Deripaska said that 54% of the population live below the poverty line in the Russian Federation

“Recently Rosstat published a sad interpretation of its statistics: the agency claims that poverty in Russia in 2020 fell to a minimum since 2014. They are trying to convince us that the number of Russians whose incomes are below the subsistence level is 17.8 million people In fact, there are over 80 million citizens with such incomes in our country", - Deripaska wrote in his Telegram.

Deripaska added that over the years, the department has learned to "masterly juggle numbers", as a result of which we receive "gallant reports of alleged victories over poverty". According to the billionaire, these victories only happen on paper.

Let us remind you that this year the approach to calculating the subsistence minimum has changed in Russia. If earlier it was calculated on the basis of data on the increase in the cost of food, which Rosstat transmitted every three months, now it is through the median salary.

Thanks to the new approach to calculating the subsistence level, the number of Russians with incomes below this level decreased from 12.3% in 2019 to 12.1% in 2020.

Since this year, the authorities have also decided to develop new criteria for poverty.