Revenues to the Russian federal budget from oil and gas sales declined by 14.4%. In May, the drop in oil and gas income accelerated: from January to April, the decrease was 10.3%. The main reason for the decline is low hydrocarbon prices: while in 2024 the average price per barrel exceeded $80, in 2025 the price mostly fluctuates between $65 and $70.
The rise in housing and communal services (HCS) tariffs in Russia by almost 12% from July 1 is due to increases in the costs of metals, equipment, fuel, and services for resource supply organizations, a high degree of network wear and tear, and a staffing crisis in the HCS sector: wages in the sector are 30% lower than the average in Russia, which requires increased personnel expenses and annual inflation-linked indexation. As a result, in some regions tariffs will exceed the announced 21%, reaching even higher levels: Perm Krai – 25.3%, Arkhangelsk region – 24.8%, Chelyabinsk region – 22.8%, Republic of Mordovia – 22.8%, Kemerovo region – 21.9%, North Ossetia-Alania – 21.4%.
There are over 10 million debtors in Russia: in the first five months of this year, they repaid 51.9 billion rubles in debts, of which only 675.5 million rubles were alimony payments. Many now complain that they cannot travel abroad this summer due to legal proceedings related to their debts.
Auto loan debts of Russians grew by 14 billion rubles — from 79 to 93 billion rubles — and their share increased by 0.5 percentage points in three months (to 3.6% as of April 1).
The number of pensioners in Russia as of April 1, 2025, was 40.961 million, down from 41.169 million on January 1, a decrease of 208,000. Among pensioners, 33 million are not working. Pensioners make up more than 28% of Russia’s population.
Controlling not only people but also bees: Rosselkhoznadzor (Russian agricultural watchdog) has required beekeepers to register their bee colonies by September 1 and enter them into a tracking system. Each bee colony occupying one hive must be registered. The hives themselves should be tagged with labels or chips containing information about the colony and its owner. Specialists explain Rosselkhoznadzor’s actions as a desire for complete control: “But bees have lived on Earth for millions of years, and domestic agencies’ wishes are deeply indifferent to them.”
Free education in Russian schools for children of migrants should be canceled, and the number of attempts to pass the Russian language test should be limited, stated Nilov, head of the State Duma committee on labor, social policy, and veterans affairs.
Putin said that naivety and willingness to trust everyone are traits of the Russian people, and he regrets this.
In the Irkutsk region, former flight attendant Maria Makhmutova was detained after posting an Instagram video criticizing Russia Day. She called the holiday a “circus of degenerates,” called participants in the war against Ukraine murderers, and said their children “will suffer.” “What are you proud of? That you live as the last assholes finishing salt? That you have to kill people to buy cars, apartments... and drink like there’s no tomorrow,” Makhmutova said. She was reported for “extremism and inciting hatred.”
Due to Western sanctions and debt obligations, Belarus’s largest pellet factory has repeatedly suspended production and now is forced to rely only on domestic supply.
The Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of Belarus has ordered businesses to stop selling non-alcoholic beer online.
In Gomel, residents are invited to nostalgically revisit the “Soviet era” at outdoor film screenings in Gromyko Park, showing Soviet propaganda films like “Timur and His Team.”
