Russia's Finance Ministry has proposed cancelling benefits in kind for public-sector employees and converting them into additional salary payments.
Finance Minister Anton Siluanov suggested the idea to President-elect Vladimir Putin during a meeting on Thursday on implementation of Putin's pre-election promises.
Benefits in kind in Russia include free travel on public transport and discounts on utility service payments.
"We raised monetary allowances for servicemen and implemented a considerable re-organization of the wage system and the abolition of benefits in kind [for them] at the same time," Siluanov said. "I think we should conduct the same process in terms of a general increase in wages for public-sector employees."
Putin said the monetization of benefits should not leave workers worse off.
"We had this experience with benefits monetization [for retirees] and we need to prevent a situation when cancellation of benefits eats up all increases [in wages]. The growth must be real," Putin said.
