The Wagner Group is completely dependent on state support, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with servicemen in the Kremlin on June 27. The Russian Defense Ministry and the state budget provide and pay for the fighters of this private military company.
Between May 2022 and May 2023, the Russian government allocated 86.26 billion rubles ($1.04 billion) to pay salaries and benefits to Wagner fighters.
Wagner forces withdraw from the Southern Military District headquarters in Rostov-on-Don to return to base, June 24, 2023. (Photo: Reuters)
Meanwhile, Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, co-owner of the Concord catering company, has made billions of rubles from state contracts.
“When the maintenance of the Wagner Group fell on the shoulders of the state, the owner of Concord received… 80 billion rubles ($960 million) from the state in one year by supplying food to the army. I hope that no one stole anything while fulfilling these contracts,” President Putin said, stressing that the authorities “will certainly conduct a thorough investigation.”
On the same day, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that the private military company Wagner is preparing to deliver heavy weapons to units of the National Armed Forces.
The Wagner Group currently has many of the same weapons as a conventional army, including tanks, air defense systems and attack aircraft. Some of these weapons were used by Wagner in the rebellion last weekend.
Hoang Pham (Source: VOV Online Newspaper)
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