The Average Regional Payment for Contracting with the Ministry of Defense Increased More Than 5 Times in a Year

Russian regions continue to increase one-time payments for contracting with the Ministry of Defense in an effort to attract as many contract soldiers as possible. The governor of one of the regions, the Ulyanovsk Oblast, explicitly recognized that this was necessary to make up for the losses before the end of the year. On average, the country raised the payment every three days, and some regions increased it 75 times, by IStories’ estimate. This is the story about the race of payments in 2024, which will be remembered for record rewards for agreeing to participate in the war with Ukraine.

The average payment to contractors exceeded one million

By the end of 2024, the one-time regional payment for contracting has reached an average of 897 thousand rubles, IStories calculated. Over the year, it has grown 5.3 times — at the end of 2023, new contract soldiers were paid 168 thousand rubles. Together with the federal payment of 400 thousand rubles, a Russian contractor will receive an average of more than a million (1.3 million rubles) upon entering the service. A Russian with the national average salary could earn that much only in a year and a half.

Explaining our calculations

In our calculations, we took into account only one-time payments for contract signing from regional budgets. We did not take into account municipal payments, as well as payments from extra-budgetary sources (e.g., from non-profit foundations) and regular payments (e.g., for each month in war) established at the regional level. Data are current as of December 1, 2024.

Contracts pay from 800 thousand to 3 million rubles

In 2024, each of the Russian regions increased the rewards for contracting at least once. By the end of the year, there are no regions left that pay nothing to new contractors, although back in January, 11 regions had no such payment — local residents who joined the military service received only a federal one-time payment.

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On average, regional payments were increased every three days this year. Most regions (76 out of 85) increased payments only after Vladimir Putin recommended local authorities to pay at least 400 thousand rubles for contracting at the end of July.

Now no Russian region pays new contractors less than this amount from its budget (the only exception is North Ossetia, where payment from the regional government amounts to 300 thousand rubles, and another 100 thousand rubles contractors receive at the expense of local self-government administrations in the region).

Thus, by the end of 2024, the minimum amount that Russians receive for signing a contract in any region of the Russian Federation from both the regional and federal budgets will start from 800 thousand rubles.

The record reward for signing a contract from both budgets reached 3 million rubles. Recruits for service receive this much in Belgorod and Nizhny Novgorod Oblasts (provided the contract is signed in the capital of the region): 2.6 million is the payment from the region, another 400 thousand is from the federal authorities. Even Moscow (2.3 million rubles, including the federal part) and St. Petersburg (2.1 million rubles) pay less.

The record payment increase is 75-fold

The authorities of 17 regions increased the payment for contracting 10 times or more. The Sverdlovsk Oblast became a record-breaker for regional one-time payments growth — in 2024 it increased 75 times. Before February, it amounted to only 20 thousand rubles, but after five stages of increase it reached 1.5 million rubles.

The regional payment in Ivanovo Oblast has increased 32 times over the year (from 50 thousand rubles to 1.6 million) and in Belgorod Oblast — 26 times. In 2024 Belgorod Oblast became one of the regions with the maximum reward for contracting (from 100 thousand at the beginning of the year to 2.6 million at the end of the year).

In the Orenburg and Tver Oblasts, the regional payment was raised 20 times over the year. IStories has estimated that the payments to contractors now account for an average of 13% of the regions’ budget for social payments to the population. Against the backdrop of higher payments, the pace of contract recruitment in 2024 has accelerated at least 6 times faster than last year.

Editor: Katya Bonch-Osmolovskaya