As Moscow faces growing economic challenges to fund its war against Ukraine, Russia is expected to be in a nearly £75 billion deficit by next year. President Volodymyr Zelensky announced the news on Sunday, speaking at a briefing attended by the Ukrainian news outlet Kyiv Independent.
“We already believe that next year Russia will have a significant deficit – almost $100 billion. We have seen the documents – a month ago this figure was $71 billion, but we see that the problems have really increased,” Mr Zelensky told journalists, promising to share analytics from Ukrainian intelligence in November. Russia’s draft budget for 2026 estimates this year’s deficit at only 5.8 trillion rubles (over £52 billion), according to Kyiv Independent. Zelensky said that the 50% tariffs imposed by the US against India could throw Russia into further economic troubles if the tariffs force New Delhi to reduce purchases of Russian oil.
Last week, US President Donald Trump said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi informed him of his readiness to stop buying Russian oil. According to Trump, “now it is necessary for China to do the same.”
However, the Indian Foreign Ministry said that the country’s authorities are focused on protecting the interests of Indian consumers when making decisions on oil and gas purchases.
Russia’s budget deficit hit 4.19 trillion rubles (approximately £36.8 billion) by the end of August, already surpassing the government’s annual target.
If the current trend goes on, Ivan Us, chief consultant of the Center for Foreign Policy Studies of the Kyiv-based National Institute for Strategic Studies, said that the deficit could reach 8 trillion rubles by the end of this year.
In its draft budget released early this month, Russia’s Finance Ministry revealed it would increase taxes on businesses and consumers to continue funding its war against Ukraine. The ministry said this is an alternative to increased borrowing and a step towards reducing the budget deficit. Most notably, government officials have outlined plans to raise VAT from 20% to 22%.
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