UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 21, 2020. 413 entities operating without a banking license got detected within the Central Bank’s Ural division’s jurisdiction in 2019; the better part of these (over 80%) were lending money illegally, the division’s press service reports. The number of uncovered loan sharks was at its highest in Perm Territory (104), Sverdlovsk Region (90), Chelyabinsk Region (86), and Bashkortostan (52). The Bank of Russia forwarded the case files to public prosecution authorities, the Internal Affairs Ministry, the Federal Tax Service, and the Federal Antimonopoly Service for

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 21, 2020. A job with a work-from-home option pays RUB 35,000 a month on average on Yekaterinburg labor market, Avito Rabota’s research findings indicate. ‘The number of search engine queries involving teleworking rose by 12% in 2019 compared with the year 2018. The number of CVs from candidates looking for remote work rose by 9.6%, whilst the number of respective job openings dropped by 1.1%. Candidates expect to make RUB 26,000 a month on average, whereas employers generally offer around RUB 35,000 a month,’ the research states. ‘This CV/job listing dynamics in

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 21, 2020. Ural Airlines will start operating a new Europe-bound flight from Moscow Region’s Zhukovsky Airport (Zhukovsky-Milan-Zhukovsky) on March 31, 2020. According to the company’s press service, the flight will get operated on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays on up-to-date Airbus liners. Departure (Zhukovsky): 11 AM Departure (Milan): 2:30 PM ‘Prices start from RUB 3,754/€54 for Zhukovsky-Milan flights; from RUB 5,646/€80 for Milan-Zhukovsky ones; and from RUB 9,400/€134 for Zhukovsky-Milan-Zhukovsky ones,’ the company says. All fees and charges are

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 21, 2020. OOO FORES’s Sukhoi Log branch has almost completed rebuilding two out of nine production lines; the upgrades will result in a much more powerful unified dust-exhaust system, the company’s press service says. ‘The number of modern sock filters at the department that hosts the reconstructed production lines will soon reach eleven. Seven filters get installed anew, in a single block that will have its own roof. In the end, the entire filtering system will grow twice as powerful as prior to the upgrades: 165,000 m3 of air per hour,’ the company says.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 21, 2020. A public council has been set up under Head of Yekaterinburg’s Leninsky Council in order to ensure discussion on the vital local issues; the council is expected to meet on a regular basis. Head of Leninsky Council Dmitri Nozhenko, Sverdlovsk Region’s Legislative Assembly Vice Chair Viktor Maslakov, Head of Leninsky Territorial Electoral Commission Irina Pyatkova, Chair of the local Veterans’ Council Elena Trubitsyna, and the housing developer RSG-Akademicheskoye’s Director-General Viktor Krivosheyin all joined the council as members and attended the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 20, 2020. Yekaterinburg Coordination Committee for Strategic Development met to discuss the Housing Safety Strategic Project, the town council’s press service says. Head of Yekaterinburg Council’s Housing & Utilities Department Alexander Bragin gave a talk. According to Bragin, they have been working on the Housing Safety Project since 2005, with a special emphasis in 2013. ‘Our key achievement is making the locals’ lives more comfortable through making sure the shared facilities in apartment buildings are safe,’ Bragin said. Bragin pointed to the housing

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 20, 2020. Sverdlovsk Region’s courts processed 1.07m criminal, civil, and administrative lawsuits last year, which exceeded the figures for the year 2018 by 18%, President Justice at Sverdlovsk Region Court Vladimir Dmitriyev said at a press conference in Yekaterinburg today. According to Dmitriyev, the overall workload rose in 2019 against 2018, with some 411 cases per every Justice of the Peace a month and 26 cases per every district judge a month. Around 197,000 cases had to do with collection of loan debt (up 20% on the year 2018) and 120,000 cases (heard by

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 20, 2020. The price of studio apartments rose by 10% on Yekaterinburg housing market between January 2019 and January 2020 and can now be had for RUB 77,600 per m2 on average, Avito Nedvizhimost’s analysts state. This makes Yekaterinburg No. 13 in the rating of Russia’s 24 largest cities with their studio price dynamics. The price of studio apartments in newly constructed apartment buildings has been going up in nearly every large Russian city. The average studio apartment size, however, has dropped by 2%, down to 26.7 m2. As for Yekaterinburg, a typical studio

UrBC, Moscow, February 20, 2020. Starting February 19, 2020, no Chinese nationals will be allowed to enter the Russian Federation for the time being. The decree to this effect, signed by Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, is now available on the Cabinet’s website. According to the decree, it was decided to put a temporary entry ban on the People’s Republic of China’s nationals trying to cross the Russian Federation border for work or study/as tourists/on private visits. Kommersant states the decree was signed after a COVID-19 HQ meeting ‘due to the epidemic in China getting worse and

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 20, 2020. For the first time in Russia, you can now pay for your gasoline using a QR code within the Faster Payments System. The initiative has been put forth by SKB-Bank, Benzuber, and the National Payment Card System, SKB-Bank’s press service reports. ‘For the first time in Russia, FPS-enabled QR code payments were made available at filling stations in February 2020. This means the station owner who works with the FPS can cut overheads by paying less per transaction. The car owners, in their turn, can enjoy an easier and faster way of filling up their tanks,’

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 19, 2020. The number of bankruptcy claims placed with Sverdlovsk Region Arbitration Court rose by 80% last year against one year previously, President Justice Svetlana Tsvetkova said at a press conference in Yekaterinburg today. ‘The most noticeable increase in the number of claims was in bankruptcy ones: these went up by 80%. For one, 3,473 personal bankruptcy claims got placed with the court in 2019 [almost twice as many as in 2018 - Ed.], along with 2,041 insolvency claims relating to legal entities [1.5 times as many as in 2018 - Ed.], and 222

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 19, 2020. All of OOO FORES’s employees will get informed of their need to choose between paper-based and electronic work record files by June 30, 2020, the company’s press service reports. ‘Those at their workplaces will get the notifications in person, while those who will be on sick or parental leave at the time will be able to pick the notification at the HR Department in person or to get it mailed to them. In any case, FORES’s HR departments will be contacting each and every worker, so everyone will get notified,’ the company says. ‘The employees who choose

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 19, 2020. Some 200 residents of Pervouralsk, Sverdlovsk Region, took part in a presentation on the urban improvement program designed at ChelPipe Group’s initiative, the company’s press service reports. The program relies on a comprehensive research carried out by Culture and Urban Development Center (Head: Sergey Kapkov) and the locals’ proposals. ‘ChelPipe Group is Sverdlovsk Region’s first company to propose a unique urban environment transformation program. The company has already directed RUB 70m to the project and is willing to offer extra funding for the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 19, 2020. A new automatic process control system has been launched at EVRAZ Holding’s Kachkanarsky Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise’s Sintering Unit 1, EVRAZ Holding Ural’s Corporate Communications Center reports. ‘The system is based on an advanced, high-efficiency controller which collects and analyzes data on forty tech parameters of the sintering process and on thirty nodal points and appliances within the sintering unit. All the data get displayed on the control panel screens online, which means the unit operator can use the information for immediate

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, February 19, 2020. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) keeps offering guided tours of the company’s production site to all kinds of visitors. So far, over 10,000 people have come to look at the site, MMK’s Information & PR Department reports. ‘MMK was open to visitors before as well: colleagues and partners - customers, equipment and raw materials suppliers, and other metallurgical companies’ representatives - came to one of Russia’s leading metallurgical enterprises all the time. Young residents of Magnitogorsk could also see the legend of Russian metallurgical

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 18, 2020. As of February 3, 2020, the average asking price on Yekaterinburg existing home market came to RUB 72,622 per m2 (up 0.3% on one month earlier), Ural Real Estate Chamber’s Analytical Department’s research findings indicate. The number of apartments on offer through Ural Real Estate Chamber’s database has remained the same for the last four weeks: 8,430. It currently takes 124 days on average to sell an existing home in Yekaterinburg.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 18, 2020. Sverdlovsk Region came 13th in the recent national rating of living standards, with its average score at 57,141. The rating position hasn’t changed since the year 2018, RIA Novosti’s data indicate. The rating relies on the data available from Rosstat, Russia’s Healthcare Ministry, Russia’s Finance Ministry, the Central Bank, and other public sources. Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Moscow Region came first, second, and third in the rating, as has been the case for many years now. North Ossetia, Buryatia, Kalmykia, Ingushetia, Altay, Kurgan Region,

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, February 18, 2020. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) saved around RUB 500 million through a series of energy efficiency-boosting programs, MMK’s Information & PR Department reports. ‘The impressive savings figure stems from MMK’s efforts to enhance energy efficiency at every section of production site. Implementation of improvement proposals proved one of the most important strategies: the company employees submitted 921 proposals through Energy Management Platform App last year; 298 proposals got implemented on a project basis, with RUB 208 million in expected

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 18, 2020. NEYVA Bank’s new service fees for businesses and sole traders come into effect on March 1, 2020. According to the bank’s press service, their basic packages are now even more appealing, price-wise: if you open a bank account with NEYVA, the company card and a card with signature samples come free of charge (the offer does not apply to Discounter Package). Besides, the cost of payments made to the self-employed is already covered. ‘Payments made by legal entities and sole traders to the self-employed (i.e. those paying earned income tax) are part of the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 18, 2020. Alexei Zaitsev, who works as a screener at OOO FORES’s Kamensk-Uralsky branch, won the third prize for the year 2019 at the amateur running club Ural 100, the company’s press service reports. ‘Alexei Zaitsev took part in 53 races (total distance: 1,268 km). The gold winner took part in 83 races (total distance: close to 2,020 km); the silver winner took part in 72 races (total distance: 1,490 km),’ the company says. ‘I decided to say yes to the adventure of Ural 100 Cup last year; the plan was to compete with the well-known runners Alexei Kurochkin,