13 anti-crisis measures introduced by Putin amid coronavirus outbreak

March 25 2020

Daniel Chalyan

Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the nation on the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in a televised speech in Moscow, Russia March 25, 2020.

Alexei Druzhinin/Sputnik via Reuters

Among them, President Vladimir Putin has opted to postpone a key national referendum on constitutional amendments, while putting the nation on paid leave for the week starting March 28, and introducing a comprehensive program of benefits intended to help people and businesses through the pandemic.

The news was delivered on March 25 in a televised address and outlined a series of measures planned for the near future to ease the increasingly real burden the coronavirus outbreak is having on the nation.

1. Nationwide paid leave starting week commencing March 28

2. The vote on constitutional changes has been postponed from April 22 until further notice

3. All social benefits are to be extended automatically, no documentation required

4. All families that qualify for maternity benefits are to get an additional 5,000 rubles (ca. $63) monthly for each child under 3 for the next three months starting from April, 2020.

5. All employees on sick leave will not have their pay reduced below the minimum wage - this provision will last through 2020

6. The new maximum unemployment benefit pay will be set at 12,130 rubles (ca. $154)

7. All private loans and mortgage payments are to be frozen for borrowers who provide evidence of a more than 30% decline in the ability to repay (failure of business, salary-related issues, etc.)

8. Concerning businesses suffering through the COVID-19 outbreak, the new measures are as follows:

Small and midsize businesses: tax payments - aside from value added tax - are to be postponed for six months.

Microbusinesses: an additional postponing of insurance payments for six months.

9. A six-month delay in loan payments for all small and midsize businesses

10. Additional measures for strengthening small businesses are to be introduced

11. A six month moratorium on bankruptcy claims for businesses operating in areas hardest hit by the outbreak

12. Dividend tax rate is to indefinitely be increased to 15 percent in case of money taken out of the country

13. Returns on each personal investment, including bank deposits and stocks exceeding the total sum of 1 million rubles (ca. $12,600), are to indefinitely be taxed 13 percent

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