Russia Today (RT) television, led by propagandist Margarita Simonian, spent a record sum in its history in 2024 – 31.7 billion rubles – to spread Kremlin narratives around the world (4.2 billion rubles more than in 2023). This is revealed in the financial report of the non-profit organization “TV-Novosti”, which oversees the channel and was analyzed by “Mojem Obiasnit” (“We Can Explain”). RT’s budget is almost entirely funded by the state. It is comparable to the annual budgets of entire regions in the Russian Federation. For example, the funding for Ingushetia, Kalmykia, the Nenets Autonomous District, or the Jewish Autonomous Region is lower than that of Margarita Simonian’s media empire (27.7; 26.6; 23.4 and 20.2 billion rubles, respectively). By the decision of the Ministry of Finance, RT received 28.6 billion rubles from the state in 2024. In 2025, according to the budget law, maintaining the channel will cost taxpayers 31.1 billion rubles.According to documents, RT’s profit last year was the highest since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine. The channel earned twice as much as in 2023 – 410 million rubles. In 2022, RT ended the year with a loss of 25 million rubles.At the same time, RT has hidden information about the spending of public funds, although as a non-profit organization, it is required to report to the Ministry of Justice. “Mojem Obiasnit” notes that the channel’s report for 2024 has not been published on the ministry’s portal. In 2023, according to the available reporting, the television received a subsidy of half a million rubles from the “Znanie” (“Knowledge”) company and increased its staff from 3,774 to 4,088 employees.Details, HERE.
