Overall, the amount of unpaid wages rose 16 percent in June, and exceeds 3.4 trillion rubles ($1.7 billion), the news agency said, quoting figures from the State Statistics Committee. More than 33,000 enterprises, 20,000 of them in farming, have no funds to pay wages, the committee said.
"This is a result of the chain reaction of mutual non-payment of debts sweeping the country," Itar-Tass said.
It cited an extreme example of a farm in the Far East where workers have not been paid since last August. Even if they get back pay, there will be no provision for inflation, the news agency said.
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