Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Saturday that allows those who sign up to fight in Ukraine to forgive debts they cannot pay up to the equivalent of 92,000 euros, according to the government.
The new legislation will allow everyone who signs a one-year contract to go to fight in Ukraine after December 1 to free themselves from debts, for which a collection order was issued before this date. It will also apply to their spouses.
The total amount of debts covered will be 10 million rubles, or approximately 92,000 euros at the current rate.
Strengthen motivation
This measure, approved Tuesday by the Russian Parliament, is considered by experts to be a strong incentive, as Russia seeks volunteers for a conflict that has now lasted more than a thousand days.
The text will mainly concern young Russians of fighting age, because those in their twenties and thirties and under are the most likely to have taken out loans, particularly to acquire housing.
The legislation offers “a new way to get rid of an unbearable burden of debt, at least for several hundred thousand people,” political analyst Georgi Bovt wrote on Telegram.
“Until now, there were only provisions allowing reimbursements to be delayed” for fighters, noted Sergei Krivenko, of the advocacy group Citizen Army Law, to the Telegram channel Vajnié Istori.
The new legislation also applies to conscripts and those mobilized for the “special military operation”, the official name of the offensive in Ukraine, noted Sergei Krivenko.
Conscripts theoretically cannot be sent to the front but can choose to sign a contract to join the professional army and be sent to fight in Ukraine. The Russian authorities are “strengthening the motivation to sign such a contract,” notes Georgi Bovt.
Russian fighters serving on the front lines are already paid much better than the national average.
1.4 million rubles of debt
Interest rates are extremely high in Russia, and many Russians have almost no cash savings.
More than 13 million Russians had at least three loans in the first half of the year, a figure up 20% year-on-year, with an average of 1.4 million rubles in debt (12,900 euros), according to a report from the Central Bank published last month.
Many of them first obtain bank loans and then seek further loans from microfinance organizations.
On the other side, Ukraine also has legislation allowing fighters to obtain preferential terms for loans and, in some cases, cancel their debts.
