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The Wagner mercenary company is fully funded by the Russian state, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin admitted during a meeting with military officials on June 27.
The country has paid Wagner mercenaries for the last year (as of May 2022) over RUB 86 billion (over $3.2 billion), including RUB 70 billion ($820 million) for fighters' needs and RUB 15 billion ($180 million) for "incentive payments." So-called "insurance payments" took another RUB 110 billion ($1.3 billion).
The Concord company, owned by Yevgeny Prigozhin, is Wagner’s real owner, Putin said without naming him. The company allegedly earned a total of RUB 80 billion ($940,000) last year by providing food supplies to the Russian army.
Most likely, Putin mixed up the incomes of Concord and its owner – as it was Prigozhin personally who received budgetary funding of RUB 80 billion for food supplies for the army last year, Russian independent news outlet Current TV noted on Telegram.
The Russian BBC service, however, noted that Putin has paid Wagner Group's bills since 2019.
"As for private security companies... this is not the Russian state," the Kremlin's leader said about the status of the Wagner fighters killed in Syria.
The Russian human rights project Gulagu.net writes that due to his comments, Putin has actually admitted to sponsoring terrorism – as Wagner has been accused of conducting terrorist attacks in nearly all areas of its operation throughout Africa, the Middle East, and Ukraine.
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