The balance is interesting: Putin supported the cabinet's approach to budget formation

The balanced budget, which the cabinet will consider in September, will provide the Central Bank with more opportunities to ease monetary policy, which will stimulate economic growth. Such plans for 2026 were discussed at a meeting of the president with members of the government on August 27. The government is currently working closely with the Bank of Russia, the Finance Minister said. He called the conditions of the PREP this year "quite tough," but economic growth is expected to be at least 1.5%. Vladimir Putin approved the government's approach to maintaining a balanced budget. Other topics include preparations for the new academic year and large—scale changes in the education system, as well as the results of the tourist season in Russia.

How to prepare for the start of the school year in Russia

On August 27, Vladimir Putin held a meeting with members of the government. The first item on the agenda is the beginning of the school year. The Ministry of Education assured the president that the entire education system is prepared to receive students. In total, 43 new schools will be opened in Russia, and after major repairs, 670 general education institutions, 41 kindergartens and 22 colleges will reopen.

— All planned activities have been completed on time. Special attention was paid to preparations for September 1 in the border regions and regions reunited with Russia. Security measures are a priority. In total, almost 18 million schoolchildren will sit at their desks, 1.5 million of them are first—graders," said Sergey Kravtsov, Minister of Education.

Starting from September 1, the Russian education system will undergo a number of changes related to the introduction of unified federal programs. They are aimed at standardizing learning and reducing the burden on teachers and students through unified classroom planning. There will also be a mandatory number of hours to study each subject. In addition, a large-scale retraining program for history teachers will start from the beginning of the new academic year, as from September 1, 2026, all schools will switch to using unified state textbooks on history and social studies.

As for higher education, this year 5 million students will go to 1.2 thousand universities across the country, said Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko. The most popular areas are engineering, medical education, and pedagogy. Sergey Kravtsov confirmed the growing prestige of teacher education: if the year before last the competition for these areas was 10 people per place, then this year it was 12. This did not happen even in Soviet times, he noted.

— Among the important trends: according to the results of the Unified State Exam of the last academic year, there was a significant increase in students taking specialized mathematics — by 12%, physics — by 10%, chemistry, biology, computer science — also, on average, about 6% more students chose these subjects. We will continue to maintain interest in natural science subjects, and we are exceeding the government's plan for the development of natural science education," said Sergey Kravtsov.

Which tourist destinations are the most popular in Russia

Vladimir Putin asked Maxim Reshetnikov, the head of the Ministry of Energy, about the results of the summer tourist season in Russia. According to the minister, from May to June, the number of trips across the country increased by 10% compared to last year. It is expected that from May to September, this figure will reach 48 million trips, which is 8% more than in 2024. Reshetnikov noted that Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tatarstan and the Black Sea coast have traditionally become the most popular destinations for travelers. In particular, the tourist flow to Crimea increased by 11%, and growth was also recorded in the Krasnodar Territory, despite the difficulties in Anapa. The Minister expressed hope that the opening of Gelendzhik airport will improve the final performance by the end of the season.

Maxim Reshetnikov announced a noticeable increase in the number of tourist trips to Adygea, Karachay-Cherkessia, Nizhny Novgorod and Tver regions, and in Dagestan and Buryatia, according to him, the creation of infrastructure for new resorts has already begun. In addition, foreign tourists are increasingly traveling in Russia: their number increased by 18% in June 2025 compared to the same period last year. This is facilitated by the simplification of the visa regime, an increase in the number of direct flights with friendly countries, as well as the Discover Russia program launched last year to promote Russian tourism abroad.

The Minister recalled that this year the limits of the preferential lending program for the tourism industry have been additionally increased. 347 new hotels with 78,000 hotel rooms are under construction and design, and 28 facilities with 5,000 rooms have already been commissioned. In addition, large investment projects are actively developing in Russia. There are plans to build 21 water parks, 16 ski resorts and four amusement parks.

Summing up the summer season, the second part of which, according to Vladimir Putin's estimates, was quite hot, which rarely happens in Russia, the country's energy system was also assessed. She confidently coped with the peak loads of electricity consumption, including thanks to the work carried out in advance, said Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev. He also noted that peak loads are increasing annually: in the south of the country — by 1%, and in the east — by 5%.

"Both the population and our industry did not feel any problems related to the passage of these peak loads, and [the power system] continued to operate normally," he said, adding that the Ministry of Energy plans to commission 1,600 MW of new energy capacity by the end of the year.

Three-year economic forecasts

Economic issues were also discussed at the meeting. The Russian government is actively working on the draft federal budget for 2026-2028. According to Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, the document will be reviewed in mid-September. The main priority of the budget will be to provide resources for national development goals.

The Finance Minister stressed that the draft budget is being prepared in close cooperation with the Central Bank and will be balanced.

— A balanced budget will give the Central Bank more opportunities to ease monetary policy, which means that credit resources will be more accessible and more resources will appear in economic sectors. Accordingly, next year it will give an additional impetus to socio-economic development," he said.

— You know that there are a lot of nuances in terms of ensuring economic growth. But on the whole, of course, I support this approach," Vladimir Putin said.

The Bank of Russia lowered its key rate to 18% per annum following a meeting held on July 25. Anton Siluanov agreed with the forecast of the Ministry of Economic Development for GDP growth in 2025 - at least 1.5%, although "this year we see quite tough conditions for monetary policy."

Natalia Poluyanova, a member of the State Duma Committee on Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, explained to Izvestia that fiscal policy significantly affects the conditions for implementing monetary policy: the liquidity of the banking sector, the ruble exchange rate, aggregate demand, the structure of the economy and the dynamics of prices of goods and services.

— This influence is determined by approaches to budgeting, the structure of expenditures, their effectiveness and distribution over time. Monetary policy should respond in a timely and proportionate manner to changes in these parameters in order to limit the risks of inflation deviating from the target and the economy from a balanced growth trajectory, she said.

In addition, responsible fiscal policy is one of the necessary conditions for price stability, Poluyanova noted. A further reduction in the Central Bank's key rate will accelerate growth and ensure a recovery trend for manufacturing industries, First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov added. According to his estimates, the Russian manufacturing industry will increase by about 3% by the end of 2025, and overall industrial production in the Russian Federation is projected to grow by about 2% this year.