The incumbent President's salary is double that of the previous one. Still, Mr Putin is paid more than Mr Medvedev
The President's official website yesterday posted data on the material status of the President as well as members of his family. In 2008 Mr Medvedev received 4,139,726 roubles as his presidential salary. With his wife he owns a 367.8 sq m apartment in the Russian Federation (his previous declaration specified that the apartment was in Moscow). He has nine accounts at Russian banks holding 2,818,780.8 roubles and a 4,700 sq m plot of land which he rents. Svetlana Medvedeva earned no income, has an account of 135,000 roubles, two parking places with a total area of 32.5 sq m and a 1999 Volkswagen Golf car. The President's underage son, Ilya, has no income or property.
As follows from the declaration filed by candidate Medvedev for 2007 after being elected President his income has dropped almost by half. As Deputy Prime Minister, plus royalties from St Petersburg University and Prospekt Publishers, he earned 7 million roubles a year.
The current President earns twice as much as Mr Putin earned in 2006 (during the 2007 parliamentary elections he declared an income of 2 million roubles).
Igor Nikolayev of FBK reminds us that the salaries of top officials have been repeatedly adjusted for inflation, which accounts for the doubling of the presidential salary.
Mr Medvedev's income is fairly modest compared with those of his counterparts abroad, but it would be proper to compare it not with that of his foreign colleagues, but against the average wage in the country, says Mr Nikolayev. Mr Medvedev's salary is 19 times the national average (17,500 roubles a month). German Chancellor Angela Merkel, with an annual income of 270,000 euros, is 5.6 times ahead of the average German.
In reality, the President earns a lot more. Under the Law on the Budget, in 2004 the President was entitled to 3.5 million roubles with another 19.8 million rouble allowance for hospitality expenses. The 2008 budget law does not specify the item "President", but the overall sum is 35 million roubles.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin also published his declaration yesterday. He too now earns more than before: his salary is 4,622,400 roubles and his military pension is 100,600 roubles. Mr Putin has not acquired any new property (apart from a parking place in a collective car park): he has an apartment in St Petersburg, 1,500 square metres of land outside Moscow, two vintage Volga cars, a car trailer and 230 shares with the Bank of St Petersburg. His Niva car was bought too late to be put in the declaration. Lyudmila Putina has neither income nor property.
Anastasia Kornya