‘ Most small businesses in Chelyabinsk Region deal in wholesale and retail trade (47.7%). This might be due to the fact that trade is the field of business with the lowest starting capital needed; these data are comparable to the average Russian figures that come to 45.8%,’ Deputy Minister for Economic Development of Chelyabinsk Region Igor Lashmanov said to UrBC representative.

‘I’d like to emphasize that Chelyabinsk also usually gets on Russia’s top largest cities list in terms of per capita amount of trade centers and areas. The same is true of cafes, restaurants and the like, which means the regional dwellers are enjoying some financial stability,’ Mr Lashmanov said.