A Law To Introduce Food Cards Across Russia Has Been Introduced In The State Duma

Before that, food coupons were introduced in a number of regions.

Food certificates for low-income citizens may appear in Russia at the federal level. The corresponding legislative bill was introduced in the State Duma by a group of deputies headed by Chairman of the Committee on Labor, Social Policy and Veterans Affairs Yaroslav Nilov.

According to the document, citizens whose average per capita income does not exceed the subsistence minimum established in the region of their residence will be able to claim for assistance. It is assumed that the nominal value of the food certificate will be 30% of the subsistence minimum.

The explanatory note to the bill notes that funds for the initiative will be allocated from the federal budget in the form of subventions. If passed, the bill will come into force 180 days after the day of its official publication. "This law will ensure social justice: no one should be left without basic foodstuffs. We offer a tool that really works in the regions and will now become available to all those in need in Russia," said one of the authors of the bill, the first deputy head of the faction "Fair Russia - For Truth" Dmitri Gusev. In turn, Nilov stressed that the funds provided to the poor will be "colored" to control their spending. "Neither alcohol, nor tobacco, nor other excesses can not be purchased within the certificate," - emphasized the deputy.

In December 2024, the State Duma has already proposed to introduce grocery cards for the poor throughout Russia. Then such an initiative was supported by the head of the Duma Committee on Financial Market Anatoly Aksakov. Before that, in a number of Russian regions, the authorities introduced food coupons. In 2023, in such cities of the Amur region as Svobodny and Tsiolkovsky, issued cards with a limit of 2000 rubles per person, provided the level of income below the subsistence minimum. The experiment of electronic food certificates was launched in 2023 in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug as well. In Kamchatka introduced cards for fish.

According to Rosstat, in the first quarter of 2025, 11.9 million Russians had an income below the subsistence minimum, which amounted to 16,621 rubles per month. However, the real number of people below the poverty line may be as high as 18 million, said Dmitry Yanin, chairman of the board of the International Confederation of Consumer Societies (ConfOP).

The necessary food basket should include bread, milk, cereals, meat, fish, oil, vegetables, fruit, as well as baby food, if we are talking about families with a child, said the founder of the company "OFFLINE" Nikita Sennikov. He estimated the cost of such a food basket per person at 5000-6000 rubles per month. Thus, to provide for 15-20 million people, the state will have to spend from 900 billion to 1.2 trillion rubles a year, and this is already "an impressive amount," the expert emphasized.

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