The Russian government’s budget proposal for next year increases defense spending by 25% compared to this year. Military spending continues to increase as the invasion of Ukraine drags on.

In the budget proposal for 2025 that the Russian government submitted to parliament on September 30th, defense spending is increased by 25% compared to this year to 13.5 trillion rubles, or over 20 trillion yen in Japanese yen.

Defense spending, which was 4.7 trillion rubles in 2022 when the invasion of Ukraine began, continues to rise and is expected to account for one-third of total spending next year.

This appears to be due to increased production of weapons as well as an increase in personnel costs due to increases in compensation for contracted military personnel.

Finance Minister Siluanov has said that “special military operations are one of the priorities in the budget,” and plans to secure financial resources through measures such as raising corporate taxes.

Source: Japanese