The era of putin’s rule is a time of colossal lies, which he «feeds» his people for many years. We are starting a cycle of publications about the successes of the russians promised by the kremlin leader. With the help of our publications, we want to demonstrate how putin is trying to stay in power with empty and unrealizable promises. The first part of the cycle will concern promises in the social sphere. Here are just some of them that putin declared during his more than 20 years in power (the period of d.medvedev’s rule is also considered putin’s) during annual press conferences and «direct lines».
🔸 A promise. «I am against increasing the retirement age. And as long as I am the president, such decision won’t be made», said putin in 2005. He repeated approximately the same in 2007, 2010 and 2015.
🔻In fact: in 2017, the president admitted for the first time that the decision to raise the retirement age «is being discussed at the expert, government level», and on October 3, 2019, despite the protests that took place in many large russian cities, putin signed a decree on raising the retirement age age: for women – from 55 to 60 years, for men – from 60 to 65. At the same time, the rate of decline in pensions in real terms in 2022 will break the records of 1999 – 8.3% in March, 8.8% in April and 8.2% in May.
🔸 A promise. «The average salary in the country should increase by 1.5 times and reach about 30,000-32,000 rubles. At the same time, the salaries of state employees should also increase significantly» (2013).
🔻In fact: in 2014, the nominal average salary in the country really reached 32.5 thousand rubles, and in 2016 – even 36.7 thousand rubles. However, over 5 years, the number of people with incomes below the subsistence minimum increased from 17.9 million to 20.3 million people, or from 12.7 to 13.9%. In 2020, 13.5% of the country’s population, or every 8th russian lived below the poverty line. A survey in June 2022 showed that 39% of citizens don’t have enough money even to cover basic expenses, and another 38% admitted that they are struggling to make ends meet. Against a backdrop of food inflation jumping nearly 20%, real wages have fallen by 7.2% in recent months alone (the most since 2015).
🔸 A promise. «…it is necessary to consolidate positive trends in demography, to ensure a gradual increase in the number of the country’s population» (2011).
🔻In fact: in 2011-2015, a small natural population increase was observed in russia: in 2013 – by 23 thousand, in 2014 – by 34 thousand, in 2015 – by 32 thousand people. However, since 2016, the demographic crisis in russia has returned – at the end of 2016, the birth rate fell from 13.4 people per 1,000 population in the spring of 2014 to 12.0 at the beginning of 2017, and the death rate crept up – from 12.8 per 1,000 population at the beginning of 2016 to 13.0 in March 2017. Over the past 10 years, the number of women aged 20-29 in the russian federation, that is, women of childbearing age, has decreased by almost 40%, or by 4.6 million.
🔸 A promise. «Now we have made a very important and tough decision: we have limited the growth of housing and communal services tariffs of most natural monopolies»(2011).
🔻In fact: from 2011 to 2015, the payment for housing in the houses of the state and cooperative housing funds increased by 49.9%, for hot water supply – by 57.1%. From December 1, 2022, tariffs for hot and cold water, heat and municipal waste for the population increased by an average of 9%. In particular, gas tariffs for industry and citizens will increase by 8.5%, which has become a record since 2013, when gas prices rose by 15%. This is the second price increase in a year – in July last year. the cost of electricity supply services increased by 4.6%, hot water supply and heating – by 4.1%, cold water supply – by 4%, liquefied gas – by 4.8%.
🔸 A promise. In 2009, before the 65th anniversary of the Victory, putin assured: «All war veterans should get an apartment».
🔻Actually: In 2010, the plan wasn’t implemented, by the end of 2015, 15,000 veterans weren’t provided with housing, in 2016 – more than 10,000, 1,297 of whom are disabled and direct participants in the war.
🔸 A promise. In 2017, during the direct line, putin promised to «get rid of barracks and emergency housing».
🔻In fact: according to the the Housing and Utilities Reform Fund of the russian federation in 2022, about 4.7 million russians or 3% of the country’s population lived in old and dilapidated buildings. According to rosstat, in 2022 about 22.6% of the russian population doesn’t have access to centralized sewage, most of such families use cesspools. At the same time, according to the statements of the Deputy Prime Minister m.khusnullin, the regional authorities hide the real volumes and problems of emergency housing.
❗️A selective analysis of putin’s promises in the social sphere shows that in the foreseeable future, russians should hardly hope for their fulfillment.
To be continued…
