Will military salaries be increased? When will the military pay be indexed?

The government introduced a bill to the State Duma that would suspend the indexation of pay for military personnel in 2017.

This news will affect more than 10% of families in the Russian Federation.

What awaits the military and are there any other payments provided in return for the indexation of allowances?

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All additional payments depend on rank and length of service. They are paid monthly, added to the basic salary. The bonus part is formed by special conditions or the secrecy of the position.

A serviceman may receive additional payments for knowledge of a foreign language and physical training. Bonuses can be received for having a diploma of higher education, impeccable completion of military service, and the absence of emergency situations.

The size of wages is influenced by participation in hostilities and achievements in military service.

In addition, the law provides for the payment of bonuses for conscientious service of no more than three salaries per year. Military personnel can receive financial assistance once a year.

Every year the Government indexed the salaries of military personnel. The amount of indexation was approved upon adoption of the budget. Since 2013, the increase has been frozen; every year it is indicated that this is a temporary freeze, but next year the military will not have to wait for an increase in allowance.

According to the project in 2017 There will be no indexation of military pay. The government explains this by the difficult economic situation, in which the size of the federal budget does not allow increasing wages. The same bill contains information that regions can, at their discretion, increase salaries for officials. But the military receives payment only from the federal budget, so this item cannot affect them.

During his speech with the draft federal law on suspending the indexation of military salaries, the Deputy Minister of Finance explained that this is a temporary measure. Although in previous years it was also considered this way.

The media actively promote service in the Russian army. Military service is prestigious and well paid. Indeed, social guarantees are provided to the military in full. This includes military mortgages, sanatorium and resort treatment, life and health insurance.

Legislation provides for compensation for military personnel. It is paid to a military personnel when moving to a new place of residence. If he transports his family, the payment increases by 25%.

Upon leaving the army For health reasons, military personnel are entitled to a benefit, the amount of which depends on the length of service. If he has served for less than 20 years, two salaries are due; if he has served for more than 20 years, the allowance is seven salaries.

During contract service, a contract soldier may be provided with service housing. If there is no housing stock, then the employee is compensated for the rental of residential premises. The amount is fixed. For large cities it is 15,000 rubles, in districts 3,600. If a military man lives with his family, then the amount increases by 50% of the payment amount.

All these payments and compensations are retained by military personnel in the future. But you shouldn’t expect a wage increase in 2017. In addition, the Government has put forward a proposal to abolish the mandatory indexation of wages.

The proposal was received negatively by many parties. “A Just Russia” called this measure anti-people and unfair. Suspension of indexation of wages for military personnel will lead to an annual reduction of 10-11 percent. The adoption of such a bill can cause drastic negative social consequences.

Increases in other cash payments for military personnel

During the discussion of the issue of indexing military salaries in 2017, a proposal was made about a possible salary increase in February on the inflation rate. But for now this is only an assumption, which, most likely, will not be implemented, since the economic situation in the country does not allow for an increase in salaries. An annual review can be expected no earlier than November 2017, when the budget for the coming year is approved.

Latest news on the issue of salary allowance

The State Duma Committee on Defense did not support the Government’s refusal to withdraw from its obligations to annually index the allowances of military personnel. The negative conclusion was published on November 1 in the Duma draft legislation database.

The government proposed not only to cancel indexation until 2018, but also to remove the social guarantee for the annual indexation of wages for employees serving in the army. During the entire period of validity of the federal law “On monetary allowances for military personnel and provision of individual payments to them,” indexation has not been carried out since 2013. This social guarantee has not been implemented for several years.

The Defense Committee draws the attention of State Duma deputies to the important tasks performed by military personnel. And the decline in their social standard of living is unacceptable.

In introducing changes, the Government proposed from 2018 change the approach to increasing wages officials, judges, military personnel, police. The change concerns the clause that established the annual indexation of salaries in cash in the relevant laws on the activities of these structures. Currently, the law states that salaries should be increased in accordance with the percentage of inflation. It is now proposed to annually consider the possibility of indexing after balancing the budget. Currently, the economic situation in the country does not allow indexation.

During the discussion of the bill, the question was raised that the salaries of judges and military personnel cannot be compared. The satisfaction of the former is much higher than that of military personnel. How can combat readiness be increased in the country if wages in the army remain low?

To the question: “Does our country need a strong and professional army?”, everyone will answer – it does. How will we have it when the morale of the military is reduced to zero due to the lack of an adequate level of pay for service!

For information about the possible negative consequences of refusing indexing behavior, see the following video:

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From the latest news: the salary increase for military personnel in 2017 is planned by 5.5-9%. The amount of salary and the amount of additional allowances depend on the type of service: contract or conscription.

Salaries of military personnel under contract

In 2017, the total salary is based on the salary:

by military rank (from 5,000 to 30,000 rubles);
by position (from 10,000 to 42,000 rubles);
additional payments.

The current salary for a specific position or military rank can be found on the official website of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in the “Money” section.

Salary table by military rank and position

Military rank, position	Salary according to military position	Salary according to military rank	Average monthly accrual including all additional payments
Lieutenant (platoon commander)	7000	12 442	50 000
Captain (company commander)	7 900	13 970	52 000
Major (deputy battalion commander)	8 490	14 760	55 600
Lieutenant Colonel (battalion commander)	9 100	15 529	60 281
Colonel (regiment commander)	9670	17 500	70 320
Major General (Brigade Commander)	10 896	18 630	74 000
Lieutenant General (Army Commander)	11 500	29 354	117 000

Additional payments under the contract calculated as a share percentage of earnings by position.

The amount and grounds are described in Articles 12 and 13 of Federal Law No. 76 “On the status of military personnel” and Federal Law No. 306 “On monetary allowances for military personnel and the provision of individual payments to them”, and can be adjusted through legislative documents signed by the President of the Russian Federation, the government or local authorities.

Receive for:

qualification level;
length of military service;
special working conditions;
gaining access to state secrets;
execution of orders involving danger to life and health in non-war times.
outstanding achievements

Let's decipher each point.

Skill level determines a premium of 5, 10, 20 or 30% depending on the class - third, second, first or master, respectively.

For length of military service paid only after 2 years of service. If the experience is less than 5 years, its size is 10%. Every additional 5 years raises this figure by another 10%, up to a maximum of 40%.

Special working conditions– the largest regular payment. It is calculated specifically based on working conditions. The maximum can be equal to the full official salary.

Gaining access to state secrets- measured based on the access level, the maximum set size is 65%.

Execution of orders involving danger to life and health in non-war times. Let us conditionally divide such orders into 5 groups according to the amount of payments.

Orders paid from 2% for each day, but not more than 60% per month in total:

investigation of criminal cases during a state of emergency, armed conflict or peacekeeping operations;
personal participation in ship voyages; ;
procedural actions in criminal cases in the field; ;
personal participation in events outside the permanent location of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation in accordance with Appendix No. 2 of Order No. 80. ;

20% of current salary for investigations With:

fires;
disasters;
explosions;
accidents;
other natural disasters;
detection, inspection and removal of nuclear fuel elements, waste and other radioactive materials.

30% of salary by military position:

for service in areas of environmental crisis in the Republic of Kazakhstan, Baikonur and at the Baikonur complex;
for the period of investigation of criminal cases related to the examination of corpses, as well as the examination and removal of the remains of corpses or cadaveric material.

40% for working with suspects accused during the investigation criminal cases.

60% for procedural control in criminal cases with organized criminal groups and communities.

In addition to the above, a serviceman receives annual cash assistance equal to his salary.

By call

Military personnel receive a salary according to their military position and a monthly additional allowance of 2,000 rubles. Depending on the region, a fixed amount of reimbursement for transport costs is formed: from 70 to 200 rubles.

Irregular service-related surcharges

In addition to the regular ones described above, there are more rare payments due to the current situation:

to cover expenses associated with business trips: general and daily allowances;
when moving to a new place of work;
upon dismissal: with less than 20 years of experience - 3 salaries, more than 20 years - 7 salaries;
upon dismissal due to injury: upon conscription - 1 million rubles, upon contract - 2 million rubles.

The legendary and invincible Russian army, which has known the joys of victory, feeds the fighting spirit of more than half of Russian citizens, who are confident that a patriotic mood will strengthen the country’s position at the global level. Recently, capital investments have been made in defense, military salaries are increasing, and the attractiveness of the service has increased significantly. The events in Ukraine that unfolded in 2014 also caused a surge of patriotic excitement.

Our army is armed quite well, considering that Russia has the most weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons, of any other country in the world. Such maintenance requires a lot of expenses, which grow by 1.2-2% every year. About a third of the total national budget goes to general military needs. So what are the figures for calculating the current level of military salaries?

What does the salary consist of?

The military salary consists of a salary and various types of additional payments, and there are a number of indicators that influence the minimum level of monetary allowance:

military position held;
personal achievements and merits;
length of service;
duration and conditions of military service;
place and time of passage (peacetime, “hot spot”);
qualifications and assigned tasks;
existing military ranks.

In many post-Soviet countries, it is the list of these main factors that influences the size of military salaries. Additional monetary rewards may be awarded for knowledge of foreign languages, a high level of physical fitness, higher education, absence or competent handling of emergency situations.

By the way, the welfare of people in uniform today is at a decent level. The average salary of Russian military personnel last year was 62,000 rubles, which is 2 times more than a Russian salary.

You can roughly understand the monetary allowance using the table below. Conditionally, because the earnings of each serviceman are influenced by several indicators.

Salary table by military rank and position

Military rank, position	Salary according to military position	Salary according to military rank	Average monthly accrual including all additional payments
Lieutenant (platoon commander)	7000	12 442	50 000
Captain (company commander)	7 900	13 970	52 000
Major (deputy battalion commander)	8 490	14 760	55 600
Lieutenant Colonel (battalion commander)	9 100	15 529	60 281
Colonel (regiment commander)	9670	17 500	70 320
Major General (Brigade Commander)	10 896	18 630	74 000
Lieutenant General (Army Commander)	11 500	29 354	117 000

According to the new law, a lieutenant's salary without additional accruals should be 50,000 rubles, with allowances - 80,000 rubles. To many, these figures will seem quite modest for people with such responsibility on their shoulders - to defend their homeland. But if you consider that until 2012 the average salary of a lieutenant was 14,000, then you can notice a significant improvement in the situation.

What does the future hold?

Every state understands the importance of having a well-equipped and motivated army, increasing its combat effectiveness and the level of professionalism of its employees, as well as the importance of creating good conditions for them. All efforts and resources are urgently being invested in the development of the production of defense equipment in order to replace previously carried out supplies from other states that have applied sanctions to Russia.

Due to the current economic situation, there is no talk of prospects for an increase in military salaries, but despite this, indexation is carried out annually for the level of inflation for soldiers, officers and general personnel.

What salary do military personnel receive in Russia and other countries?

In the USA, the average monthly income of a general is 1.3 million rubles. The maximum salary of a Russian colleague is 200,000 rubles. It turns out that Russia spends up to 140 million rubles a month on its generals, which is 8.5 times less than in America. An American private receives 120,000 rubles a month, taking into account all allowances. German soldier - 141,000 rubles, English - 125,000 rubles.

In the CIS countries, things are even sadder than in Russia. So, in Belarus, a lieutenant receives 6,550 rubles per month translated into Russian money, a Ukrainian colleague - 15,000.

Military training. Salary

Participants receive not only a monetary reward, but also full food and clothing support. All income (salary, scholarship, benefits, etc.) that could have been received during the training camp is compensated.

The fees apply to those who are in the reserve and have already completed military service. Participants in the training camp are also adult citizens who have completed training at the military department.

Allowances and additional payments

Initially, it may seem that the salary of a military man in Russia is absolutely nothing, but this does not take into account allowances. And these are quite serious additional payments, which can ultimately amount to 50% of the salary. Financiers monthly “add” bonuses to the pay of people in uniform, which can seriously differ from each other in amount. For example, a private will receive a bonus of 100 rubles for qualifications, and the commander of a submarine missile carrier, by order of the Defense Ministry No. 400, will receive 200,000 rubles.

A serving in the army receives good housing bonuses; in case of conscientious service, the contract soldier is given the right to purchase permanent housing using the savings-mortgage system. If after 7-10 years a situation arises that the state will have to pay the balance of the mortgage in full.

Military contractor. Salary

Contract service in the Russian army is quite a popular phenomenon. Contract soldiers are voluntary participants in the Armed Forces who carry out their activities on the basis of an agreement. The main conditions are age restrictions and conscientious performance of official duties. The first contract is concluded under the conditions that the citizen is at least 18 and not more than 40 years old. It is expected that from 2017 fighters under 30 years of age will be recruited into service.

In 2016, the amount of salary for contract workers was established according to two laws:

dated 07.11.2011 N 306-FZ dated 06.04.2015 “On monetary allowances for military personnel and provision of individual payments to them.”
Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated December 5, 2011 N 992 (dated August 6, 2015) “On the establishment of salaries for contract military personnel.”

According to these legislative documents, military salaries are made up of salary based on military position and salary based on military rank. Bonuses and additional financial assistance paid annually for good service are added to the total amount.

Average size of DD (monetary allowance)

Ordinary contract soldier - 30,000 rubles.
Sergeant and sergeant major - 40,000 rubles.
lieutenant - 55,000 rubles.

When entering military service under a contract, a soldier’s salary is:

in the ground forces - from 19,000 rubles;
in the navy - from 22,000 rubles;
in military air services - from 20,000 rubles;
in the navy on submarines - from 40,000 rubles.

In 2016, these data were presented by Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Tatyana Shevtsova. Contract servicemen also receive decent benefits:

Compensation for the costs of rented housing if a service apartment was not provided. The amount of payments depends on the region and averages 50%.
When moving to a new duty station, allowances are paid for all family members.
With more than 20 years of service, a contract soldier receives a cash benefit in the amount of 7 monthly salaries. If the total length of service is less than 20 years, lump sum payments are equal to 2 salaries.

Contract service in the army is a prestigious profession, and the number of contract soldiers increases every year, so the question always remains relevant: what is the salary of the military? For the period 2015-2016, this number is 200,000 people. By 2017, the figure is planned to double.

Regardless of the salary and position held, contract workers receive paid leave every year, taking into account 30 days or more.

Profession: military aviation pilot

The work of a military pilot is very difficult and dangerous. Moreover, as a rule, during military conflicts, pilots are not left in captivity, but destroyed. The profession is considered harmful to health due to emotional overload. Military aviation in Russia pays special attention, including material support and housing. Fast advancement up the career ladder and an equally quick retirement.

The salary of a military pilot is not less than 100,000 rubles, this is in peacetime. In addition, employees are provided with food and are first on the list to receive housing. According to the latest data, the size of the pension of military pilots is on average 1.7 times greater than that of civilians. Pension payments are accrued at the rate of 55%, but not more than 80%.

Salary for medical staff

There is such a profession as the military, where doctors are seriously different from other specialists. A military doctor is one of the most respected professions. This is a person exclusively with a higher medical education. Only a junior officer can become a doctor in the army; warrant officers are paramedics, privates are orderlies, and sergeants are instructors. But, unfortunately, this respect is not evident in the salaries of military doctors.

Colonels, heads of departments, receive from 20,000 rubles. The average allowance for lieutenants is 10,000 rubles per month.

Should we expect a salary increase in 2017?

Will military salaries be increased and will there be indexation? Federal Law No. 306 of 2011 states the need for annual indexation of wages, bonus payments and allowances. In 2017, indexation is expected to occur in February, based on price increases in 2016. But it is too early to talk about increasing wages, even despite the current law, especially in conditions of economic instability.

Indexation and crisis

The crisis in our country today is truly serious, and every resident of Russia has felt it. This could not but affect the income of the population, which decreased by 20%. The increase in military salaries depends, as already mentioned, on the length of service, position held, and military rank.

Not so long ago, everyone who was called up without fail was paid an insignificant amount - 500 rubles, today the figure has increased to 2000. Considering that the soldiers are provided with food and housing, we can say that the amount is quite bearable to begin with. An increase in monetary allowance can only be made through indexation.

Indexation for employees in the Armed Forces is planned for 2017 due to the increased level of inflation. Today, the average military salary is 30,000 rubles, but the government believes that it should rise to at least 50,000 rubles. Indexation was also expected in 2016, but was never carried out.

Military pension

Military personnel, as a rule, retire early. Already at the age of 40, you can count on pension payments, but on the condition that the military man continues to serve further. At the moment, a bill has already been prepared to increase payments to pensioners by 7%. This indicates the state's desire to strengthen its army. It is extremely important for Russia to have a powerful Armed structure.

It is also planned to index pension payments by 3% for employees on vacation.

Summing up your resume

The annual increase in military salaries and improved conditions are due to the fact that Russia has recently needed to strengthen its combat positions. And, as you know, for a long time, service in the ranks of the Russian army was unpromising and completely unprestigious. To attract people, monthly salaries are also increased and issues of improving living conditions are resolved.

The main task of the state in the military sector is to recruit officers to the army ranks.

In general, military salaries in the country today are decent, especially in comparison with civilian incomes. Although it is quite difficult to earn money for your own home. For many conscripts living in the outback, the prospects of working in the Russian Air Force are very tempting, given the conditions of the current crisis and complete unemployment in rural areas. High patriotic feelings are, of course, good, but whether or not to serve under a contract is something everyone decides for themselves.

The work, albeit lucrative, is hard, harmful, sometimes thankless and dangerous, and the risk to life is already included in the salary from the very beginning. Military service allows you to receive a stable income now and confidence in a secure future.

Our country's military personnel are far from indifferent to the issues of indexation of pay for the near future, in particular for next year. According to estimates in the media, the issue of indexing military pay in 2017 affects about 10% of the Russian population (military personnel and family members).

What will happen to the military pay in 2017 - what indexation is expected?

Based on Federal Laws No. 68-FZ dated April 6, 2015 and No. 371-FZ dated December 14, 2015, there will be no indexation of official salaries for military personnel in 2016. The government explains this by the fact that the financial support of the budget expenditures and the current economic situation do not allow for indexation.

At the same time, this law does not prohibit regions from increasing the salaries of officials from the local budget, and military personnel receive monetary allowances only from the federal budget. The State Duma’s own opinion on budget formation and indexation can be judged on the basis of the discussion of the draft law set out below.

Government position

An assumption about the indexation of military pay in 2017 can be made based on the nature of the discussion in the State Duma about indexation for 2016. Hearings on this issue took place in November 2015.

Performances:

A report on the draft federal law suspending the indexation of salaries for military personnel was made on behalf of the Government of the Russian Federation by Deputy Minister of Finance A. M. Lavrov. He noted that the meaning of the presented draft law provides for the abolition of indexation of salaries for military personnel in 2016, since the Government does not have the ability to do this. The Government of the Russian Federation requests to extend the suspension of indexation of pay for military personnel for 2016. The report noted the temporary nature of the suspension, and in the future it is necessary to finally decide on the indexation of official salaries for military personnel. Therefore, the government asks to approve the proposed project. It is interesting that in 2014 and 2015, the abolition of indexation was also considered a temporary measure.
A co-report was made by V. A. Kazakov, United Russia faction. He said that the draft law under discussion does not imply a waiver of the state’s social obligations and provides an opportunity to index the military’s pay in 2017. Its value will be determined by the Russian Government based on the real increase in prices for consumer goods in 2016. Therefore, the relevant committee of the State Duma also asks to approve the draft law under discussion.

It seems that the State Duma has already forgotten about the inflationary losses over the previous two years.

About questions asked to the speaker

The speaker was asked a question by deputy A. N. Sherin, LDPR faction. He recalled that it is impossible to compare the salaries of judges, who can wait to increase their salaries, and military personnel, whose wages are much lower. It is impossible to suspend the indexation of military pay, taking into account the need to further increase the combat readiness of the Armed Forces. To this remark, A. M. Lavrov replied that, based on an analysis of the economic situation in the country, the indexation of monetary content for 2015 was suspended, and it is necessary to cancel the indexation in 2016. The speaker explained that the system of remuneration for military personnel had previously been reformed.

Deputy T. N. Moskalkova (“A Just Russia”) asked to clarify the amount of savings from the suspension of indexation. It turned out that if the bill is approved, about 90 billion rubles will be saved. Compare this amount with more than one trillion rubles not spent by state corporations in 2015.

Deputy N. F. Ryabov (Communist Party of the Russian Federation) asked a clarifying question that the Government, knowing about the suspension of indexation of military pay for 2015, proposes to cancel indexation in 2016. The speaker replied that wages for military personnel are higher than the average wage in the economy. The Russian army has a system of additional payments and various types of material incentives, so in the current economic situation a difficult but necessary solution is being proposed. Comments, as they say, are unnecessary.

Position of parliamentary factions

Moskalkova T.N. voiced the position of the “A Just Russia” faction. Its meaning is as follows:

the bill being discussed that suspends indexation is anti-people and unfair;
suspension of indexation means a reduction in military pay by 11%;
such a policy will lead to a sharp decline in the standard of living of military personnel and their families;
approval of the bill will lead to negative social consequences;
faction is against the adoption of this bill.

Sherin A.N. emphasized the importance of a high level of professional training of military personnel. In addition, he pointed out that military salaries have not increased since 2012. In subsequent years, official salaries were not indexed or increased. At the beginning of 2015, the chairman of the relevant committee made a promise that military personnel would have their salaries adjusted to inflation. Nothing promised has been fulfilled.

As a result, United Russia voted for the adoption of the draft law abolishing the indexation of military pay in 2016. The remaining factions in the State Duma voted against it.

Does Russia need a professionally trained army? The answer is obvious: yes, it is necessary. It is clear that this army must be in constant combat readiness. Its level depends on many factors, including funding for the development and production of new types of equipment and weapons, for conducting exercises, medical care, allowances for military personnel, and more. The moral and psychological spirit of soldiers, officers and their families, and the readiness to honorably fulfill military duty at any time, depends on this.

I would like to hope that military salaries will still be indexed in 2017, and bills and proposals for a temporary or permanent suspension of indexation of military salaries in 2017 will not be accepted for consideration in the State Duma.

Indexation of military pay, which has not been carried out for five years, will cost the federal budget 300 billion rubles in the next three years. By 2020, the state will spend about 14% of the budget on paying military salaries

Photo: Maxim Shemetov / Reuters

The first indexation of military and security personnel pay in six years will cost the budget 67 billion rubles in 2018, and in the next two years, when indexation continues, additional budget expenses for these purposes will increase to 83.9 billion and 148.4 billion rubles . accordingly, it follows from the government’s amendments to the second reading of the draft budget. Thus, increasing military salaries in 2018-2020 will require a total of almost 300 billion rubles from the state.

In 2018, the budget will spend 2.27 trillion rubles on payouts to military personnel and persons of equal status. (13.8% of total budget expenditures), and this is only in the open part. The non-assessable share of expenses for payments to the military and security forces goes through secret budget items, it follows from the amendments. By 2020, open expenditures on military allowances will reach 2.39 trillion rubles. (13.9% of the total budget), follows from the draft budget and proposed amendments to it.

Money for indexation was allocated from the “presidential reserve” - 847 billion rubles, initially reserved in the draft budget in the “National Economy” section for “individual decisions of the president.”

Who will be indexed?

The fact that the pay of the military and equivalent categories will begin to be indexed by 4% (forecast inflation rate) was stated in the materials for the draft budget presented in early October, but the cost of this decision for the treasury was not disclosed. According to the law, employees of internal affairs bodies, the National Guard, the Federal Penitentiary Service and the state fire service are equated to military personnel. Military personnel also include employees of the FSB, FSO and the Foreign Intelligence Service, a representative of the Ministry of Finance explained to RBC.

Payments to the military and security forces will increase, as will the salaries of public sector workers not covered by the May decrees of the president, federal civil servants and parliamentarians, as well as judges, prosecutors and employees of the Investigative Committee - all of them are scheduled to be indexed at 4% per year, which has not been carried out for several years .

The head of the laboratory of military economics at the Gaidar Institute, Vasily Zatsepin, supports increasing the pay of both military and civil servants. “Our standard of living has stopped, and some believe it has fallen. “Perhaps, before the indexation freeze, the salaries of generals increased tenfold, but little has changed for ordinary sergeants, which may be related to the current problems with recruiting so-called contract soldiers,” he noted. The quality of budget planning may improve if the economy manages to switch to an annual automatic wage indexation regime. “To do this, we will have to get used to the factor of reducing inflation, which is still new to us,” he believes.

TsSR expert Ilya Sokolov, on the contrary, considers it inappropriate to index the same amount of pay for public sector employees and military personnel in the context of the latter’s transition to a contract payment system. “At one time, military personnel received less than the average salary in the economy, but after the army reform was carried out in 2010-2011 and their pay was significantly increased, additional indexation lost its meaning. The same applies to preferential mortgages, which state employees do not have,” he says.

Indexation is not fixed for 2019 and 2020

The costs of indexing the salaries of the military and everyone else would have been even higher if the government had not decided to shift the indexation deadline in 2019 and 2020 to October 1 (the next salary increase is scheduled for January 1, 2018).

The law on monetary allowances for military personnel stipulates that their salaries are subject to annual indexation taking into account inflation in accordance with the law on the federal budget, but this norm was suspended on January 1, 2014. The suspension expires on January 1, 2018 - accordingly, the government returns to implementing the corresponding norm from the law on military allowances (no separate law is needed).

Since the law on monetary allowances states that indexation is carried out in accordance with the budget law, this means that next year, when the government adopts a new “rolling” budget for three years, the indexation figures in 2019 and 2020 may change depending on current inflation data. And the forecast for price growth may well change: for example, for 2017, the Ministry of Economic Development now expects the figure to be 2.5-2.8%, although it initially predicted 3.8%.

The military is not enough

Earlier, RBC's source in the State Duma and a source in the Ministry of Defense said that the possibility of indexing military salaries to a higher level was being discussed. The State Duma Defense Committee in its conclusion on the draft budget addressed the insufficient increase in allowances. Committee deputies emphasized that during the time until salaries were indexed, prices in the country increased by 46%, the cost of the minimum set of food products rose by almost 60%.

In order to ensure that the salaries of military personnel do not fall below the average salaries in leading sectors of the economy, the Ministry of Defense, during the preparation of the draft federal budget, developed and sent to the Ministry of Finance two options for calculations for indexing the pay of military personnel, the defense committee reported in its conclusion, but these proposals “were not reflected "in the final draft budget. The document does not say how much the Ministry of Defense proposed to index military salaries.

“The relevant State Duma Committee on Defense will consider amendments to the second reading at a meeting on November 9, after which it will be possible to comment on the proposals of the Ministry of Finance,” committee head Vladimir Shamanov told RBC. According to him, the processes of agreeing on a common position are very difficult within the committee. “The process is complicated. We have all four factions represented, and there is no common understanding yet,” added Shamanov.

In total, indexation will affect at least 2.7 million people: currently the maximum number of Armed Forces in Russia is 1.9 million people (of which 1.03 million are military personnel), employees of internal affairs bodies are set at 904 thousand people, employees of the Federal Penitentiary Service - 225 thousand, fire service - 251 thousand. The number of the Russian Guard, as its commander-in-chief Viktor Zolotov told Interfax, exceeds 340 thousand people. Taking into account the civilian personnel of the Armed Forces, whose wages will also be indexed by 4%, the number of people covered will exceed 3.5 million.

The Ministry of Finance did not explain what the average amount of allowance for military personnel and equivalent categories is, forwarding the request to the relevant departments. In January 2016, in an interview with the Krasnaya Zvezda publication, Deputy Defense Minister Tatyana Shevtsova reported that in 2015 the average level of allowance for military personnel was 62.2 thousand rubles.

What will the money be used for?

Military personnel will receive the most of the additional expenses in the next three years - 73.3 billion rubles, as follows from the amendments to the open part of expenses under the “National Defense” section.

About 6 billion rubles. It is proposed to increase the salaries of investigators of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Investigative Committee conducting the preliminary investigation (the FSB also has such powers), and the same amount - to those who are engaged in operational activities in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Federal Penitentiary Service. 27 billion rubles are provided to increase the salaries of employees of the Russian Guard. for three years, and for employees of the Federal Penitentiary Service - 20.4 billion rubles. The amendments include 11.4 billion rubles for indexation in the departments of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, and almost 8 billion rubles in the Investigative Committee. About 59 billion rubles related to the indexation of cash benefits are covered by closed expense items, which are not possible to track. An increase in spending on military personnel by 300 billion rubles, or 0.3% of GDP, creates risks of an incorrect structure of government spending, says Ilya Sokolov.

With the participation of: Inna Sidorkova