Prisoners brought 78 billion rubles to the Russian budget in two years

During the two years of war, the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) transferred 112.36 billion rubles to the Russian budget, earning more than 78 billion rubles from the labor of convicts. “Layout” writes about this.

Journalists note that the income of the Federal Penitentiary Service has increased by 20% compared to the two years preceding the war in Ukraine. According to data that employees of the Research Institute of the Federal Penitentiary Service presented at a conference in April, the service’s income in 2022 amounted to at least 53.86 billion rubles, in 2023 - 58.5 billion.

The authors of the study also studied data from the Ministry of Finance, according to which the Federal Penitentiary Service earned almost 45.6 billion rubles in 2022 from the sale of goods and services produced by convicts. There is no data for the full year 2023 yet, but in the first nine months the service received 32.5 billion rubles from the labor of convicts. In 2021, which preceded the war, the FSIN's income from the sale of goods and services made by convicts amounted to 40.1 billion.

The salary of a convicted person depends on the specifics of the work and on the type of institution in which he is serving his sentence, the publication notes. In 2022, the average salary was 7,187 rubles.

An anonymous employee of the Prisoners' Assistance Fund, in a conversation with Verstka, explained that there are different types of industries in Russian colonies.

“For example, you can earn up to 12 thousand rubles in the production of cardboard containers. The sewing shop pays 2 thousand rubles a month. There are hazardous industries where salaries can reach up to 60 thousand. You cannot refuse work; for failure to fulfill the plan you can end up in a punishment cell,” he said.

The expert linked the department’s revenue growth to the implementation of defense orders. He noted that not all convicts are serving their sentences in colonies - those who were assigned forced labor work for commercial enterprises that have contracts with the Federal Penitentiary Service.

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