Wage arrears in Russia rose by nearly 19% in a month - the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine
Kyiv • UNN
As of September 1, Russian enterprises owed their employees more than 2.4 billion rubles; over the month, the arrears increased by 385.3 million. Defaults have also become more frequent.
As of September 1, enterprises in russia owed their employees more than 2.4 billion rubles, which is 385.3 million rubles more than in August. This was reported by the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, UNN writes.
Details
Wage arrears in russia increased by almost 19% in a month. As of September 1, enterprises owed their employees more than 2.4 billion rubles. Over the year, the amount of unpaid wages increased by 47.4%. In August alone, overdue arrears rose by 385.3 million rubles. More than half of the debt — 1.31 billion rubles, or 54% of the total — accumulated during 2026
According to intelligence officials, the main reason for the nonpayments is a lack of companies’ and organizations’ own funds.
Enterprises do not have the money to settle with their employees. Over the year, wage arrears increased by almost one and a half times, and in a single month they grew by hundreds of millions of rubles. The problems are not limited to wages. The monetary policy of the central bank of the russian federation, geared toward war, is accompanied by an annual increase in the number of defaults in the corporate debt market. In 2024, 11 defaults by bond issuers were recorded, in 2025 — 24, and in the incomplete year of 2026 — already 33
Intelligence officials emphasized that the war against Ukraine is absorbing budgetary resources, while the high cost of borrowing makes business financing more difficult. Enterprises are accumulating debts to their employees, and the number of defaults is increasing. The russian economy is paying for the war not only through government spending. The cost is increasingly being shifted onto employees who are not paid the money they have earned, and companies that are losing the ability to service their debts.
We would like to remind you
The sharp increase in oil prices in September did not bring a corresponding increase in revenues to the russian budget. The Kremlin is forced to return a significant portion of the taxes collected to oil companies, compensating them for the costs of supporting the domestic fuel market.