UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 11, 2018. SKB-Bank completed its QuickPay System prototype and had the new system certified successfully, the bank’s press service reports. FinTech and the Bank of Russia have already presented SKB-Bank’s new concept that will allow for one-tap transactions with only your phone number, your email address, or other simple ID. QuickPay transactions will now be available through social networks, messenger services, online shops, and mobile banking systems. ‘SKB-Bank is a proactive participant in this project alongside a number of other FinTech Association member banks.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 11, 2018. The upcoming World Football Championship 2018 did not boost rental or housing prices in the games-hosting cities, domofond.ru reports. Existing home prices only went up by 19.6% in Sochi, by 17.5% in Saint Petersburg, and by 15.5% in Kazan, where they can now be had for RUR 103,000 per m2, RUR 115,000 per m2, and RUR 71,000 per m2, respectively, Kommersant states. As for all the other World Cup hosts, housing prices actually went down. In Yekaterinburg, the asking price of existing homes decreased by 5% against the year 2013, down to RUR 71,000 per m2 on

УрБК, Екатеринбург, 11.05.2018. Ural Federal District turned out to be the only part of Russia where people had to cut down on their spending last year, RIA Novosti refers to Romir’s research findings as indicating. Ural Federal District’s residents had to cut back on their spending by 5.4% between April 2017 and April 2018; in Siberian Federal District, North-Western Federal District, and Southern Federal District, the spending was actually up by 5.4%, 15.1%, and 8.4%, respectively. However, most Russians still had to spend less in April 2018 than one year previously; in Ural Federal

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 11, 2018. Sverdlovsk Region’s residents deposited RUR 661.9bn with the banks as of April 1, 2018, which exceeded the figures for one year earlier by 6.4%, the Bank of Russia’s Ural division reports. The overall amount of ruble deposits rose by 8.7%, whereas that of foreign currency ones declined by 8.1%. As of April 1, 2018, the average interest rate came to 5.7% a year for ruble deposits and to 1.4% for U.S. dollar deposits. ‘Inflation rate kept going gradually down throughout the year 2017. The Bank of Russia’s monetary policy has been making a positive impact on

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 11, 2018. The number of Sverdlovsk Region-based private farms and sole traders dealing in livestock produce went down by 4.8% between 2013 and 2017 and was down to 420 as of January 1, 2018, Sverdlovskstat reports. In 2017, 660 farms and sole traders reported they had some crops planted, and 686 went through with harvesting as well. Local farmers produced RUR 5.1822bn worth of goods (in actual prices) last year, which was the lowest figure among all Ural Federal District-based federal constituencies. RUR 3.844.7bn came from crop farming and RUR 1.3375 came from

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 10, 2018. The workers of EVRAZ Holding’s Nizhniy Tagil Integrated Metallurgical Works (MMK) coordinated a series of cleanup days in Nizhniy Tagil streets as well as on the plant’s premises. Some five hundred people took part in the cleanups in the last two weeks, EVRAZ Holding Ural’s PR Department reports. ‘EVRAZ NTMK’s young employees got ready for Victory Day celebrations by cleaning up the premises of the plant’s Military Glory Museum: they removed all the old foliage and shrubbery as well as dirt, got the flower beds ready for planting, and cleaned and painted the

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, May 10, 2018. Calculated in accordance with the International Accounting Standards, the net profit of Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) amounted to $279m in the first quarter of the year, which exceeds the figures for one year earlier by 15.8%, the company's report states. MMK’s revenues reached $2.055bn in January-March 2018, which was 23.8% more than in the first quarter of 2017. The company’s EBITDA came to $560m, up 23.9% on a year earlier.

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, May 10, 2018. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) Mekhanoremontny Kompleks took part in the 22nd International MiningWorld Russia 2018 Exhibition in Moscow, MMK Information, PR & Advertising Department reports. ‘This is the first time Mekhanoremontny Kompleks took part in this exhibition. Visitors to the stand could take a look at one of MMK Group’s largest companies’ production potential and have their questions answered in every detail by our tech and commercial teams,’ the Department says. According to MMK representatives, visitors took a special interest in

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 10, 2018. ChelPipe Group congratulated war veterans and the Group’s employees, as well as Chelyabinsk and Pervouralsk locals, on Victory Day (May 9), the company press service reports. These days are usually dedicated to a series of festive events coordinated by Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling Plant and Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant’s white-coated metallurgical workers. The emphasis is placed on ChelPipe Group’s 1,500+ war veterans and home front workers. ‘May 9 is a very special day in this country. Our fathers and grandfathers made this victory happen, both in the battlefield

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 10, 2018. Sverdlovsk Region’s road police are paying closer attention to the condition of local roads and highways now the spring has set in, their press service reports. The focus is on the streets provided for bus routes and high-speed highways. In the last two weeeks, road construction companies have been allocated more than 3,500 problem spots that need fixing; 648 warrants have beens issued, as well as thirteen administrative offense reports relating to Article 19.5 of the Russian Federation Administrative Offense Code (Failure to Meet An Authorized Government

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 7, 2018. Ural Airlines are offering their customers reduced-price tickets for Venice flights on May 3-October 27, 2018, the air carrier’s press service reports. You can now book your Moscow-Venice flight for RUR 5,900, your Saint Petersburg-Venice flight (with a stopover in Moscow) for RUR 8,000, and your Yekaterinburg-Venice flight (with a stopover in Moscow) for RUR 8,000. This is the price of a one-way ticket, all fees included. The offer for flights operated from Saint Petersburg and Yekaterinburg holds for departure dates May 3-June 9 and September 29-October 27,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 7, 2018. Yekaterinburg Council’s Transport & Traffic Committee is coordinating an online auction in order to find a contractor for the city’s new traffic scheme. According to the terms and specifications, the city council needs a new strategic plan for the city’s urban transit development. The contractor who lands the contract will have to look into the city’s vehicle and pedestrian traffic and present three urban transit scenarios (the worst-case one, the best-case one, and something in between). As a result, the city council expects to have a new urban transit

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, May 7, 2018. MMK Group hosted the regional Best Social Partnership/Job Safety Contest on its site in Magnitogorsk, the company press service reports. ‘The city gathered together workers from the local mining and metallurgical enterprises (the best job safety experts and trade union representatives for job safety) on the eve of International Workers' Memorial Day. Representatives of both the employers and the trade union organizations demonstrated excellent skills and expertise and proved outstanding team members with great understanding of job safety’s importance,’

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 7, 2018. Based on last year’s data, Sverdlovsk Region was among the Russian Federation constituencies with the most dangerous roads and riskiest traffic conditions. The rating was carried by Road Safety, an interregional public group and center. The center looked into the traffic situation in fifty federal constituencies. Nineteen constituencies, including Sverdlovsk Region, were rated Red (high traffic risk). Sverdlovsk Region came 32nd in the rating. The neighboring Chelyabinsk Region, which was also rated Red, was given the 50th position in the rating (that is,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 7, 2018. EVRAZ Holding’s fourth annual sports race will take place in Nizhniy Tagil on June 3. All those willing to join the race can sign up on www.evraz-sport.ru starting May 3. 1,200 sports players (400 children and 800 adults) will be taking part in the event. This year, one hundred additional children’s slots have been introduced to meet the demand. The children can compete in the race free of charge; adults are expected to make a 100-ruble donation online when signing up for the event on evraz-sport.ru. The money will get directed to putting up a new playground

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 4, 2018. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) joined the FinTech Association and will now work on the association’s projects and contribute to research together with other large member banks. There are currently some twenty major finance, tech, and telecommunications companies active within the association. ‘FinTech’s innovative technological solutions will allow the national finance market undergo a major transformation and achieve a breakthrough improvement in the quality of its finance services; these services will also grow more affordable and

UrBC, Moscow, May 4, 2018. The Bank of Russia is going to work to close down fake World Cup ticket-selling websites this year, the regulatory body’s official site states. ‘The Bank of Russia and the FIFA agreed to cooperate, with the FIFA directing any data about fake ticket-selling sites to the bank’s FinCERT (the center for monitoring of and reacting to cyber attacks in the finance sector). FinCERT will then be in charge of having these websites blocked,’ the website states. Russia’s Central Bank was authorized to have cyber frauds blocked at the end of 2016. The bank has brought down 25

UrBC, Moscow, May 4, 2018. The Russian Government drew up a list of ten produce categories that manufacturers must now provide with special markings; the deadlines for introducing the markings have also been set; the list and the dates are now available on the Cabinet’s website. ‘The list of ten produce categories that need to have special markings, and the deadlines for introducing the markings, have both been confirmed. The products in question are tobacco items, perfumes, various types of clothing, footwear, cameras, and some other goods. The goal is to reduce the amount of counterfeited

UrBC, Moscow, May 4, 2018. 76% of Russians said they had to look for ways to cut down on their spending in March 2018, Romir’s research findings indicate. The share of Russians who have to scrape their living went down by 6% in March 2018 compared with one year earlier, when the future was 82%. According to Romir’s research, they had to cut back on spending in every single consumer category. Mostly, people say they can’t afford to spend freely at supermarkets: 17% of respondents admitted they now must spend less on food. 12% of those surveyed said they couldn’t afford a vacation, and 9% had

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 4, 2018. 27.6% of Sverdlovsk Region’s formally unemployed haven’t been able to find a job for over a year, Sverdlovskstat reports. ‘According to a recent workforce research, it took our unemployed 7.1 months on average to find a new place of employment in the first quarter of the year. 53.5% of respondents were out of jobs for one to six months, and 27.6% remained unemployed for more than one year,’ the research findings indicate. 25,700 people registered with employment agencies as being out of jobs by the end of March 2018. This amounts to 1.2% of the local