MOSCOW, April 19 (UPI) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has given himself a five-fold pay raise, also giving pay hikes to federal workers to curb corruption and boost efficiency.
Putin's pay was raised to $5,100 a month, while deputy prime ministers and federal ministers received $3,000 a month pay hikes. Some 35,000 other federal workers will get monthly pay hikes of $100 to $500, according to a copy of the April 10 decree obtained by the Moscow Times.
"These figures reflect the expectations of the bureaucrats, as our research based on conversations with some of them, shows," said Vladimir Rymsky, an analyst at Indem, an organization that tracks government corruption.
The raises affect 10 percent of Russia's federal workers and it's unclear if the remaining 350,000 civil servants may expect raises.
Al Breach, chief economist at Brunswick UBS, said the raises are a start, but to eliminate corruption, the country would need to have less subjective legislation, more extensive media coverage and a cultural change making it unacceptable to steal.
