Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law today allowing those who enlist to fight in Ukraine to have their unpaid debts forgiven, up to an amount of 92,000 euros.
The new law will enable those who sign a one-year contract after December 1 to go fight in Ukraine and be relieved of their debts. The law will also apply to the wives of these fighters.
The total amount of debts covered will be 10 million rubles (about 92,000 euros).
This measure, approved by the Russian parliament on Tuesday, is considered a significant incentive by experts, as Russia seeks volunteers for a conflict that has now lasted more than 1,000 days.
The law will mainly apply to young Russians eligible for frontline service, as it is assumed that those in their 20s or 30s are most likely to have taken out loans, particularly for housing.
The law offers “a new way for someone to get rid of the unbearable burden of debt, at least for several hundred thousand people,” political analyst Georgi Bovt noted on Telegram.
“Until now, there were only provisions for delaying debts” for fighters, said another expert, Sergey Krivenko.
The new law also applies to recruits. Recruits theoretically cannot be sent to the front but can choose to sign a contract to join the professional army and be sent to fight in Ukraine.
Russian authorities are “strengthening the motivation for signing such a contract,” Bovt said.
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Russian fighters serving on the front lines are already paid much better than the national average.
Interest rates in Russia are extremely high, and many Russians have almost no cash savings.
More than 13 million Russians had at least three loans in the first half of the year, which is a 20% increase compared to the previous year. The average debt amounts to about 1.4 million rubles (12,900 euros), according to a recent report from the Russian Central Bank.
On the other hand, Ukraine also has laws that allow fighters to receive preferential loan terms and, in some cases, debt forgiveness.
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Source: N1, Photo: REUTERS