Residents of Russia’s Primorsky Krai warned of delays in social benefits as war strains regional budget

Residents of Russia's Primorsky Krai have been warned of potential delays in receiving social benefits due to the strain on the regional budget caused by the ongoing war. According to a statement from the regional Labor Ministry, social payments in the krai may be temporarily delayed as the ministry operates under increased strain to address nationwide tasks connected to the special military operation.

The ministry acknowledged the importance of timely social support for residents of the krai and expressed understanding for the concerns of those waiting for their funds to be transferred. However, the ministry stated that funding for certain social support measures is being disbursed in stages, leading to potential delays in payment transfers.

Similar issues have been reported in other regions of Russia, where authorities have implemented cost-cutting measures to address budget deficits. In the Irkutsk region, authorities plan to cut about 37% of the staff at the district administration and public-sector institutions, with night watchmen at schools, kindergartens, and community centers being the first to be let go.

The staff cuts come amid problems with the region's budget, with the Irkutsk region legislature increasing the budget deficit to 38.7 billion rubles in October, about 15% of the region's own revenues. Irkutsk Governor Igor Kobzev attributed the increase to the need to fund socially significant spending.

Other regions have also implemented measures to address budget deficits, including the Rostov region, where authorities declined to raise public-sector workers' pay by 4%, and the Sakhalin region, where authorities froze pay indexation for medical workers, citing that their salaries had outpaced inflation in previous years.

At Meduza, we are committed to transparency about our use of artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The story you're reading was written by one of our living, breathing journalists and translated from Russian using an AI model configured to follow our strict editorial standards.