UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 24, 2017. Fifty-six hostels fit for up to 1,000 guests currently operate in Yekaterinburg, the city council’s website states.

‘The number is expected to exceed one hundred by 2018, which is important in view of upcoming large-scale national and international events Yekaterinburg is to host,’ the website says.

In the meantime, the Russian Government has been considering a ban on hostels in regular apartment buildings for a few years now. A draft bill was heard at the State Duma as early as 2015. However, the market players managed to have the adoption of the bill postponed.