Millions for lies: how much do Kremlin propagandists earn

Journalists have calculated how many Russian pensioners could be fed with the money earned by Kremlin’s mouthpieces through disinformation.

Usually, The Insider examines Russian propagandists in the "Antifake" section. However, this time, the journalists of the publication decided to find out how much of Russian taxpayers’ money goes to the salaries of the main stars of Kremlin propaganda (Russian TV channels are only formally commercial, in fact, they receive huge subsidies from the budget). Russia’s budget expenditures in 2021 to support the media will increase by 40% compared to those planned last fall: almost 103 billion rubles will be divided among Channel One, RT, NTV, "TV Center", VGTRK, and other media close to the Kremlin.

To make the propagandists’ income less abstract, journalists expressed it in understandable units, namely — in the size of the average Russian pension (14 thousand rubles).

The information about the propagandists’ earnings was obtained from a source with access to FTS databases. The Insider’s correspondent checked their accuracy on themselves and acquaintances and confirmed that the information contained in the databases about official earnings corresponds to reality.

13. Andrey Norkin — 4.3 million (25 pensioners)

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The poorest of the propagandists turned out to be the host of the program "Meeting Place" on NTV, Andrey Norkin. His annual income is 4.3 million rubles (here and below — according to FTS reports for 2019 with information for the previous period, but there is no reason to believe that the amounts of propagandists’ income could have changed significantly in one year). However, Norkin’s salary significantly exceeds the income of pensioners who make up the bulk of the audience of state propagandists. The average pension in Russia is 14,163 rubles per month (or almost 170 thousand per year). Thus, Norkin earns about as much as 25 pensioners.

NTV is part of the "Gazprom-Media" holding, which is controlled by the state "Gazprombank". However, Norkin receives money not only from NTV but also from the publishing house "Komsomolskaya Pravda".

Norkin is a man with a difficult fate. He previously worked at Kommersant-FM radio (at a time when there was virtually no censorship at the station) and was considered a relatively liberal host, but then he took out a foreign currency mortgage, which became difficult to repay after Putin took over and the ruble depreciated. According to The Insider, after switching to television, he paid off the mortgage.

12. Dmitry Kiselev — 4.6 million (27 pensioners)

Norkin can be sympathized with: he goes on air every weekday but earns less than Dmitry Kiselev, who hosts the weekly program "Vesti Nedeli". The annual income for Kiselev’s appearance once a week with stories about radioactive ashes is 4.6 million rubles.

Dmitry Kiselev’s villa in annexed Crimea

This is Kiselev’s fee only for hosting the program on the "Russia" television channel. He also heads the state news agency "Russia Today", where he receives a salary, the size of which he hides from the public. It is only clear that it is significantly higher than his television salary. According to open sources, when Kiselev worked on the ICTV channel of Ukrainian oligarch Pinchuk, his salary was $50,000 per month (250 pensioners), and it is unlikely that Kiselev currently earns less.

11. Asker-Zadeh — 6.5 million (38 pensioners)

Officially, even more than Kiselev on the "Russia" channel, the host of the "Active Persons" program, Nailya Asker-Zadeh, receives 6 million 508 thousand 202 rubles (38 pensioners). At the same time, friendly conversations with top officials and businessmen rarely appear on screens, only a few times a year. However, she became the winner of the TEFI award in the "Best Interviewer" category.

According to an FBC investigation, Asker-Zadeh is in a relationship with the head of the state bank VTB, Andrey Kostin, due to which she has another channel for receiving taxpayers’ money (the banker’s lover’s yacht alone is valued at $62 million, or 4.7 billion rubles).

10. Andrey Dobrov — 7 million (41 pensioners)

Andrey Dobrov’s income is 6 million 973 thousand a year. His authorial program "Dobrov on Air" is broadcast on REN-TV, one of the recent episodes of which, for example, talks about the head of the FBC investigation department Maria Pevchikh as an agent of the British intelligence service.

REN-TV is part of the "National Media Group" of banker Yury Kovalchuk, who is close to Putin. The holding’s board of directors is chaired by Alina Kabaeva. In addition to Andrey Dobrov’s fake news, the channel specializes in reports about aliens, the deserted earth, and other "educational" themes.

9. Roman Babayan — 12.2 million (72 pensioners)

The income of the host of the "Own Truth" program on NTV and Moscow City Duma deputy Roman Babayan is open: 12.2 million rubles. He may be envied by the Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov with his modest eight million.

7-8. Olga Skabeeva (12.8 million) and Yevgeny Popov (12.9 million) — 150 pensioners together

Olga Skabeeva from "Russia 1" receives 12.8 million rubles. This is even higher than the official income of the Defence Minister Sergey Shoigu, who is satisfied with 12.6 million.

Skabeeva’s husband and her partner in the talk show "60 Minutes," Yevgeny Popov, has an annual income of 12.9 million. The income, like his wife’s, consists of two sources: payments from the "Russia" channel and its main holding VGTRK, which is fully state-owned.

Popov and Skabeeva are among the leaders in spreading disinformation.

6. Pyotr Tolstoy — 17.5 million (104 pensioners)

Pyotr Tolstoy earns approximately the same as Skabeeva and Popov (17.5 million), although a significant part of these funds is Duma salary. It’s hard to imagine what Leo Tolstoy would say if he found out what his descendant is doing. It’s difficult but still possible if you carefully read his publicism. For example, here’s what Tolstoy wrote in his famous article "Patriotism and Government":

"Patriotism and its consequences — wars, bring huge revenue to newspapermen and profits to most merchants. Any writer, teacher, professor is better secured in their position the more they preach patriotism. Any emperor, king gains more fame the more he is devoted to patriotism. The ruling classes hold the army, money, school, religion, press. In schools, they instill patriotism in children with stories, depicting their people as the best of all nations and always right; in adults, they incite the same feeling with spectacles, celebrations, monuments, patriotic false press; mostly, though, they incite patriotism by committing various injustices and cruelties against other peoples, arousing their enmity towards their people, and then they use this enmity to incite enmity in their own people.

Awake, people, and for the sake of all bodily and spiritual good, and the same good of your brothers and sisters, stop, think about what you are doing! And understand that your enemies are not Turks, not English, not French, not Germans, not Czechs, not Finns, not Russians, but your enemies, your only enemies, are you yourselves, supporting with your patriotism those who oppress you and make your misfortune governments".

5. Aleksey Pushkov — 18.2 million (107 pensioners)

Once, Aleksey Pushkov, whose face always has an expression as if he had just eaten something from Sheynin’s bucket, was entirely the head of the Duma committee on international affairs, which excused his passion for commenting on all world events for the media. After that, Pushkov was sent to an honorable retirement in the Federation Council, but he has not abandoned the habit of giving comments on any issue. It is still unclear how it is arranged, but state-owned media and agencies continue to take comments from him and publish news that invariably begins with the words "Aleksey Pushkov ridiculed".

4. Vladimir Solovyov — 52.6 million (310 pensioners)

Vladimir Solovyov’s peak of popularity is already over, TV ratings are falling, and he manages to draw attention to his show on YouTube only by breaking glasses in a fit of hatred towards his sound engineers or comically demonstrating karate moves (Solovyov considers himself a black belt holder, which greatly amuses real karate practitioners). However, the showman’s earnings are still in good order. The only official annual income of the most active propagandist is 52.6 million rubles (310 pensioners). This includes income from "Radio Russia", the TV channel "Russia", and Solovyov’s personal firm "SV Consulting" (through which for unknown reasons he receives hundreds of millions from the state Sberbank).

3-2. Margarita Simonyan and Tigran Keosayan — 36+60+60 million (214+357+357 pensioners)

Hidden income of the great animal lover Margarita Simonyan and her husband, the king of off-screen laughter Tigran Keosayan, became known after the publication of the FBC investigation, according to which over the past three years, the couple earned 720 million rubles, or 120 million per year per person, but if you consider only the money directly received from NTV, it turns out to be half as much.

According to The Insider, Simonyan’s official salary at MIA "Russia Today" is 20.4 million rubles, at ANO "TV-Novosti" (RT’s legal entity) — 16 million per year. In total, her salary (excluding schemes with the "International Saw" production) is 36.4 million rubles.

Margarita Simonyan has been the undisputed queen of disinformation for many years — no one appears in the "Anti-fake" section as frequently as she does.

1. Artem Sheynin — 100 million (587 pensioners)

Surprisingly, the largest income turned out to be from the host of the show "Vremya Pokazhet" Artem Sheynin. From JSC "Channel One" alone, he received 99 million 738 thousand 542 rubles over the year. Sheynin stands out among other propagandists with the image of a "hooligan", who has a limited and very specific vocabulary, especially aggressive intonations, and jokes aimed at the level of mentally retarded teenagers. Many viewers know Sheynin as the person who ran through the studio with a bucket of feces.

The Insider was unable to find out why Sheynin’s work is paid significantly higher than that of his colleagues. It cannot be ruled out that he has to personally ensure the participation of people portraying experts and foreigners in the recording of programs, but, firstly, substitute foreigners receive very small amounts, and secondly, they appear not only in Sheynin’s programs. Perhaps his image is simply more in demand on TV channels now than others.

Sheynin did not answer phone calls, The Insider’s messages in Telegram and WhatsApp asking him to justify his earnings were read but ignored. Yevgeny Popov refused to answer the question of whether he considers the high income of state TV hosts justified, instead expressing a desire to talk about a topic closer to him — garbage worms. His wife Olga Skabeeva also did not comment on The Insider’s data. Andrey Norkin explained that he is not allowed to comment on such topics due to the requirements of his employment contract.