Earlier this month Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he and almost everyone who works for him will take a 10% pay cut because of mounting economic sanctions imposed on his country.
Whether Putin and his staff will actually feel the slash in their salaries is debatable considering Putin is unaware of the amount printed on his paychecks. "Frankly, I don't even know my own salary, they just give it to me, and I put it away in my account," he reportedly said to a group of reporters during his annual Q&A session in December.
Putin's official salary is chump change compared to that of a prime minister of an island nation smaller than New York City.
Singapore's Lee Hsien Loong earns 12 and a half times more than Putin at a whooping $1.7 million. Loong's salary is large enough to pay for the leader's salary of India, Brazil, Italy, Russia, France, Turkey, Japan, United Kingdom, South Africa, and Germany.
Loong's Singapore is also the world's most expensive city for a second year in a row, according to the Economist's bi-annual Worldwide Cost of Living report.
Mike Nudelman/Business Insider