UrBC, Moscow, October 14, 2015. The overall amount of past-due car loan payments went up by 22% since the start of the year and came to 64.1bn RUR, Sequoia Credit Consolidation reports. The figure mainly increased because of a dramatic rise in interest rates (up to 30% a year in January-March). The rates are now back to 17%-19% a year, yet new car loans are still hardly affordable. Experts don’t think any substantial decrease in interest rates very likely, as Russia’s macroeconomic situation remains unstable. In the United States, in the meantime, interest rates remain under 4% (and under

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 14, 2015. Letting one’s Yekaterinburg apartment turned 0.4% less profitable than one year ago, N1.ru and E1.Nedvizhimost report. The most profitable places to let are one-bedroom apartments in Vokzalny District, where one can expect an 8% ROI. Studio apartments in the remote areas of Komperssorny and Elizavet are in the second place, and apartments in Shartash Market, Elmash, and Vtuzgorodok are in the third place. Two-bedroom apartments in VIZ, Uralmash, Parkovy, Krasnolesye, Shirokaya Rechka, UNC, Zarechny, and Khimmash have a ROI of under 5% a year. ‘Rental

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 14, 2015. Sverdlovsk Region’s government debt rose by 4.077bn RUR in the third quarter of the year and amounted to 48.224bn RUR against 44.146bn RUR in the previous quarter, Sverdlovsk Region’s Finance Ministry reports. The overall amount of budget loans issued to the constituency came to 11.079bn RUR on October 1, the overall amount of loans taken out from banks came to 34.154bn RUR. Sverdlovsk Region also received 1.34bm RUR and 1.65bn RUR worth of state and local government guarantees, respectively.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 14, 2015. Only 42% of Yekaterinburg-based survey respondents get paid officially. 38% of those surveyed said an officially declared salary was not their main priority in the choice of employer; they would be willing to get paid under the table in the future, E1. Rabota and Zarplata.ru refer to the findings of their survey (involving 2,643 people) as indicating. 38% of respondents admitted they were getting some portion of their salary paid under the table, while 20% of those surveyed said their entire salary was not getting officially declared. 53% of those

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 14, 2015. Ural Vagon Zavod’s Personnel Training Center can now boast a new lab/seminar room for automated metal treatment with an innovative set of equipment and software. According to the corporation’s press service, the equipment was supplied within the framework of the company educational establishment infrastructure development program. Ural Vagon Zavod and Ural Federal University were among the program’s eleven finalists, with UFU investing 30m RUR in the corporate department’s development. ‘The new lab is a perfect platform for both theoretical and practical