Russian regions, faced with a sharp increase in budget deficits, have started borrowing more to cover current expenses. By the end of 2025, the total debt of Russian regions increased by 11% year-on-year to reach 3.48 trillion rubles. This follows from a calculation by the rating agency ACRA, based on data from the Ministry of Finance, writes “Vedomosti”. The agency “Expert RA” noted that the total debt volume has risen to a record level for the last 15 years.
Mostly, the regions’ debt grew due to bank loans: their volume increased almost threefold and amounted to 676 billion rubles. The volume of issued bonds increased by 6% year-on-year (+24.8 billion rubles), while the regions’ budget loans and state guarantees, on the contrary, decreased by 5% and 24% respectively (-124.1 billion and -15.3 billion rubles). At the same time, the total expenses of the regions on debt servicing last year increased by 39% to 105 billion rubles. In 2024, they were at the level of 75 billion rubles, which is 15% higher than in 2023 (65 billion) (The Moscow Times).
