There was no "against": The State Duma froze the indexation of military salaries and pensions

On the eve of September 24, the State Duma adopted in the first and immediately in the third reading amendments temporarily suspending the rules on indexation of pensions and salaries of the military. The document was supported by 322 deputies, 25 abstained. No one voted against the government initiative, including members of the Defense Committee.

"It is proposed this year to skip the indexation of the monetary allowance of military personnel and persons equated to them, by directing and ensuring the concentration of resources to provide additional support to participants in a special military operation," Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Lavrov said at a plenary session of the State Duma.

Amendments to the Budget Code provide for the suspension until January 1, 2025 of the operation of part 9 of Article 2 of the federal law "On the allowance of military personnel and the provision of separate payments to them."

The norm states that salaries for military positions and ranks are indexed annually taking into account the inflation rate. Indexation, as a rule, takes place in October, the State Duma clarified.

"This provision of the bill will allow suspending certain provisions of the legislative acts of the Russian Federation establishing the procedure and timing of the indexation of salaries of salaries of military personnel and persons equated to them," the explanatory note to the adopted bill says, as previously reported by EADaily.

The note adds that for the participants of the military operation on Ukraine has legislatively established additional measures of social support, including additional payments to the monetary allowance.

In addition, incentive payments and compensations are provided for SMO participants, the authors of the amendments indicated.:

"The financial support of these measures requires significant expenditures of the federal budget."

At the end of 2023, the State Duma adopted a law providing for the indexation of the monetary allowance of military personnel and persons equated to them by 4.5 percent.

Initially, it contained a proposal to suspend indexing for the military in 2024, but by the second reading it was removed. In July, a law was passed to increase military pensions by 5.1% from October 2024.