The decline comes as Russia struggles with a growing budget deficit, which reached 4.19 trillion rubles ($49.4 billion) by the end of August, already surpassing the government's annual target. Since January, total oil and gas revenues have dropped by 1.7 trillion rubles ($20.7 billion) to 6.6 trillion rubles ($80.4 billion). Revenues from the mineral extraction tax on oil fell 32% in September compared to last year, while gas tax revenues plunged 52%. Russia had planned to spend 13.5 trillion rubles ($164.5 billion) on defense in 2025, about 32% of all expenditures. "All these discussions about stagnation and inflation are actually about finding ways to cover the budget deficit," economist Oleh Pendzin told the Kyiv Independent in September.