February 26, 2015. A group of deceived housing construction investors are going to protest in Yekaterinburg once again on February 26. The event will take place at the city’s main square at 4 PM, Power in Movement, the NGO created to protect the rights of deceived participatory share housing construction investors, reports. ‘Sverdlovsk Region’s housing construction sector is on the brink of a deep recession. Up to a half of all the construction sites in the area might be frozen indefinitely very soon. Consequently, a number of deceived housing investors will go up; these people won’t be able

February 26, 2015. 10 Sverdlovsk Region-based towns might be affected by the upcoming springtime floods, the local Cabinet’s website states. This year, the water level is expected to reach its upper limit in the areas around the River Tavda and the River Ufa. As a result, Karpinsk, Krasnoufimsk, Irbit, Baikalovo, Turinskaya Sloboda, Makhnevo, Turinsk, Talitsa, Serov, and Tavda might feel the impact of the floods.

February 26, 2015. Last year, Russian micro-financing organizations’ clients used to borrow money primarily to buy home appliances or gifts for relatives or to fund household repairs; however, in the last quarter of 2014, there was an increase in the number of loans taken out to buy groceries and everyday goods. This trend is expected to continue this year, Bystrodengi reports. This micro-financing business predicts that while the population’s nominal income remains the same and the inflation rate keeps rising, blue-collar workers, public sector employees, and retirees – the micro-lending

February 26, 2015. Moody’s demoted ratings of eleven Russian Federation constituencies, including one located in Ural Federal District, namely, Khanty-Mansiysky Autonomous Region, RBC reports. In fact, Moody’s has already demoted Russia’s overall rating from Baa3 to Ba1, with Negative rating outlook. This, in its turn, affected the rating of eleven constituencies: Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Khanty-Mansiysky Autonomous Region, Samara Region, the Republic of Komi, Krasnodar Territory, Krasnoyarsk Territory, Belgorod Region, Nizhniy Novgorod Region, Vologda Region, and the Republic of Mordovia.

February 26, 2015. Yekaterinburg Kirovsky District Court pronounced a verdict of guilty on Dmitri Luzhnov, who was involved in a criminal lawsuit with charges based on large-scale copyright infringement (Article 146 (Part 2) of the Russian Federation Criminal Code), the press officer of Sverdlovsk Region public prosecution authorities reports. It was determined by the court that Luzhnov advertised his software installation services online in December 2014. He then obtained illegal distribution copies of Microsoft software products on the Internet and kept them in order to sell later. On the

February 26, 2015. Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s head plant is going to pay the college tuition fees of its future employees that are expected to be hired at the Nizhniy Tagil site as well as at the other member enterprises of the corporation, including Ural Transport Machine-Building Design Office and ChTZ Uraltrac. According to the corporation’s press service, the Russian Federation Education & Science Ministry provided positions for 74 students that will be hired by the corporation, including 10 positions for ChTZ Uraltrac. For the first time, students on the special-purpose program