A number of media outlets recently published headlines suggesting that the Oryol Region had significantly budgeted for pregnant full-time students as part of a program to boost birth rates. However, as the regional government clarified to Business FM, these funds represent only an estimated volume of subsidies allocated in the budget, not a specific plan for the number of pregnancies.
«This is not a plan for student pregnancies, but a forecast of budget expenditures,» stated Artyom Korostelev, head of the Oryol Region Governor`s press service. He was commenting on media reports that regional authorities had allegedly «planned for 490 full-time student pregnancies» over the next three years. Korostelev emphasized that such headlines were taken out of context, and the figures only reflect the potential volume of funding for support measures.
The news about «planning pregnancies» emerged following the publication of a regional plan to increase birth rates. The document, among other things, indicates that the Department of Social Protection is tasked this year with providing 150 student families with a one-time payment of 100,000 rubles. For 2026, 160 such families are envisioned, and for 2027, 180, totaling 490 over three years. These are the figures that were erroneously interpreted as a «pregnancy plan.»
Artyom Korostelev explained that these amounts are allocated in the budget to provide payments to full-time female students who register their pregnancies. «This is our projected plan to have a certain calculation. If fewer subsidies are paid out, that money will simply remain in the budget and will not be reallocated elsewhere,» he clarified, noting that the actual number of recipients is significantly lower than the anticipated amounts. Currently, 94 students have received the 100,000 ruble payment.
The projected increase in the number of families with pregnant students in the region`s plans is explained by general goals to stimulate birth rates. The governor`s press service also added that no cases among schoolgirls eligible for such a payment have been recorded yet.
