What will change in the lives of Russians from October 1
Starting from October 1, 2025, a new set of laws will come into force in Russia, which will affect both the daily lives of citizens and the work of enterprises. Among the key changes are the launch of a digital ruble for the payment of pensions and benefits, credit holidays for small and medium—sized businesses, as well as the indexation of salaries of state employees. Read more about these and other innovations in the Izvestia article.
Credit holidays for SMEs and the self-employed
From October 1, 2025, banks and other credit organizations will be required to provide self—employed and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with credit holidays for up to six months (Law No. 276 - FZ of 07/31/2025). The rule applies to loans issued by banks, microfinance organizations and the state corporation VEB RF. So, the grace period can be obtained within the following amounts::
• for the self—employed - 10 million rubles;
• for microenterprises — 60 million rubles;
• for small enterprises — 400 million rubles;
• for medium—sized enterprises - 1 billion rubles.
In the future, the maximum limits on loans will be determined by the Government of the Russian Federation. However, not everyone will be able to use this privilege. The borrower must meet a number of requirements:
• not in bankruptcy, reorganization, or liquidation proceedings;
• do not have a court decision on debt collection or termination of the contract;
• there are no enforcement documents on debt collection or requirements for guarantors;
• loan delinquency — no more than 30 consecutive calendar days;
• there are no grounds for early repayment of the loan;
• the borrower does not own more than 25% of the authorized capital of companies that are not SMEs, or vice versa — there are no participants or shareholders with such a share in organizations outside the SME sector.;
• The benefits established by other federal laws do not apply to the contract for which vacations are requested.
An application for credit holidays can be sent to the lender in the manner provided for in the agreement, as well as by mail or delivered personally against receipt.
Long-term savings: new opportunities and exit rules
From October 1, 2025, the long-term savings program will become more accessible to citizens, because now it will be possible to join it through the Gosuslugi portal. To do this, it is enough to sign the contract using an unqualified electronic signature through the Gosklyuch service or a qualified electronic signature. The innovation is provided for by Federal Law No. 124-FZ of May 23, 2025 and is designed to simplify the procedure for participation in the program.
The changes affected not only the order of registration, but also the rules for exiting the program. Until now, a strict restriction has been in effect. If a citizen deposited funds, and then changed his mind and closed the contract, he was automatically deprived of the right to state co—financing - and not only under this contract, but also under all subsequent ones. The same rule applied if a person had several contracts and closed at least one of them.
A so-called cooling-off period is now being introduced, which allows the contract to be terminated without loss of benefits, provided that it has not yet received state co-financing funds. The right to state support under other agreements remains. It is only important to comply with the deadline: it is necessary to close the contract before April 1 of the year when funds from the budget should have been credited.
The new rules make participation in the program more flexible and secure. Citizens have the opportunity to change their minds without the risk of losing government support.
Introduction of the digital ruble: the first payments
Starting from October 1, 2025, pensions and social benefits will be available in digital rubles. To do this, the citizen will need to give consent to open an account in this currency through the bank's mobile application.
While the system will work in test mode, it will include only those who have decided to try to receive a pension in this format. The Central Bank stated that they guarantee the security of transactions.
Indexation of salaries of state employees
On October 1, 2025, a planned indexation of salaries of public sector employees will take place in Russia. The increase will amount to 7.6% and is fixed by Government Decree No. 2071 dated August 1, 2025.
The increase will affect employees of federal government, budgetary and autonomous institutions, employees of federal authorities, as well as civilian personnel of military units and law enforcement agencies. The indexation will affect not only basic salaries and tariff rates, but also all surcharges and surcharges that are calculated based on their value.
At the same time, teachers, doctors of municipal polyclinics and kindergarten teachers are not included in this increase, since their salaries are funded from regional and local budgets. More than 30 billion rubles have already been reserved for the implementation of federal indexation. This will support tens of thousands of workers across the country, providing them with income growth in the face of inflation.
Electronic certificates for pensioners
Starting from October 1, 2025, pensioners will be able to receive pension certificates in electronic form. To do this, each citizen is assigned an individual QR code confirming his status and equivalent in legal force to a paper pension certificate.
The service is provided by the Social Fund of the Russian Federation through the Gosuslugi portal. At the request of the ESIA operator, the system transmits information from the state information system "Unified Centralized Digital Platform in the Social sphere": last name, first name, patronymic (if any), SNILS, type of pension, the date of its establishment, as well as the time and date of data generation. Based on this information, a QR code is generated, which a pensioner can present to authorized persons through the Gosuslugi mobile application or print from his personal account in PDF format.
The order of the Ministry of Labor of the Russian Federation dated 03/10/2025 No. 98n stipulates that the fact of awarding a pension can be confirmed both by a traditional pensioner's certificate on a tangible medium and in electronic form. The new system simplifies the process of obtaining certificates, makes them more accessible and reduces the need for personal visits to the territorial authorities of the SFR.
Macroprudential limits for residential housing: reducing risks
Since October 1, the Bank of Russia has been introducing macroprudential limits (MPL) for loans for individual housing construction (IHS) and non-targeted consumer loans secured by real estate for the first time. In the summer, the regulator noted that in these segments, a significant part of the disbursements fall on borrowers with a high debt burden, who are more likely to be overdue. To limit the riskiest loans, MPLS are set at a level below the average market values recorded in the second quarter of 2025.
In the future, the Bank of Russia plans to gradually tighten the limits to the level typical for classic mortgages on the primary market and unsecured consumer loans.
Macroprudential limits help borrowers to reduce the share of risky loans in the total volume of disbursements. According to the Central Bank, in the second quarter of 2025, 30% of borrowers of residential housing and 46% of borrowers of loans secured by real estate had a debt burden above 80%. Ideally, the debt burden, that is, the ratio of loan payments to income, should not exceed 30% — this allows the borrower to safely service their obligations.
Labeling of building materials, cosmetics and sports nutrition
Starting from October 1, 2025, the Honest Sign system will start working for new product categories. Now manufacturers and sellers will have to apply unique codes to products and transfer data to the state system so that buyers can verify the authenticity of the goods.
The main innovation is the mandatory labeling of building materials. In accordance with Government Decree No. 820 dated 05/31/2025, cement, concrete, gypsum, building mixes and mortars are under control.
In addition, from October, labeling will become mandatory for cosmetics and household chemicals: decorative and care products, toothpastes, manicure and pedicure products. Sports nutrition labeling will also be introduced from this date.
The sale of unmarked product residues is allowed until the expiration date, and delivery is allowed until May 1, 2026. For violation of the rules, responsibility is provided for manufacturers and importers who will not use digital labeling.
Mandatory labeling is introduced to combat counterfeiting, improve the quality of goods and control tax payments. The system allows you to track the path of each item from the manufacturer to the buyer. The consumer can also scan the code using the mobile application and get full information about the product.
Benefits for unmanned aircraft
New tax breaks for the field of unmanned aircraft will begin to take effect on October 1. Now, when importing engines, spare parts and components for unmanned civil aircraft (UAVs) weighing from 0.15 to 30 kg to Russia, you will not have to pay VAT. The privilege also applies to printed publications and prototypes that are used in the development, creation or testing of such devices.
In addition, a zero VAT rate is set for the sale of unmanned civil aircraft of the specified mass in the EAEU countries. This measure will be valid until December 31, 2027.
New rules for monitoring the quality of care for children with disabilities
Starting from October 9, 2025, the Social Fund of the Russian Federation will begin monitoring the quality of care for disabled children under the age of 18 and adults with disabilities from childhood of group 1. Through the unified portal of public services, the authorities of the SFR will conduct systematic surveys (at least once every six months).
If dissatisfaction with the quality and volume of care is established, these persons will be informed of their right to refuse by submitting an appropriate application to the SFR (Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation dated 04/09/2025 No. 472).
Recall that a citizen caring for such people is entitled to a monthly payment of 10,950 rubles, which has been indexed since February 2025.
Bank deposit insurance: operations have become more transparent
A new law comes into force on October 30, 2025, which doubles the amount of insurance compensation for ruble deposits certified by savings certificates and placed for a period of more than three years. The maximum amount of compensation for such deposits will now be 2.8 million rubles. For all other types, the limit remains the same — 1.4 million rubles (Federal Law No. 347-FZ of 07/31/2025).
In addition, the Central Bank of Russia has published guidelines for banks, in which it draws attention to depositors who place amounts on accounts that significantly exceed their average monthly income. In such cases, banks should request documents from customers confirming the sources of funds (methodological recommendations No. 11-MP dated 09.09.2025).
These measures are aimed at increasing the transparency of transactions and protecting depositors, as well as helping banks more closely assess the risks when depositing large amounts.
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