Jens Asbjørn Bøgen
As defense allocations reach historic highs, Russian lawmakers are overhauling their own offices, slashing administrative headcount to fund bonuses for remaining staff.
Russia’s State Duma, the lower house of parliament, plans to cut 15 to 20 percent of its administrative staff, while the Federation Council, the upper house, is preparing reductions of 10 to 15 percent.
RBC first reported the figures on Friday, citing informed sources in both chambers, as relayed by The Moscow Times and Novaya Gazeta Europe.
The reductions will not be mass layoffs, the sources told RBC. Vacant positions are being eliminated first, with employees close to retirement age next in line.
“No one is going to cut to the bone,” a Federation Council source told RBC. The official explained that formal dismissals, with the mandatory severance and unused vacation payouts attached to them, would end up costing more than they save.
Savings redirected to bonuses
The reductions implement an October 2024 decree by President Vladimir Putin requiring at least a 10 percent cut in civil service personnel at the territorial bodies of federal agencies and at courts of general jurisdiction and arbitration courts. The decree directs that the money freed up by the cuts be paid out as bonuses to the remaining employees of the same agency, rather than returned to the general state budget.
Deputies’ assistants are also being pushed through a new mandatory certification, including a computer test on the Constitution, legislation and parliamentary procedure, Novaya Gazeta Europe noted. The backlog has slowed hiring, particularly for newly elected Duma deputies.
A record wartime budget in the same chamber
The staff cuts are being prepared in the same building that is voting through a record wartime budget. On October 29, the Duma approved the 2027-2029 federal budget in its first reading with 372 deputies in favor, none against and 51 abstaining. Total 2027 expenditures are set at 48.7 trillion rubles, with a planned deficit of 5.4 trillion rubles, or 2.2 percent of GDP.
Moscow plans to spend 17.1 trillion rubles, about $202.58 billion, on defense in 2027, roughly 27 percent above the figure originally budgeted and the highest level since the invasion of Ukraine began in 2022, according to government documents first reported by Reuters and relayed by The Moscow Times.
The budget’s second reading is scheduled for November 19.
