According to international treaties, a transition period has been established until 1 January 2026, during which the new regions must be integrated into the economic, financial, credit and legal systems of the Russian Federation, as well as into the system of state authorities.
The Russian government plans to allocate 374.2bn rubles from the federal budget to rebuild the infrastructure and ensure the defence and security of the four new Russian regions between 2023 and 2025.
The Ukrainian hryvnia has been officially withdrawn from circulation in these territories since early 2023, but citizens have until April 1, 2023, the right to convert their savings into roubles.
By the end of 2022, 570 km of roads and 16 bridges had been built in the territories that had become part of Russia. About 4.8 thousand facilities were restored, including about 1.5 thousand residential buildings and 780 social infrastructure facilities (more than 250 schools, 64 medical institutions, etc.). Forty-six facilities were built from scratch. Over 40 thousand builders from 56 regions of the Russian Federation, 8 federal customers and over 70 contractors are working in the new regions.
Since the beginning of the year, residents of the Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics and Zaporizhzhia and Kherson Regions can take advantage of preferential mortgage loans for the purchase and construction of housing. The decision to launch mortgage programmes for new regions was made by Russian President Vladimir Putin during the meeting of the Council for Strategic Development and National Projects on 15 December 2022, and in late December 2022, the Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin signed a relevant order.
At least 2,300 facilities will be restored and 62 new ones will be built in 2023.
Several laws on the integration of the Donetsk and Luhansk people’s republics and Zaporizhzhya and Kherson regions into Russia’s unified legal system, including the social one, will come into force at the beginning of March. Namely:
– pensions in the new regions of the country will be paid according to all-Russian norms. The new rules apply to citizens who permanently resided in these regions at the time of their incorporation into the Russian Federation, as well as those who came to Russia from these territories earlier.
The transition of the new regions to the all-Russian retirement age (60 years for women and 65 years for men) will last until December 31, 2027. According to the Russian Ministry of Labour, this deadline is necessary because the DNR, LNR, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions do not have unified pension legislation, and the grounds for retirement are also different. Thus, until 2027 residents of the new regions, who receive a pension but are not subject to the Russian pension age, will remain eligible for regional payments.
– The right to a monthly cash payment and a set of social services will be established for the privileged categories of citizens living in the new territories of the country. Residents will receive child benefits, free medical care, etc. in accordance with Russian law. Persons who suffered from political repression, radiation exposure, and those who participated in liquidation of the Chernobyl accident, etc., will also be eligible for benefits. The status of honorary donor in Ukraine will be equal to the badge ‘Honorary donor of Russia’. The amount of previous payments will be retained if it is higher than under Russian law.
It is assumed that in 2023, 369.8 thousand beneficiaries will receive monthly payments in the new regions, the cost of which will be about 15.7 billion rubles.
– The new regions will switch to the Russian system of compulsory social insurance, including the accrual of benefits for temporary incapacity for work, compulsory social insurance against accidents at work and occupational diseases, pregnancy benefits, etc.
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