UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 7, 2018. Sverdlovsk Region is now among the top five Russian constituencies in terms of plane tickets, hotels, guided tours, package vacations, and airport transfers booked online through MegaFon’s travel service, the company press service reports. Moscow and Moscow Region, Saint Petersburg, and Krasnodar Territory are, respectively, No.1 to No.4 on the list. By the middle of summer, online bookers based in Chelyabinsk Region, Perm Territory, and Khanty-Mansiysky Autonomous Region made it to No. 6, 7, and 8 in the rating, respectively. It is reported that men are

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 7, 2018. The average price of diesel fuel available on Sverdlovsk Region’s filling stations rose from RUR 43.98 at the beginning of July to RUR 44.25 per liter on July 23-29, 2018. According to the local division of Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service, the average price of diesel fuel came to RUR 43.98 on June 18-July 8, 2018. As for gasoline, the prices remained the same throughout most of July and came to RUR 43.11 per liter of AI 95 and RUR 40.29 per liter of AI 92 on average.

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, August 7, 2018. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) allocated RUR 157.4m for charity projects in the six months of 2018, the company press service reports. The projects get coordinated by MMK-sponsored Metallurg Foundation in Magnitogorsk and aim to support and improve the living standard of the elderly. One of the projects, known as The Older Generation, involves 14,000+ retirees who used to work for MMK and other local industrial enterprises; these people receive some monthly allowance to complement their old-age pensions. Additionally, 3,000 retirees who used to

UrBC, Moscow, August 7, 2018. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the new legislation to increase the value-added tax from 18% to 20% on August 3, 2018. The full text is now available on the Kremlin’s website. The new bill also sets the obligatory retirement insurance rate at 22% (within the current upper limit) and at 10% for anything beyond the taxation base. Additionally, there will still be a zero VAT on air travel in the Far Eastern Federal District. The new law comes into effect on January 1, 2019. The bill was presented to the State Duma on June 16 and signed in the third reading

UrBC, Moscow, August 7, 2018. United Company RUSAL reports its profit decreased by 31% in the second quarter of 2018 compared with the first quarter, Kommersant refers to the company report as stating. The figure reached $218m, which is, in fact, 8% more than one year earlier. In terms of half-year figures, the company’s net adjusted profit rose by 15% to $535m. The second quarter’s revenues also dropped by 18%, down to $2.25bn. However, the revenues for the first half of the year went up by 4% and reached $4.99bn. Oleg Deripaska-controlled UC RUSAL and En+ were both placed on the U.S.