Bloomberg: Russia’s military spending in 2026 will reach nearly 17 trillion rubles

Bloomberg, citing two sources close to the government, writes that this concerns a revision of budget expenditures for 2026. According to the publication’s calculations, military spending for the year will amount to about $200 billion, or nearly 17 trillion rubles.

This is 40% higher than the initially budgeted 12.1 trillion rubles. The publication also says that Vladimir Putin increased budget expenditures by $60 billion, which is equivalent to about 5.11 trillion rubles.

The government’s plans for the coming years maintain a high level of spending under the “national defense” item. In the new draft budget for 2027, this item has been increased to 17.1 trillion rubles.

For 2028 and 2029, the authorities have allocated 16.6 trillion and 16.3 trillion rubles, respectively. Bloomberg also writes that the actual defense overspending was covered by domestic borrowing and gold sales.

Against this backdrop, the budget deficit, according to the publication’s estimate, could amount to 7.3 trillion rubles. That is almost twice the calculations from the previous plan.

Sources

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