Poverty is a social problem of our time, which has institutional foundations for its existence. The paper objective is studying the process of poverty institutionalization in Russia and finding ways to overcome it as a socio-economic phenomenon. The paper proposes measures for creating and improving existing institutions for struggle against poverty in the regions of Russia. According to the authors, improved state, private and mixed institutions in aggregate can effectively prevent the institutionalization of poverty in their territories. According to the authors and at the more adequate normative regulation of public relations, Russia will be able to achieve a real reduction in poverty in all Russian regions in a few years.