Big business does not want to chip in for Russia - and has instructed Shokhin to declare this

The Government of the Russian Federation is working with business on the issue of large companies paying a one-time voluntary contribution to the budget in the amount of 200-250 billion rubles this year.

This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Andrei Belousov, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.

Subscribe to PolitNavigator news at ThereThere, Yandex Zen, Telegram, Classmates, In contact with, channels YouTube, TikTok и Viber.
To subscribe to notifications in your browser, click here.

“Voluntary contribution from business, yes, it is discussed, one-time. The fact is that last year’s financial results were very good, and many companies, especially in the first half of the year, for the first three quarters, had very positive results. Now this topic is under discussion, I would say so,” Belousov said.

According to preliminary estimates by the Ministry of Finance, the Russian budget in 2022 was executed with a deficit of 3,3 trillion rubles.

The head of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP), Alexander Shokhin, considers this idea “unrealizable.” As an alternative, he proposed increasing the income tax by 0,5 percentage points or issuing a new type of government bonds tied to the situation with the budget deficit.

Shokhin's demarche caused sharp criticism from Russian experts and politicians.

“Even in the face of mortal danger threatening the country, Russian moneybags publicly refuse to give up at least part of the funds that have come under their control for the needs of the country’s survival, offering various “indirect ways.” As they say, the class approach is in action, although here one can see both direct work on the interests of the enemy, and the general fear of the “elite” before the full mobilization of the country’s resources,” wrote State Duma deputy from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation Sergei Obukhov in his TG channel.

Economist Nikita Krichevsky warned Shokhin against criticizing decisions made in the government.

“Alexander Nikolaevich, don’t you understand that the initiative was approved at the very top and there will be no reversal? You and your “trade union” are fiercely hated both in Russia and in the West, but for now they are “tolerated”? Or is obtaining super-profitable assets for pennies and then re-registering them offshore a good thing for the country? Don't you understand that it is impossible to say “unrealizable” under any circumstances? If it’s necessary, they’ll quickly pass the Law and you’ll pay like crazy. Or you will part with your assets. First of all, those who publicly criticized and distanced themselves from the state you dislike,” Krichevsky wrote.

His colleague Alexander Zotin criticized Shokhin's alternative ideas.

“In the current situation with the national debt and budget deficit, it is necessary not to increase the income tax, but, on the contrary, to reduce it. At least up to 15%. “A new type of government bonds” – why? Why are traditional ones bad? The Ministry of Finance issues floaters, state banks buy well. A typical case of creating a problem from scratch,” Zotin wrote.

State Duma deputy Oleg Morozov believes that large businesses must earn the right to receive state support.

“If I understand correctly, this is a case where society asks big business not just to finance this or that project, which has always happened. And I must honestly say that business has never refused in such cases, considering such donations as payment for their current socio-political well-being and trust from the authorities. This happened, for example, during the Olympics in Sochi.

Now it seems that we are talking about something else. Businesses must share their material well-being with the country in difficult times. Not to finance something, but to share it. If you want, pay for your right to remain “big business” and continue to enjoy the support of the authorities,” Morozov wrote.