Anti-coronavirus measures cost Russian regions 1.1 trillion rubles ($15.565 billion) in 2020, Russia’s Accounts Chamber said on Thursday.
"The coronavirus pandemic seriously complicated the situation in Russian regions, with the expenditure line supplemented with measures to prevent the pandemic consequences. The cost Russian region nearly 1.1 trillion rubles," it said.
According to the Accounts Chamber, most of these expenditures were covered by governmental assistance in 2020 but regional debt grew by 380 billion rubles ($5.375 billion) in 2020, to 2.5 trillion rubles ($35.375 billion), TASS reported.
"In general, the government’s measures helped to considerably diminish the negative impact of the pandemic’s economic consequences on the regions’ public debt. The aggregate regional debt would have increased much more but for these measures," the Accounts Chamber quoted its auditor Alexei Savatyugin.
