PM: Russia may raise minimum wage by 21% from July 1

ST. PETERSBURG, Mar 25 (PRIME) -- Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Friday asked the ruling United Russia party’s deputies to work out a bill to raise the country’s minimum monthly wage by about 21% to 7,500 rubles from July 1, he said at a forum of the party.

“As the chairman of the government and the chairman of the party, I would like to inform you that I have made a decision to set the minimum monthly wage at 7,500 rubles from July 1, increasing it by almost 21%. I ask State Duma’s deputies from the United Russia party to prepare a corresponding bill as soon as possible and to approve the bill swiftly,” he said.

In the future, Russia should increase the minimum monthly wage to the amount of living wage and maintain it, he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets said that the bill has already been prepared by the United Russia party.

Labor and Social Protection Minister Maxim Topilin told reporters that the measure will require additional 6 billion rubles from budgets of several levels in 2016, but “we assume that no additional money will be needed in budgets,” he said.

Topilin also said that the country’s minimum monthly wage can be raised to the living wage by 2020.

(68.9328 rubles – U.S. $1)

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