The Russians Were Presented With A Bill

Vitaly Shapran
29.09.2026, 9:25
2,306

And that's not all.

For the second time in 2026, Russians have been billed for the war in Ukraine. In its 2027 budget, the Russian Federation is attempting to trade its future for the opportunity to finance its war in Ukraine.

The conclusion of the so-called elections in Russia has kicked off a new cycle of tax increases for citizens of the Russian Federation and Russian businesses. Naturally, the whims of Putin’s team have been passed on to the Russian Ministry of Finance. These include:

an increase in excise taxes on nicotine-containing products;
the introduction of VAT on transactions in the Fast Payment System (FPS);

a progressive tax on Russians’ passive income, including income from deposits;

the introduction of VAT on cross-border trade;

the introduction of a “super tax” of +20% on gold mining companies, non-ferrous metal enterprises, and fertilizer manufacturers;
the introduction of a “technology levy” on all imported electronics: from phones and laptops to refrigerators;

a special tax on closed-end and open-end mutual funds (PIFs), which must pay 15% on passive income.

This list will be expanded further. After all, some of the Ministry of Finance’s proposals, as usual, will be reflected in the updated State Duma of the Russian Federation.

However, the Russian authorities’ concerns are entirely understandable. They already sense that playing the role of “Cossack bandits” in the Middle East under the guise of anonymous advisors to the Iranian regime and the Houthis won’t work for long, and a price drop is looming in the oil market. That is precisely why the indicative budget price for Russian oil was lowered from $59 (in the 2026 budget) to $53 per barrel (in the 2027 budget).

As a result, Russians are facing a significant increase in their tax burden for the third time in the past two years. And all three times, Putin’s initiatives have targeted not the elite oligarchs, but the mass consumer segment. And now—it’s their savings’ turn.

Thus, Russians are being footed the bill for Putin’s war for the third time (and the second time in the past year).

And although Russian citizens are avoiding protests, they are responding by expanding the shadow economy, as evidenced by increased demand for cash and a range of other data.

The most telling assessment of the Russian Federation’s draft budget came from the Russian stock market, which plummeted not even after the draft itself was published, but merely following a press release from the Russian government regarding the draft.

The Russians Were Presented With A Bill

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