The government will write off 48 billion rubles of debt to 8 regions. This benefit did not save Bashkortostan from the forced sale of part of Bashneft

The Russian government will write off more than 48 billion rubles of debt on budget loans to 8 regions. Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin announced this at a meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers on June 25.

We are talking about the Volgograd, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, Novgorod, Novosibirsk, Ryazan and Chelyabinsk regions, as well as Udmurtia. According to Mishustin, the released funds should be used for the construction and repair of social facilities, housing and roads. The government associates the program with the write-off of two-thirds of the regions' debt on budget loans.

The write-off does not apply to any debts of the regions and does not mean the transfer of new funds from the federal budget to them. Regions have the opportunity not to repay part of previously taken budget loans, provided that they use the saved money for certain expenses - in particular, infrastructure, housing and communal services, public transport, resettlement of emergency housing and investment projects.

Bashkortostan received such a benefit last year: in July 2025, the government wrote off 4.3 billion rubles of debt on budget loans to the republic. The report of the regional government for 2025 stated that thanks to this, by 2028, the authorities expect to attract another 4.3 billion rubles for the development of utility infrastructure.

However, writing off part of the budget loans did not spare the republic from searching for additional income. In June 2026, Bashkortostan sold to Rosneft part of its blocking stake in Bashneft. The head of the region, Radiy Khabirov, called the deal a “pure financial calculation” and said that the proceeds would be used to close “a number of financial issues” and new facilities. Later and O. Bashkortostan Finance Minister Svetlana Malinskaya reported that the republic received 14.8 billion rubles for the package.

Before the deal, Bashkortostan owned 25% plus one share of Bashneft - a blocking stake. If the Republic sold about 6% of the company's total share capital, as authorities previously reported, its stake could be reduced to about 19%, below the level needed to block some key shareholder decisions.