August 23, 2013. 3.1bn RUR will be directed to road repair in Sverdlovsk Region in 2013 altogether, which is 2.5 times more than a year earlier, the Governor of Sverdlovsk Region’s Information Policies Department refers to head of Uralupravtodor (the local division of Rosavtodor, the road construction authority) Andrey Stolyarov as saying. Stolyarov explains that the funding of road repair jobs has increased considerably once the Federal Road Funds were introduced. ‘We expect the financing to remain at least no less than in 2013,’ Stolyarov says. Uralupravtodor is planning to use the money to

August 23, 2013. Some 10,000 residents of Yekaterinburg might face a winter without heating this year. Yekaterinburg Council’s press service reports this has to do with the fact that the Russian Defense Ministry’s facilities are completely unprepared for the winter season. The facilities in question are four boilers at military units 20421, 32979, and 71599, at Ural Military District’s headquarters, and Power Station 19 at Military Station 32. All of these heating facilities are maintained by three companies and provide heat to 102 buildings and 2 socially important objects. ‘The local

August 23, 2013. Machine-building and mineral production in Sverdlovsk Region proved one of the most highly-performing industries, Sverdlovsk Region Government’s press service reports. The machines and equipment production rose by 33.1% in the first half of 2013 against a year earlier, the mineral resources production output went up by 7%, the pulp and paper and the printing and publishing sector increased by 6%. At the same time, the transport vehicles and machines production declined by 23%, the oil production dropped by 24.5%. It was also reported earlier that Sverdlovsk Region industrial

August 23, 2013. The Labor Ministry drafted a project on changes in the pension insurance and the fees that will mean all the preferential terms offered to SMEs will be lifted. Within the next five years (starting from next year), the insurance fee will keep rising steadily from 20% to 30%. This means that by 2018, the rate imposed on the SMEs will be same as the one imposed on the larger businesses, Vedomosti reports. The rate increase will affect small businesses and sole traders involved in construction, building, or social (education, healthcare, sports, culture), sectors, pharmacy

August 23, 2013. The volume of overdue mortgage payments rose by 100m RUR in the first half of 2013 (0.2%) and reached 41.8bn RUR, the National Collection Service reports. At the same time, the share of these payments in the total loan book is now smaller and comes to 1.8%, while a year earlier, the figure was 2.5%. The total loan book rose by 13% in the first half of 2013, while the mortgage market, which increased by 18%, has outstripped the retail lending sector, which rose by 17.5%, for the first time this year. The total worth of loans offered to private individuals was more than 9