Putin’s Election Promises May Cost Russia $130 Billion
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The price tag for the promises Vladimir Putin has made ahead of Russian presidential elections later this month will total tens of billions of dollars over the next six years.
New national projects that Putin proposed in an annual address Thursday to the Federal Assembly, along with initiatives on improving living standards and massive write-offs of loans to Russian regions, could cost the Kremlin’s coffers more than $130 billion that’s not currently accounted for in the budget, analysts estimate.