Russian Lawmaker In Duma Turns To Mate While Describing 'hole' In Budget

• 26.05.2026, 15:07

And asked if the authorities were going to print money again, like in the 1990s.

Russian State Duma deputy Valeriy Gartung has described a hole in the Russian budget and warned of the risk of money printing with subsequent hyperinflation.

He said the deficit for last year and the current year combined is already approaching a whopping 11 trillion rubles ($154.5 billion), writes "Agency".

He demanded that the Russian authorities explain how they are going to close the financial hole. "What are we going to do about the federal budget deficit? We have over 5 trillion last year and now another under 5 trillion. The total is about 11 trillion already b**. What are we gonna do about it? Are we gonna print money? Like in '92, when prices were rising by 30% every week," Gartung said.

He said that money should be taken "where it is": from natural monopolies, raw materials and financial sectors.

The context makes his words even harsher. According to the RF Ministry of Finance, the federal budget deficit for January-April 2026 reached $82.1 billion. This is already higher than the annual plan: the budget for the entire year included a deficit of about 3.8 trillion rubles. Budget expenditures are growing faster than revenues.

Forbes, citing data from the Ministry of Finance, wrote that in the first four months, expenditures increased to $246.1 billion, while revenues decreased by 4.5%. In fact, even the State Duma already recognizes the problem that the Kremlin is trying not to put on the public agenda: the war and the ramping up of military spending are blowing through the budget, and there are no easy solutions. Raising taxes is dangerous, cutting spending is difficult, and printing money risks an inflationary blow.