[Russia] Salary arrears up by a third and state media under pressure to ignore

In Russia, late salary payments are on the rise, going up by a third in April alone, The Bell reports.

According to Rosstat, wage arrears reached 2.88 billion rubles ($40 million), their highest since December 2019. The level leapt 35 per cent from the previous month (+750 million rubles), and almost doubled year-on-year.  

Large enterprise employers reportedly owe wages to a total of 19,000.

There are claims that the government is concerned and is demanding that loyal media outlets not report official government statistics. 

The figures are still low in absolute terms. Compared to an overall monthly wage bill of at least 3 trillion rubles ($42 billion), the sum is tiny, amounting to less than 0.1 per cent of total wages and a similarly low share of all workers affected. 

It is 1,000 times less than during the 1990s crisis and at least 10 times less than in 2014. The figures, however, are not as important as the structure and the trend.

The primary reason is a standard lack of funds. The Bell notes a 62-fold increase in arrears due to late receipt of government funds, now accounting for 788 million rubles ($11 million) of the total bill. 

Almost a third of all arrears are owed on state contracts. 

Any rise in wage arrears is reportedly a politically sensitive matter in Russia. Unpaid salaries provoked mass protests in the 1990s. Reporting from Meduza claims that pressure was put on state media to “ignore as much as possible” the Rosstat report. 

Leading news agencies such as TASS, RIA Novosti and Interfax did follow the order. Other major newspapers, however, including Komsomolskaya Pravda and Kommersant, published articles. That content later disappeared from their websites.

According to The Bell, the level of wage arrears is not a macroeconomic concern. But there is more to consider than the sudden increase in delays related to state contracts alone. Attempts to suppress information about the problem are significant. Authorities are going after official figures from the state statistical agency, suggesting that the Kremlin may believe the political sensitivity of wage arrears to be more significant than the sums of money involved.

Source: The Bell

(Links via original reporting)

In Russia, late salary payments are on the rise, going up by a third in April alone, The Bell reports.

According to Rosstat, wage arrears reached 2.88 billion rubles ($40 million), their highest since December 2019. The level leapt 35 per cent from the previous month (+750 million rubles), and almost doubled year-on-year.  

Large enterprise employers reportedly owe wages to a total of 19,000.

There are claims that the government is concerned and is demanding that loyal media outlets not report official government statistics. 

The figures are still low in absolute terms. Compared to an overall monthly wage bill of at least 3 trillion rubles ($42 billion), the sum is tiny, amounting to less than 0.1 per cent of total wages and a similarly low share of all workers affected. 

It is 1,000 times less than during the 1990s crisis and at least 10 times less than in 2014. The figures, however, are not as important as the structure and the trend.

The primary reason is a standard lack of funds. The Bell notes a 62-fold increase in arrears due to late receipt of government funds, now accounting for 788 million rubles ($11 million) of the total bill. 

Almost a third of all arrears are owed on state contracts. 

Any rise in wage arrears is reportedly a politically sensitive matter in Russia. Unpaid salaries provoked mass protests in the 1990s. Reporting from Meduza claims that pressure was put on state media to “ignore as much as possible” the Rosstat report. 

Leading news agencies such as TASS, RIA Novosti and Interfax did follow the order. Other major newspapers, however, including Komsomolskaya Pravda and Kommersant, published articles. That content later disappeared from their websites.

According to The Bell, the level of wage arrears is not a macroeconomic concern. But there is more to consider than the sudden increase in delays related to state contracts alone. Attempts to suppress information about the problem are significant. Authorities are going after official figures from the state statistical agency, suggesting that the Kremlin may believe the political sensitivity of wage arrears to be more significant than the sums of money involved.

Source: The Bell

(Links via original reporting)