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- Economic groundwork: Mishustin announced the preservation of the country's economic growth
Economic groundwork: Mishustin announced the preservation of the country's economic growth
Despite the sanctions pressure, Russia has maintained GDP growth, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said at the annual report to the State Duma. The government is actively fighting against inflation and supports families with children and its members. The State Duma factions generally approve of the work of the executive branch, but the deputies asked the prime minister quite acute questions: about the increase in housing and communal services tariffs, the crisis in the Russian Post, the high key rate of the Central Bank and new family mortgage options. The results of the government's work in 2025 can be found in the Izvestia article.
GDP growth, family support and housing construction
On the day of Mikhail Mishustin's speech in the State Duma, journalists occupied the entire small press center where the broadcast was taking place. Photographers filmed the prime minister from television screens — recently, the leadership of the State Duma press service banned media accredited specialists from working on the balcony in the plenary hall. According to tradition, the head of government began his speech with an assessment of Russia's economic development.
— Despite the difficult situation, the positive dynamics in the economy has remained. Russia's gross domestic product increased by 1% last year. In three years, its growth has exceeded 10%, which corresponds to the global level," he explained.
Economists note that in 2025, GDP growth has slowed significantly compared to 2024, when it was 4.9%. As Vladimir Chernov, an analyst at Freedom Finance Global, explained to Izvestia, this is due to the tight monetary policy of the Central Bank, as well as a reduction in trade volumes: imports decreased by 1.4% to $279 billion, and exports by 3.7% to $418.3 billion. It was possible to maintain growth due to government orders, lower inflation and adaptation to sanctions.
Despite the difficulties, the state has made progress in improving the system of social protection of the population. For example, in 2025, the minimum wage was raised by more than 16.5%. Since this year, it has reached 27 thousand rubles, which has affected over 4.5 million people.
The Cabinet of Ministers pays special attention to families with children, so in 2026 it is planned not only to traditionally index maternity capital, but also to introduce the so-called targeted family payment. It is owed to working parents whose income is below 1.5% of the region's subsistence level, and it is a compensation for part of the taxes they previously paid to the state. More than 4 million families will be able to use this measure. According to economists, the refund amount can be about 56-189 thousand rubles per year per family (depending on income and personal income tax paid).
108 million square meters were commissioned in 2025 to improve the living conditions of Russians. m housing. To facilitate its purchase, the country has family, Far Eastern and Arctic preferential programs. Mishustin did not rule out that one of the criteria for determining the family mortgage rate could be the number of children.
Nevertheless, housing affordability decreased last year due to the reduction of preferential mortgage programs, Anton Sviridenko, executive director of the Stolypin Institute for Growth Economics, told Izvestia. If the Central Bank's rate remains at the same level, then it is not worth waiting for big changes.
The Government paid special attention to the renovation and construction of schools, colleges and hospitals. In 2025, 80 new schools began operating and over 3,000 medical centers and clinics in the regions were modernized. Similar work is underway in the cultural sphere — according to the prime minister, almost 13 million people already use the Pushkin Card, which allows them to purchase discounted tickets to the theater, cinema and exhibitions in galleries.
Inflation, taxes, and exports
The most serious challenge for the authorities remains inflation, which reached 5.6% by the end of the year. At the same time, consumer prices rose by 1.26% in early January, according to Rosstat. As explained in the Ministry of Energy, this is due to a partial increase in VAT.
"Then the dynamics of price growth in annual terms should slow down to 4.8—5.2% by the end of 2026, if consumer demand really cools down under the influence of the rate," says Vladimir Chernov.
Speaking about the adjustment of the fiscal system, the Prime Minister stressed that changes are necessary to ensure the country's security, implement social policy and support the regions. Most of the budget funds in the new year will be allocated to national defense — 12.93 trillion rubles. This expense item includes the costs of both the production of military products and the support of its participants. Now, military personnel receive any medical and spa treatment out of turn, Mishustin said.
Non-primary non-energy exports (NEE) have become an important item of budget revenue. By the end of the year, it grew by almost 9.5%, approaching 13 trillion rubles.
"In the baseline scenario, the NOE will grow at the expense of Asia, the Middle East and parts of the CIS countries, but the fastest is where Russian companies have already integrated into supply chains and are able to sell with service and financing," explains Vladimir Chernov.
In a negative scenario, growth will be closer to zero if restrictions on payments and insurance increase, or if further strengthening of the ruble worsens price competitiveness.
How did the State Duma assess the work of the government
After Mikhail Mishustin's speech, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin took the floor. He raised two issues that concern deputies of all factions. Firstly, it is an increase in utility tariffs. According to Volodin, the authorities in the regions unreasonably raise prices for heat. Secondly, there is a crisis situation with the Russian Post.
— Low salaries of postmen, post offices are closing, especially in small towns and rural areas. We believe that the government should also take control of this issue and try to do everything to save Russian Post," said the chairman of the State Duma.
In response, the prime minister promised to take control of the housing and communal services situation, as well as allocate 5 billion rubles from the budget for the modernization of Russian Post offices and create a working group together with State Duma deputies to work together in this direction.
As for the individual factions of the State Duma, they all expressed support for the current government. According to Ruslan Andreev, project manager of the Polylog Group, relations between the government and the State Duma were maximally consolidated in 2025.
— We see the increasing interaction of the heads of ministries with each of the parliamentary factions. At meetings, deputies ask questions to the heads of departments, convey wishes and instructions, which they receive directly from voters. At the same time, officials receive feedback from places and regions where deputies constantly travel," the expert told Izvestia.
The leader of the United Russia faction, Vladimir Vasiliev, recalled that nine "government hours" were organized in 2025, each of which required careful preparation. "We began not only to change approaches, but also to set targets for the faction together with the government. We have a complete understanding here," he said. Communist Party faction leader Gennady Zyuganov said he was confident in the potential of the current government, adding that it had successfully overcome the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and achieved economic growth rates above 4% over the past two years. At the same time, the Communist Party of the Russian Federation continues to insist on the need to change the socio-economic course, which is especially important in the context of its own and numerous sanctions, said Yuri Afonin, first Deputy Chairman of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, in a conversation with Izvestia.
The LDPR recalled that the government has done a lot for import substitution in the chemical, pharmaceutical and manufacturing industries. "The government is successfully solving these tasks [of import substitution], although we indicate where else it is necessary to increase," said Leonid Slutsky, the leader of the faction. According to him, the Liberal Democratic Party takes the position of reasonable protectionism, since today small and medium-sized businesses need legally secured state support from the government in all areas.
Fair Russia also approved the work of the Cabinet of Ministers. At the same time, the party has critical comments, primarily on the financial and economic bloc, said the faction's leader, Sergei Mironov. First of all, these are questions about how to increase incomes, how to solve housing problems and individual sectors of the economy more effectively.
Finally, the "New People" noted that they would try to help the government restore the pace of economic growth, which had slowed down over the past year. The faction has a number of questions and suggestions, said its leader Alexei Nechaev.
— For example, how can we support investments in our industry and in the economy as a whole. As for taxes or some other way of filling the budget, we believe that there are many alternatives," the parliamentarian said.
The dissatisfaction of some deputies with the work of the government is a standard agenda for voters, says Ruslan Andreev. The Communist Party of the Russian Federation and the SR demand more social benefits, offer price retention mechanisms, and a sharp reduction in the key interest rate, while the Liberal Democratic Party and the Liberal Democratic Party advocate for increased economic freedoms, in particular for small and medium-sized businesses. In contrast, the EP is in a balanced centrist position, realizing that the government's resources and capabilities are not unlimited, the expert summarizes.
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