In any case, from May 1, the salary cannot be lower than 11,163 rubles. True, in parliamentary circles they call it “meager subsistence.” According to Nilov, the family cannot live on this money, especially if there are children.

"This is not enough. There are territories in Russia where utility bills amount to 7-8 thousand rubles. You can’t live on the remaining 2-3 thousand rubles,” Shchapov agreed.

Nilov drew attention to the fact that the amount of the new minimum wage is subject to income tax of 13%. It turns out that the minimum wage is still not equal to living wage.

Even during the discussion of the draft law on increasing the minimum wage, Topilin himself admitted that such a problem exists.

Earlier, the director of the Institute of Social Analysis and Forecasting noted that personal income tax should have been increased to cover the cost of living.

“Or the second option is to introduce a tax rate of zero on the minimum wage. I am more impressed by the second option, that income in the amount of the subsistence minimum is taxed at a zero rate,” the expert said.

Nilov offers two solutions. The first option is to increase the minimum wage with a flat tax scale to the level where even after deduction income tax will correspond to the real cost of living, which deputies estimate at 20 thousand rubles. However, earlier the prime minister, in response to this proposal, said that there was no money for this in the budget. The second option is to introduce a progressive personal income tax scale, within which a tax-free minimum should be established, for example, one and a half minimum wages.

With the increase in the minimum wage, according to deputy Shchapov, another serious problem has appeared. In some cases, the salaries of low-skilled specialists have actually become equal to those of highly-skilled specialists.

“This seriously demotivates the latter. People don’t understand why they should work in more responsible positions, with a greater workload, and at the same time receive a salary at the level of a technician or a cleaner,” said the interlocutor of Gazeta.Ru.

In his opinion, the question of a proportional increase in salaries for all public sector employees is already being raised. According to the most conservative estimates, this will require approximately 10 times more than what was initially allocated for increasing the minimum wage - about 400-500 billion rubles.

MOSCOW, May 1 – RIA Novosti. In Russia, from the first of May the level minimum size For the first time, wages will be equal to the subsistence minimum of 11,163 rubles.

As the head previously stated Russian government Dmitry Medvedev, this will affect millions of people, including public sector workers.

According to the prime minister, more than 16 billion rubles are allocated for this from the government’s reserve fund in addition to the 20 billion distributed in March.

In addition to salaries, this will affect the payment of maternity leave and childcare benefits for children up to one and a half years old for working citizens, as well as payment for sick leave.

However we're talking about only about minimum payments.

How it works?

Maximum size maternity payments from the first of May will not change, since it is tied to the maximum base for contributions to the Social Insurance Fund, approved annually by the government.

Child care benefits up to one and a half years old are calculated in the same way. However, unlike maternity leave, not the full amount of the average salary is paid, but 40 percent of it.

The amount of the minimum wage affects only the minimum benefit and only if an employed citizen receives it - then the amount of the payment is 40 percent of the minimum wage. If the recipient of the benefit is unemployed or an individual entrepreneur, then the basic amount of the benefit is used, which will not change with an increase in the minimum wage.

The amount of disability benefits ranges from 60 to 100 percent of average earnings and depends on the employee’s length of service. The maximum payment amount is calculated based on the maximum value of the base for the Social Insurance Fund for the previous two years and does not depend on the minimum wage. And the minimum is based on the minimum wage in force at the time the hospital opened. The minimum amount is paid if billing period the employee had no income or the average income was less than 24 times the minimum wage.

"An extremely important decision"

Earlier, the State Duma explained how the new measure would affect the situation in the country.

According to the first deputy leader of the faction " United Russia"Andrey Isaev, raising the minimum wage to a living wage will help improve the lives of millions of working Russians.

“Bringing the minimum wage to the subsistence level is an extremely important decision aimed at improving the lives of millions of working citizens and decriminalizing the domestic economy,” the politician said.

The idea of ​​increasing the minimum wage was also commented on in the Federation Council. Thus, Senator Valery Ryazansky called the president’s initiative an important decision. The living wage should include not only food and basic necessities, but also household services, as well as the services of cultural facilities, he added.

“Here it is important to monitor the price order, the food group of goods, industrial, services. A person cannot live guided only by the minimum consumer basket,” Ryazansky concluded.

Not the only way

In turn, Dmitry Medvedev noted that increasing the minimum wage is not the only way to solve the problem of poverty.

"I consider poverty the most difficult and glaring problem modern Russia <…>The steps must be comprehensive - it is impossible to solve this issue only by increasing the minimum wage, no matter how much we would like it. Not to mention the fact that there is currently no money in the budget to increase the minimum wage,” the prime minister emphasized.

He also added that the Russian authorities have been dealing with the issue of poverty since the early 2000s, when about 30 million people were classified as poor. Now, according to Medvedev, given the crisis, there are 20 million poor people in the country.

Ahead of schedule

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a document providing for an increase in the minimum wage to the subsistence level from January 1, 2019.

Later, the Russian leader said that the authorities have the opportunity to equalize these two indicators by May 1, 2018. This decision will affect four million citizens, Putin clarified.

Disputes about the possibility of increasing the minimum wage have been going on for 25 years.

ministers to equalize the minimum wage and the cost of living by the beginning of 2019.

“I ask the government to submit appropriate proposals to the State Duma along with the draft federal budget for the next three years,” Putin said. With the corresponding instructions to the heads of the ministries of labor, finance and economic development back on May 2, head of government Dmitry Medvedev. The prime minister then called bringing the minimum wage to the level of the subsistence level a task for the next few years.

Based on the results of the first quarter of 2017, the average cost of living was determined by the Russian government at 9,909 rubles, and the cost of living for the working population was 10,701 rubles. Based on the results of the second quarter, the cost of living for the working population is expected to be increased to 11,163 rubles. (it is this amount that should make up 85% of the minimum wage in 2018).

Earlier, Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets said that it is “virtually impossible” to live on the minimum officially established in Russia.

But so far, not everyone in Russia receives even a salary equal to the subsistence minimum. In March 2017, Golodets estimated the number of Russians receiving salaries at the minimum wage level (at that time it was 7.5 thousand rubles, from July 1, 2017 it was increased to 7.8 thousand rubles) at almost 5 million people.

“We don’t have the qualifications that are worthy of such a salary - 7.5 thousand rubles. Even if a person has just graduated from educational school, his work should be assessed at a slightly different level,” said Golodets, poverty of the working population is a unique phenomenon in the social sphere.

According to Rosstat, in the first quarter of 2017, 22 million people, or 15% of the country’s population, had incomes below the subsistence level in Russia.

The minimum wage is established simultaneously throughout the country and cannot be lower than the subsistence level of the working population. This norm has been in effect since February 1, 2002, but the Russian authorities have not been able to equalize these two values ​​for 15 years.

Salaries in Russia should not be lower than the minimum wage, currently it is 7,800 rubles. This amount may include salary, bonuses and compensation. The employer withholds income tax from this amount individuals(personal income tax) at a rate of 13%, so that in fact the employee may be paid a smaller amount. An employee can receive less than the minimum wage if he works part-time or part-time.

Also, the minimum wage in some cases is used to calculate the amount of benefits for temporary disability and pregnancy, for example, for those workers whose work experience does not exceed six months or whose average earnings for the previous two years are below the minimum wage. In addition, the individual entrepreneur’s contribution to pension and health insurance depends on the size of the minimum wage: it is directly proportional to the minimum wage.

Total budget expenditures on increasing the minimum wage in 2018 will amount to 26.2 billion rubles, and in 2019 - 43.9 billion rubles. This was announced by Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Protection Lyubov Yeltsova at a meeting of the Russian Tripartite Commission for the Regulation of Social and Labor Relations, writes TASS. At the same time, 7.2 billion and 12 billion rubles will be allocated from the federal budget. respectively.

“The additional need in the real sector of the economy, according to the Ministry of Labor, will amount to 17.1 billion rubles in 2018. and in 2019 - 28.8 billion rubles,” she noted. According to Eltsova, a third budget expenditures will return to budget system in the form of payment of insurance premiums and income tax from individuals.

Vice-Rector of the Academy of Labor and social relations Alexander Safonov believes that not a third, but even more - 43% will return to the budget, since in Russia all categories of workers pay taxes, regardless of whether their earnings reach the minimum wage level.​

Controversial techniques

The cost of living in general and for the constituent entities of Russia is determined quarterly on the basis of the consumer basket. Since 2000, the cost of living has been determined on average per capita, as well as for three socio-demographic groups of the population (working-age population, pensioners, children) and is established by the government.

The consumer basket includes a minimum set of food products, as well as non-food goods and services, the cost of which is determined in relation to the cost of the minimum set of food products necessary to maintain human health and ensure his life.

This technique has been controversial since the time Soviet Union and differs from the global one, notes Safonov. The living wage in other countries is considered a sociological method: the income level of those families whose more than 50% of their income goes to food is taken as a basis. “For us, this equipment is expensive and primarily affects the government’s social obligations. Moreover, both federal and regional, because the minimum wage is the calculation base for salaries for state employees, and there are 14 million of them in our country. In order to maintain differentiation in wages between low-skilled workers and highly qualified ones, the authorities will still have to find additional money for wage indexation,” the expert believes.

It is also important how exactly Rosstat will calculate the cost of living in 2018. Rosstat always comes to our aid in difficult cases. Despite the current methodology, Rosstat has technical capabilities in order to take into account one group of food products - a cheaper one - in the consumer basket instead of another, Safonov notes. Such recalculations are possible if the economic situation becomes more difficult and there is not enough money in the budget.

Making important social decisions during the pre-election period is not uncommon, the expert admits: “At this time, those obligations that have not been implemented for a long time always begin to be fulfilled. And the minimum wage is the most painful issue that has not been resolved for 27 years since its formation Russian Federation" In the modern history of Russia, the highest minimum wage in relation to the subsistence level was recorded in 2009, at 87%, and then it only decreased.

An increase in the minimum wage will have a greater impact on public sector workers, since commercial enterprises may introduce part-time work, notes Stepan Zemtsov, an expert at the Institute of Applied Economic Research at RANEPA. “If budgetary organizations do not begin to carry out personnel optimization, then potentially an increase in the minimum wage could contribute to an increase in personal income tax collections, and therefore increase budget revenues. But at the same time, some businesses will look for ways to reduce labor costs, so the positive effects for the economy as a whole are not obvious,” he said.

Increasing the minimum wage to the subsistence level will help Russia transition to an innovative economy and increase general level wages, experts say. But in what time frame it will be possible to equalize these indicators, neither experts nor officials know

Head of Government Dmitry Medvedev On May 2, the heads of the ministries of labor, finance and economic development will prepare a draft federal law on increasing the minimum wage (minimum wage) to the subsistence level and submit it to the government. Medvedev already spoke about plans to increase the minimum wage in his April report on the work of the government in the State Duma. Then the head of government recalled that from July 1 this figure will rise to 7,800 rubles, but this is still 27% below the current subsistence level. The Prime Minister called raising the minimum wage to the level of the subsistence level as a task for the next few years.

What has prevented you from doing this in the last 15 years?

The minimum wage is established simultaneously throughout the country and cannot be lower than the subsistence level of the working population. This norm has been in effect since February 1, 2002, but the Russian authorities have not been able to equalize these two values ​​for 15 years.

A paradoxical situation arises when people can earn less than is necessary for existence - to buy food and clothing, points out a professor at the Department of Labor and Social Policy of the Institute civil service and management of RANEPA Alexander Shcherbakov. In essence, he explains, the prime minister’s order is simply a belated implementation of the law.

The reason for the 15-year gap between the minimum wage and the subsistence level lies in the confrontation between the social and financial-economic blocs, says Yaroslav Nilov (LDPR), Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans Affairs. “The financial bloc is always interested in saving and cutting funds.<…>Indeed, for 15 years the law has been violated, which is bad not only from a legal point of view, but also from a moral point of view. However, everything is decided by political will. As we saw with the example of a lump sum payment to pensioners, with the strong will of the president, the money is immediately available,” he told RBC. At the same time, it is unclear where the government will propose to get funds to equalize the minimum wage and the subsistence level, Nilov notes. “If this money is taken from cuts in other social obligations, then more may suffer more people, than now. If other reserves are found, that’s good, but we need to see how it all ends. In this situation, additional sources of funding are needed,” the deputy admits.

Common denominator: the minimum wage will be equal to the subsistence level

(Video: RBC)

When might this happen?

The time frame within which it is necessary to bring the minimum wage and subsistence level to a single indicator is also unclear. The prime minister’s instructions only indicate the deadline for preparing the project - May 20, but Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets admitted on May 2 that there is no single position on this issue. “There are representatives of workers and there are representatives of employers who participate in this discussion, their positions do not coincide. We have a short period of time to bring their positions to a common denominator,” she said.

The three departments responsible for carrying out the prime minister’s instructions were unable to answer the question about the timing of the start of the law. The Ministry of Economic Development forwarded all questions related to the development of the bill to the Ministry of Labor. The Ministry of Labor told RBC that they are not yet ready to voice their position. The Ministry of Finance did not respond to RBC's request.

The head of the Ministry of Labor, Maxim Topilin, previously said that his department proposed to agree at the federal level with all partners on a clear line of equalizing the minimum wage and the subsistence level. “Suppose, from July 1, 2018, the ratio should be 80%, from July 1, 2019 - 90%, from July 1, 2020 - 100%,” he said. According to Topilin, this topic was discussed with the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry of Finance; there are no fundamental disagreements with federal departments. “Unless the Ministry of Finance can say: let’s move the equalization schedule a little. And employers may ask for equalization, for example, not by 2021, but by 2022,” Topilin said. Now, according to the Ministry of Labor, the minimum wage is 70% of the subsistence level.

Maxim Topilin (Photo: Vladislav Shatilo / RBC)

Who benefits from equalizing the minimum wage and the cost of living?

By raising the minimum wage to the subsistence level, the budget, the economy, and workers will benefit, says Alexander Safonov, vice-rector of the Academy of Labor and Social Relations. If you follow economic logic, he explains, then a person with a salary below the subsistence level cannot be financially independent: he will not have enough money for food or clothing. Therefore, the state allocates subsidies for such workers, and this is additional budget expenses. “Increasing the minimum wage means increasing the level of economic independence of citizens. The second is to reduce government spending on social programs by reducing the number of people who previously could qualify for this assistance, receiving a salary below the subsistence level. The third point is the legalization of company expenses on wages. Fourth - increasing income off-budget funds, because their income depends not only on tariffs [insurance premiums], but also on the size of the wage fund,” lists Safonov. If these relations are legalized, the budget revenue base in terms of personal income tax will also increase.

Everyone will benefit from raising the minimum wage, agrees Shcherbakov from RANEPA: in a favorable course of events, this will mean a nominal, albeit small, increase in wages in general, because the level of the average wage and many benefits indirectly depend on the level of the minimum wage.

Russia has a low level of labor productivity, which is compensated by low wages. But stimulating the economy by supporting inefficient jobs is a macroeconomic risk, Safonov points out, and the Russian labor market has already experienced a sharp increase in the minimum wage without any problems. “There was a story in 2005: then the minimum wage was raised more than three times in three years - from 800 to 2,500 rubles. During this time, unemployment did not increase, but, on the contrary, decreased,” says Safonov.

Why else is the minimum wage important for citizens?

Salaries in Russia should not be lower than the minimum wage, currently it is 7,500 rubles. per month, from July 1 - 7800 rub. This amount may include salary, bonuses and compensation. From this amount, the employer withholds personal income tax (NDFL) at a rate of 13%, so that in fact the employee may be paid a smaller amount. An employee can receive less than the minimum wage if he works part-time or part-time.

Also, the minimum wage in some cases is used to calculate the amount of benefits for temporary disability and pregnancy, for example, for those workers whose work experience does not exceed six months or whose average earnings for the previous two years are below the minimum wage.

Increasing the minimum wage may lead to an increase in the workload individual entrepreneurs. Now the individual entrepreneur’s contribution to pension and health insurance depends on the size of the minimum wage: it is directly proportional to the size of the minimum wage. Ministry of Economic Development in April from linking individual entrepreneurs’ contributions to minimum wage and calculate them based on a fixed amount, annually indexed for inflation. According to the department, eliminating the minimum wage from the formula for calculating contributions will make the burden on them more predictable and will avoid its sharp jumps.

An actual increase in the minimum wage may not occur, it will be nominal, admits Vasily Koltashov, head of the Center for Economic Research at the Institute of Globalization and Social Movements. “This measure has been necessary for a long time, it is correct. But will this lead to a real increase in wages in Russia? The minimum wage may be increased, but most people will be transferred to half the rate. This is a famous trick. Accordingly, people’s salaries will remain the same,” the expert believes (quote from Prime).

Increasing the minimum wage and bringing it to the subsistence level will contribute to the transition to a high-tech economy and increased wages, Safonov believes. “Cheap labor is our scourge, as is oil dependence. In Russia, we are traditionally hostages of the situation; we compensate for the low efficiency of our workforce with low wages,” he believes. It is impossible to move to an innovative economy using cheap labor and unskilled personnel, the expert is sure. And an increase in wages will increase labor costs, the employer will strive to increase its productivity, and therefore look for more highly paid and qualified workers.

What loopholes are there for lowering the cost of living?

The Russian method of calculating the cost of living differs from the world, says Safonov: in European countries Those families that spend more than 50% of their total expenses on food are considered poor. “Our living wage is calculated using a normative-statistical method, that is, a matrix of calorie consumption by a person of different gender and age is built, then it is broken down into fats, proteins and carbohydrates, into microelements that a person must receive to survive. Then groups of products are looked for that meet this task - to gain the necessary calories and the required amount of microelements,” he explains.

Photo: Sergey Nikolaev / Interpress / TASS

The methodology for calculating the cost of living was developed back in the USSR, explains Safonov. Then they relied not only on the capabilities of the budget, but also on the economy—whether the country could produce as many goods as it needed to consume. “We understood that meat is for healthy eating there should be more. But the economy did not provide such a quantity of meat, so to the maximum extent there was bread, potatoes, cereals - everything that was cheap relative to other goods,” says the expert.

The composition of the food basket can be made cheaper by including another group of goods, cheaper, he explains: for example, if you reduce the annual consumption of meat and increase cabbage, the cost of living will decrease. This, for example, can be explained in the fourth quarter of 2016: by April government order it was set at 10,466 rubles. for the working-age population - 2% less than in the previous quarter.

Should the cost of living be the same everywhere?

The living wage in Russia is quite modest, says Nikolai Kalmykov, director of the RANEPA expert and analytical center, and it is necessary to increase the minimum wage not only gradually, but also taking into account regional specifics. “The cost of living is different everywhere, ​and very different, and the question here is rather how to do it correctly so that there are no unnecessary budget expenses, on the one hand, and on the other hand, so that this measure does not put pressure on business. Business must be able to adapt to changes,” reflects Kalmykov.

The head of the Ministry of Labor, Maxim Topilin, previously told RBC that his department had prepared proposals for regionalizing the minimum wage. “It is irrational to establish a minimum wage equal to the federal subsistence minimum, because the subsistence minimum in each region is different. In Ingushetia or the Bryansk region it is 8-9 thousand rubles. per month, and in Chukotka - 18 thousand,” Topilin explained the department’s position. According to the Ministry of Labor, a minimum wage at the level of the subsistence level on average in the country will lead to the fact that in a number of regions the cost of labor will be overestimated. “We must make the minimum wage de facto regional; it must be equal to the subsistence level in each specific region,” Topilin said.

The government abandoned the idea of ​​regionalizing the minimum wage, Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets said on May 2. The bill that will be developed in the Cabinet of Ministers will deal with the federal minimum wage and the federal subsistence level. “We are only talking about the minimum wage in terms of today’s legislation. that is, this is a single federal cost of living,” said Golodets (quoted by

Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the economic situation in the country with members of the government. During the meeting, the head of state announced the need to gradually equalize the minimum wage (minimum wage) with the subsistence level. According to Vladimir Putin, from January 1, 2018, the minimum wage should be 85% of the subsistence level, and no later than January 1, 2019, it should become equal to it.

Today, the minimum wage is 7.8 thousand rubles, and the living wage approved by the Cabinet of Ministers for the working population is 10,701 rubles.

During the meeting, Vladimir Putin recalled that he had previously discussed the topic of increasing the minimum wage with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

We need to solve a fundamental problem and overcome a situation where the minimum possible wage does not even cover the basic expenses of citizens,” the president said. - I understand the entire internal discussion that is going on in the government, I understand my colleagues who defend different points of view, because such steps lead to serious additional costs for the state, and, in fact, for business.

Minister of Social Development Maxim Topilin said that it may be possible to increase the minimum wage this year - as part of the formation of a new budget. The President called for focusing on budget opportunities and making changes to legislation as quickly as possible.

I propose, at least from January 1, 2018, to increase the minimum wage from the current 71–72% of the subsistence level of the working-age population to 85%. And no later - and if the government considers it possible, even earlier, but no later than January 1, 2019 - to equate the minimum wage and the subsistence minimum, the head of state proposed, asking the government to submit appropriate proposals to the State Duma along with the draft federal budget for the next three years.

Reporting on the economic situation in the country, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Oreshkin noted that previously both experts and specialists from his department gave rather pessimistic forecasts. However, now we can say that they were not justified.

In the second quarter of this year the economic growth accelerated to a level of 2.5%, and the inflation rate as of the beginning of last week was 3.2%. What has largely exceeded even our expectations is the growth in investment activity. The data shows that growth was 6.3% in the second quarter. This is very positive news, because implemented investment projects today mean more active economic growth tomorrow,” the minister said.

The head of the Ministry of Economic Development emphasized that the growth in income is not related to the oil price situation, but was achieved through an increase in labor productivity. The President noted that real incomes of citizens are recovering quite slowly, and consumer demand is growing at a low rate.

You spoke about the restoration of consumer demand. Meanwhile, retail trade growth has recently amounted to only 0.7%, you should probably know this too,” the president addressed the minister. - Taking into account the exchange rate difference, imports are also growing. Manufacturers of domestic products are already feeling this, it is already visible on the shelves, it is already visible in the way retail chains behave. What do you think would be appropriate to do? What would you recommend as the leading economic department to the entire government, the entire economic bloc? - the president asked.

Maxim Oreshkin responded that, in his opinion, the government is moving in the right direction, implementing a set of measures aimed at supporting investment activity and updating production. The minister considers the main task to be to ensure the competitiveness of Russian enterprises through the introduction of the latest technologies.

The goal, of course, is to remain competitive Russian productions, but I think this should be done not by reducing the real income of the population, but primarily by investing in new equipment, introducing new technologies, digitalizing production, and introducing new management technologies. The measures I spoke about are aimed at this: reducing administrative pressure is very important here, and, of course, predictability in the tariff situation is also an important element,” he said.

Vladimir Putin noted that the Russian economy has emerged from the crisis and is gaining momentum, and in these conditions everything must be done to maintain this momentum.