Russia wants to return food stamps from the Soviet era across the country
Kyiv • UNN
The State Duma of the Russian Federation supported the idea of introducing food stamps for socially vulnerable groups. The initiative is planned to be launched in 2025, starting with the Kaliningrad region.
Anatoly Aksakov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market, supported the idea of returning food stamps to the USSR. Earlier, such measures were announced by the governor of the Kaliningrad region, Alexei Bezprozvannykh. This was reported by The Moscow Times, UNN.
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According to Aksakov, "the initiative has a sound basis" and should be extended to the whole of Russia: this way, "people in need" will "know under any circumstances that they are provided with the appropriate minimum of food and goods necessary for life.
"Such a practice would be useful to support socially vulnerable categories of the population," the deputy said, noting that the state could pay subsidies to regions and food suppliers, compensating for ‘at least part of the costs’ of such assistance. However, Aksakov did not specify what the monthly limit for such a voucher might be.
Earlier , the governor of the Kaliningrad region said that food stamps would be introduced in the region in 2025. First of all, they will be distributed to pensioners with an income below the subsistence level. The list of recipients is also likely to include large families and other "vulnerable categories of citizens."
As of December 9, annual inflation in Russia reached 9.2%, the highest level since February 2023, according to the Ministry of Economic Development. Alternative metrics, however, show much higher figures. According to Romir, which estimates price increases based on real purchases and receipts of Russian households, inflation in everyday goods amounted to 13.7% in January-September this year alone. Food prices have risen especially sharply.
Earlier, in a number of Russian regions, the authorities have already tried to introduce food stamps. In 2023, cities in the Amur region such as Free and Tsiolkovsky issued cards with a limit of 2,000 rubles per person, provided that the income level was below the subsistence level. An experiment of electronic food certificates was also launched in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug in 2023. And recently, fish cards were introduced in Kamchatka.
