Putin says Wagner group fully financed by Russian government to the tune of $940m a Year

Advertisement

Wagner’s owner, the Concord company, received 80 bln rubles ($940 mln) from the state in one year for supplying food providing food services to the army, Putin noted

MOSCOW June 27 The Russian government fully ensured the financing of the Wagner Private Military Company (PMC), President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with the Defense Ministry’s military personnel.

“I want to note and I want everyone to know that the financing of the entire Wagner group was fully ensured by the state,” he said. “We fully financed this group from the Defense Ministry, from the state budget,” Putin added.

From May 2022 to May 2023, the state alone allocated 86.2 bln rubles ($1 bln) to PMC Wagner in the form of salary to fighters and incentive rewards, the president noted. “Of that amount, remuneration equaled 70.38 bln [rubles], incentive rewards amounted to 15.87 bln [rubles], insurance payments totaled 110.17 bln [rubles],” he said.

Meanwhile, Wagner’s owner, the Concord company, received 80 bln rubles ($940 mln) from the state in one year for supplying food and providing food services to the army, Putin added. “The state fully ensured the financing [of Wagner], whereas a portion of that group, this Concord company, earned 80 bln rubles during the same period,” he said. “Hopefully, nobody stole anything during these activities or, let’s say, stole less,” he noted. “We will obviously look into all this,” the president stressed.