Moscow Mayor suggests restricting benefits for unemployed Russians
Sergey Sobyanin proposes saving one trillion roubles in health insurance benefits for ten million unemployed Russians
18.09.2025
Article published on the moscowtimes.ru website
The Moscow Mayor, Sergey Sobyanin, has proposed major changes to the health insurance system for unemployed Russians.
At a meeting of the Moscow Financial Forum, he stated that annual insurance costs for the unemployed amounted to approximately one trillion roubles across Russia, of which Moscow pays 180 billion. “A working person and a pensioner who has had a career are provided with health insurance. However, we also guarantee cover for those who don’t do anything and don’t want to”, RBK reports Sobyanin as saying.
According to the Mayor, a significant portion of the around ten million unemployed Russians have no real reasons for being out of work. He stated that mothers with large families, people with disabilities and students deserve support, while millions of others “are not burdened by any restrictions, do not work and have not applied for social support”.
The unemployment issue has already been discussed by the State Duma. In autumn 2023, Andrey Gurulev, then a member of the Defence Committee, proposed sending the unemployed to the war in Ukraine. A similar initiative was put forward by Maxim Ivanov, a deputy from the United Russia Party, who noted that businesses were suffering from a shortage of personnel due to military mobilisation and that “valuable specialists” should be retained, while those registered at employment centres should be sent to fight.
Last summer, it became known that Russians registered at labour exchanges were being offered military service contracts as a job opportunity. According to Baza sources, citizens who refuse such “employment” twice would be denied unemployment benefits.
