UrBC, Magnitogorsk, January 18, 2019. Chair of Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) Board of Directors Viktor Rashnikov made a public announcement relating to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to re-house all the home owners in the apartment building in Magnitogorsk that got devastated by a an explosion. ‘Within hours of the tragedy in Magnitogorsk on December 31, MMK joined the rescue forces and emergency teams. Over a hundred employees and special-purpose vehicles operated on the site 24/7. The company has also allocated some RUB 100 million to support the victims directly

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 18, 2019. According to MegaFon’s retail statistics, their Urals-based customers bought a 4G smartphone every three minutes last year. Every one in five smartphones got insured against theft, mechanical damage, and getting wet, which is 33% more than in 2017, the company’s press service reports. Nine out of ten devices people bought in 2018 support high-speed LTE options. The service grew so popular due to extended product range and keen demand for the fastest Internet connection available. MegaFon Ural’s customers tended to buy Samsung produce more often than that

UrBC, Moscow, January 18, 2019. The U.S. Department of Treasure chose to take more time processing En+ and UC RUSAL deals; both companies belong to the Russian businessman Oleg Deripaska, and U.S. companies are allowed to do business with them through January 28 as of now, Kommersant reports. The original deadline has already been shifted from January 7 to January 21 once. Now the U.S. Senate recently failed to advance a measure to block the delisting of Deripaska’s assets, which, in turn, boosted aluminum prices at LME by as much as 1.9%. United Company RUSAL and Deripaska’s other assets got

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 18, 2019. Last year, 26% of Sverdlovsk Region-based professionals in gainful employment had a pay rise, whereas 30% started making less. According to HeadHunter’s press service, their survey findings revealed that more than 50% of job-seekers who faced a pay cut say their income shrank by at least 15%. As for respondents with a pay rise, the increase stayed within the 10% limit, even though the actual percentage increased with the seniority of position. In 76% of cases, people’s wages and salaries dropped due to reduced bonus payments; among those with a pay rise,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 18, 2019. The rental prices for a studio apartment on Sverdlovsk Region’s housing market rose by 2.5% in the last quarter of 2018 compared with the last quarter of 2017, domofond.ru refers to its own research findings as indicating. The prices went up from RUB 14,992 to RUB 15,365 a month on average. According to domofond.ru, the rental price of studio apartments increased in sixty-nine Russian constituencies in the course of one year. For Chelyabinsk Region, for example, prices rose from RUB 10,382 to RUB 10,545 (+1.6%) a month on average.