OREANDA-NEWS The average earnings of convicts in Russia is 4.8 thousand rubles. This was reported by the acting head of the Department of industrial activity and labor adaptation of convicts of the (Federal penitentiary service) FSIN of Russia - Valery Panteleev. Recently, a seminar-meeting with a representative of the Israeli prison service was held. The head of the meeting was the first Deputy Director of the FSIN  - Anatoly Rudim.

"The average earnings of the convict today is 4.8 thousand rubles," Panteleev said, answering questions from the Israeli delegation. According to this information, this salary goes to the personal account of the convict involved in paid work.

Panteleev specified that the income of the employed condemned depends on qualification, on performance of norms of development. In addition, given that the number of jobs is less than the number of convicts involved in paid work, they are underemployed. At the same time, the FSIN noted, the most successful enterprises have a salary of 50 thousand rubles per month, although there are few such enterprises in the penal system.

It is noted that the wages of convicts do not fall below the minimum wage. However from this sum subtract payments on claims to victims of their crimes, the alimony and money for food and clothes.

For 8 months of this year more than 160 thousand convicts were involved in paid labor, Panteleev noted.

To date, prison labour has been used in the garment industry (25.4 per cent), as well as in Metalworking (15.3 per cent), agriculture (14.1 per cent) and wood processing (11.6 per cent).

Convicts in places of deprivation of liberty are trained in 168 professions, mainly in the fields of "agriculture, forestry and fisheries", "electricity and energy", "mechanical engineering" and "light industry". During the year, 130 thousand prisoners acquire professions. Quarterly, the FSIN receives information about the demand for various professions in the labor market in the regions for training convicts.