Kremlin to Start Firing Governors for Low Birth Rates

The presidential administration will begin evaluating the performance of governors based on the birth rate in the region from 2025, a source in the cabinet told Verstka. According to him, the government is currently preparing a methodology for calculating the total fertility rate (the average number of children per woman of reproductive age) for the Kremlin, which will be included in the key performance indicators (KPI) for regional leaders.

"The birth rate will be assessed [from next year], although I have a feeling that it is already being assessed," a source in the government of one Siberian region noted in a conversation with Verstka. He expressed concerns that the Kremlin may demand an increase in the indicator, but it will not be possible to do so without serious cash injections. For failure to meet the KPI, governors may face dismissal and a "black mark" for their future careers, the source noted. According to him, other representatives of the regional government will also get it: the federal center demands an increase in the birth rate from the governor, and the governor - from his subordinates, in particular from ministers.

The governors (who are almost all men) had better call in the secretaries more often to start improving the birth rates.

The greatest agitation to increase the birth rate can be expected in those regions where there is no money for financial assistance to young families and mothers. “Well, think for yourself, what is easier: to hold a poster contest “I am a mother” or to give each mother several hundred thousand rubles?” explained the interlocutor of “Verstka”.

In the picture we can see the Kartuzovs drive away in their new UAZ-Patriot SUV, which they won as a grand prize in a regional contest titled "Give Birth to a Patriot on Russia's Independence Day.