UrBC, Moscow, May 21, 2019. Russian employers owed their workers nearly RUB 2.9 billion in delayed wages and salaries as of early April 2019; approximately the same amount of wage arrears also got paid out in the first two months of the year, Interfax refers to Russian Vice Premier Tatiana Golikova as stating.

‘The Russian Government made a drop in wage arrears its special priority. According to our latest data, the overall amount of delayed wages and salaries reached RUB 2.9 billion on April 1, 2019. At the same time, RUB 2.9 billion got paid to 68,000 employees in January and February 2019,’ Golikova said.

According to Golikova, the country’s businesses paid their workers (540,000 people all in all) RUB 13.6 billion worth of delayed pay last year.

‘As you can see, the official statistics and the data we quote for the payment of delayed wages and salaries look different. This is a fact that the Labor Ministry has confirmed,’ the Vice Premier said.