Billionaires in Russia have become a new source of budget revenues

Russian entrepreneurs have transferred almost 472 billion rubles to the state as "voluntary" contributions, thereby financing more than 1% of Russia's state spending in 2026. Inflows surged after a closed meeting of the largest businessmen with Vladimir Putin.

This is reported by Reuters citing Russian budget documents.

As of early October, the volume of such inflows reached 471 billion rubles — more than $5.6 billion at the current exchange rate. In budget documentation, the money is listed as "voluntary contributions", while the specific companies and entrepreneurs who transferred the funds are not disclosed.

The contributions were discussed in March at a closed meeting between Putin and representatives of the largest Russian businesses. Most participants of that meeting are under Western sanctions, and its full list of attendees was not made public.

In September, Putin said that after the meeting, entrepreneurs transferred "hundreds of billions" of rubles to the state. The Kremlin previously claimed that the initiative was proposed by one of the meeting participants: he allegedly stated that Russian businessmen, who received a significant part of their fortunes in the 1990s thanks to ties with the state, should now help the budget.

Reuters notes that the amount of "voluntary" payments turned out to be higher than revenues from the excess profits tax on companies. This tax was previously paid primarily by metallurgical and chemical enterprises that received high incomes due to rising global prices.

The additional money became especially important amid a sharp increase in Russia's budget deficit. In 2026, it is expected to reach 7.3 trillion rubles, or 3.2% of GDP, although initially the authorities planned to keep it at 1.6% of GDP.

Without the "voluntary" transfers from businesses, the deficit could have been about 3.4% of GDP.

Spending on the army and security bloc remains one of the main items of the Russian budget. In 2026, about 38% of all federal spending is planned for them. To cover growing costs, the authorities have already raised taxes and increased state borrowing.

In addition to voluntary contributions from businesses, the Russian government is seeking additional money from the assets of private companies. In 2026, Moscow expects to receive about 385 billion rubles from the sale of assets that the state confiscated from previous owners.

In recent years, Russian authorities have transferred to the state the assets of hundreds of enterprises. Cited grounds included violations during privatization, corruption, and foreign ownership in companies recognized as strategic.

As previously reported by The Moscow Times citing The Bell, the value of assets of companies affected by this wave of nationalization is estimated at more than 7 trillion rubles.

The burden on the Russian budget continues to grow, so the government is preparing new ways to increase revenues. In particular, additional tax changes and intensified efforts to combat tax evasion schemes are planned for next year.

One of the future measures is to affect income earned by citizens from bank deposits. Russian authorities expect that changes to the taxation of this income will bring in an additional 1 trillion rubles in 2027.