Russian companies made record $4.5 billion in “voluntary” payments to the state budget after Putin’s call to “chip in” for war in Ukraine

Russian companies contributed a record $4.5 billion to the state budget in voluntary payments since the beginning of the year, according to the Kremlin-aligned business newspaper Vedomosti. This figure, reported through Russia's electronic budget system, surpassed the initial budget projections by a significant margin. The surge in donations followed Vladimir Putin's suggestion during a closed-door meeting with major business owners, which came after discussions about financing the ongoing war in Ukraine.

The level of such voluntary contributions was already 50% higher than that of all of 2025 by the first seven and a half months of 2026. In the initial months of 2026, organizations transferred 15.6 billion rubles to the government budget alone, a staggering increase from the 15.6 billion rubles transferred at the end of April. By the end of June, the total had reached 294.4 billion rubles, marking a 30% increase from July to the first half of August.

These unprecedented contributions have now surpassed the proceeds from Russia's one-time windfall tax, which collected 318.8 billion rubles. The rise in non-tax revenue has occurred as Russia's deficit widens, reaching 6.455 trillion rubles, or 2.8% of GDP, in the first seven months of 2026, exceeding the full-year target.