Two sources in the Duma told RBC the lower house would shed roughly 15% of its staff, while three others put the range at 15% to 20%. In the Federation Council, the upper chamber, the staff is to be reduced by about 10-15%, the sources said.
Unfilled vacancies will be eliminated first. Measures targeting employees of retirement age are also possible. Mass layoffs are not planned.
"No one will cut to the quick. The measure is aimed at reducing spending, and if you fire people with all their unused vacations and severance pay, it will mean huge costs," one RBC source in the Federation Council said.
At the same time, the Duma has tightened requirements for deputies' aides. New hires are now vetted through Poseidon, a state anti-corruption system that collects data on income, property and spending. Staff aides are required to pass a certification exam with a computer test on knowledge of the Constitution, legislation and the specifics of parliamentary work.
A queue has formed for the certification, leaving some lawmakers unable to hire aides, RBC reported. Deputies elected to the Duma for the first time have been particularly affected. Aides handle bureaucratic procedures and prepare background notes on the bills under consideration.
The cuts will be carried out under a decree signed by Vladimir Putin in October 2024. The document calls for reducing by at least 10% the number of civil servants in the territorial offices of federal authorities, federal courts of general jurisdiction and arbitration courts, and the judicial departments of the Supreme Court. The freed-up funds are to be directed to bonuses for employees of the relevant authorities.
The exact size of the Duma and Federation Council staffs is not known. In February 2011 the lower chamber's staffing table stood at 1,482 positions, according to Boris Gryzlov, who was its speaker at the time, RBC recalled.
Earlier, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin announced plans to cut by 15% the number of officials in the capital's government bodies and the management staff of some subordinate institutions. He cited slowing growth in the city budget's revenues as the reason for the cuts.