$600 a month... ouch. Although it's far better than a teacher
As far as the fleet - I really don't think Putin is on the
wrong track here; but there's really a big problem with distribution of money to all government-supported professions in general and that's what worries me.
Russia is NOT poor. There's very encouraging economic indicators from there in the last few years - Putin has at least not dropped the ball when the oil prices started going up, and Russia has made a lot of money from this. Industrial production seems to have increased, and from the looks of it - all is good.
But the problem is that the benefits of this are going to, at best, 10% of the population; much of the money that's made goes abroad in various schemes. Meanwhile 90% of the populace is worse off.
And, of course, shockingly enough - despite the apparent economic uplift - it was only a few months ago that Putin had approved measures to cut pensions and benefits. That's what my tooth is, since I do have old relatives in Russia who've been seriously affected by this.
Sorry if I seem a bit bitter about this whole Russia thing. It is all pretty personal to me - if it weren't for the circumstances that the current government is perpetuating, I would still be there.