The Russian government is spending almost a billion dollars on the media this year

The Russian government has allocated almost 61 billion rubles (more than $915 million) to supporting the media in 2016, according to Forbes, making the state the largest donor in the country's media market.

The allocated funds are earmarked for both state-run media outlets and private news organizations. About 60-70 percent of the money is set aside as direct subsidies, with the remaining funds made available to newspapers, magazines, and TV stations through procurement contracts for producing informational materials and getting the money in the form of federal grants.

The VGTRK media group will receive more financial support than any other single media outlet. In subsidies alone, VGTRK is due to receive 21.8 billion rubles ($326 million) in 2016. In second place is the television network Russia Today, with subsidies amounting to 17.6 billion rubles ($265 million). The media group Rossiya Segodnya, meanwhile, will get more than 6 billion rubles ($90.3 million).

The federal government will also continue to support the news agencies TASS, Rossiyskaya Gazeta, and other media outlets that do not generate significant revenue.