As The Moscow Times writes, Vladimir Kolokoltsev said at a Federation Council meeting that the Interior Ministry lacks money for employees’ salaries and that he would like regional supplements for police officers, which were in effect until 2012, to be legally enshrined. The minister said: “I would be glad if this were given legislative backing”.
Kolokoltsev described the situation in the ministry as “very serious” and said that the Interior Ministry is “looking for various options” to pass the saved money on to personnel. According to him, the ministry will welcome any support, and the performance of internal affairs bodies depends on the level of funding.
The minister also recalled President Vladimir Putin’s instruction to find additional funds to support police officers and added that regional support now depends on the willingness and capabilities of specific governors. According to him, supplements are being introduced, but not everywhere.
In February 2026, Kolokoltsev reported mass resignations and a shortage of 212,000 employees, citing low pay, heavy workload, and housing problems among the reasons. At the time, he said that a police officer’s salary in the first year of service in Moscow was about 90,000 rubles — almost twice as low as the city average.
In the federal budget for 2027, under the item “National Security and Law Enforcement Activities”, which includes Interior Ministry spending, more than 4.286 trillion rubles is allocated. For 2028, the amount is planned to increase to 4.421 trillion rubles, and for 2029 — to 5.21 trillion rubles; on October 29, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that the 2027 budget includes an additional 23 billion rubles for increasing police pay.
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