Vladimir Putin has delayed his flagship $360bn national investment plan by six years as the coronavirus pandemic pitches Russia into recession and leaves a hole in the federal budget.
Mr Putin unveiled the so-called National Projects two years ago as a much-needed Rbs25.7tn ($362bn) injection into the Russian economy, and promised it would lift stagnant living standards and drive up moribund GDP growth to exceed the global average by 2024.
The decision to delay the initiative, billed by the Kremlin as Mr Putin’s primary domestic objective during his current term as president, is the starkest sign yet of the damage the Covid-19 pandemic is wreaking on Russia’s economy and the long-term impact on the country’s budget revenues.