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Russian news, notes and thoughts
October, 2012 / 
31 October, 2012 // In the overall ranking of the world prosperity, published by the Legatum Institute, Russia is on the 66th place on par with such countries as Uzbekistan, Belize, Philippines, Paraguay, and Colombia. The most awful are the positions of Russia in such categories as Governance (118), Safety and Security (97), and Personal Freedom (119).
29 October, 2012 // The Russian Parliament is considering the adoption of a number of anti-smoking laws. One of them is the law banning smoking in public places, which will result in bankruptcy of about 25% of the Russian restaurants and cafes, and 30% of night clubs. Also there is a bill about increasing excise rates in 2013-2015 under which the price for a pack of cigarettes will rise from an average of 1 to 2 USD.
23 October, 2012 // According to UN report "State of the World's Cities", Moscow is the only Russian city included in the top 30 most prosperous cities of the world. Among the 28 most rapidly dying cities in the world, 11 are the cities located in Russia - Nizhny Novgorod, Saratov, Samara, Perm, St. Petersburg, Ufa, Voronezh, Volgograd, Chelyabinsk, Omsk, Novosibirsk.
22 October, 2012 // Russia is on the 40th place in the ranking for the minimum wage, according to a study of audit and consulting company FBK. The size of the minimum wage in Russia is about $150 a month. The first places in the ranking are held by Luxembourg ($1770), the Netherlands ($1622) and Belgium ($1566).
17 October, 2012 // This fall, soccer players from Russia showed good results at the level of national teams. The main Russian team finished the year in the first place in the qualifying group for the FIFA World Cup 2014 in Brazil and the youth national team achieved great success - for the first time in 14 years it will play on the European championship among youth teams. Keep it up!
12 October, 2012 // Russia is on the first places in the world by income inequality, according to an annual study Global Wealth Report prepared by Credit Suisse Research Institute. About 2% of all household wealth is accounted for billionaires in the world in average, while in Russia - 30%.
10 October, 2012 // On Tuesday, powerful explosion occurred about 20 km from Orenburg. The power of the explosion was 3-4 kilotons of TNT, which is equal to the blast of 300 train cars with shells. This is not the first such incident in Russia in recent years - explosions at ammunition depots occur with surprising regularity.
5 October, 2012 // More than a million Russian teachers and 350,000 university teachers are taking congratulations today on their professional holiday - World Teachers Day. Unfortunately, teachers along with medical doctors remain the most disadvantaged layer of the Russian state employees.
1 October, 2012 // Total costs of preparing for the next big project of the Russian authorities - FIFA World Cup 2018 - can amount the sum of about $ 19 billion. Just two years ago, the sum needed for the championship was only half of that. Most likely the actual costs will be even higher.
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