In the draft budget of Kalmykia for 2022, 97.000 euros were allocated for the preservation of the language. On October 26, in Elista, public hearings were held on the draft budget of Kalmykia for 2022-2024. The project details were published on the website of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic.

Several thousand euros less has been allocated for the development of the national language than for the subprogram "Improving the efficiency of management and disposal of state property of the Republic of Kalmykia" (219.000 euros) or the subprogram "Prevention of extremism, terrorism and illegal migration" (almost 121.000 euros).

Lawyer Oksana Sanjinova, an activist from Elista who participated in the hearings, said that the reason for such insignificant expenditures on the development of the national language may lie in the policy of the federal centre.

“Perhaps the task is not to create an awareness of independence in the national republics, because language affects a lot.”

The speaker emphasised that local authorities "think narrowly enough, they do not care about the development of the republic and the self-awareness of the people, they are ready to carry out the directives imposed from above."

Earlier, public activists from many regions of the country expressed concern that the bill initiated by the State Duma would lead to the disappearance of national languages ​​and become a threat to the preservation of the culture of these peoples. Activists object to the adoption of the bill, demanding its removal from the agenda, claiming that it is destructive and aimed at ousting national languages ​​from public life.

In January-August 2021, the natural population decline (when the number of deaths exceeds the number of births) in Kalmykia was more than a hundred times higher than the same figure for 2020. This is an record for the country in percentage terms.