Russian Reality

The head of Sberbank Gref called the restrictions on the conversion of the ruble by the United States impracticable rubles into other foreign currencies, Interfax writes. According to him, such a measure is impracticable, and information about the plans of the American authorities is “fiction and utter nonsense.” Earlier, Bloomberg journalists said that the new package of US sanctions against Russia may include restrictions on the conversion of the ruble. Thus, the American government intends to “punish” the country in the event of an invasion of the territory of Ukraine. “It is impossible to prohibit it, it is impossible to fulfill it, and in general such notions … You know, it seems to me that journalists from Bloomberg sometimes need to go out into the open world, because, apparently, they have sat out in the office if they make such predictions. Such forecasts may frighten them themselves, probably, “Gref said.

Labor Minister Kotyakov: Russian pensioners are compensated for high inflation The Russian Ministry of Labor is working out proposals for additional compensation for high inflation for pensioners. The head of the department, Anton Kotyakov, promised to compensate for the too high prices, RIA Novosti quoted him as saying. Preparations are proceeding on behalf of the president. Kotyakov said that within the framework of the adopted budget, the indexation of pensions by 5.9 percent is envisaged, but at the end of the year inflation will be slightly higher. “Now, as part of an additional instruction from the president on the need to provide options (…) of additional compensation for high inflation, we have also prepared our proposals,” he noted and indicated that relevant decisions will be made in the near future. Since December 1, the Pension Fund of Russia (PFR) has automatically indexed pensions for three categories of Russians. The increase

Anatoly Chubais predicted a large-scale transformation of the Russian economy in 30 years said that in the next 30 years, the Russian economy will have to go through a period of large-scale transformation. His words are quoted by RIA Novosti. Chubais made such a prediction at the Open Innovations forum. “I believe that we are now one step away from the beginning of a process of exactly the same scale, only not in information, but in energy,” he commented he. According to Chubais, the basic principles will be revised in this sector in the coming decades.

VTsIOM: 71% of Russians have never flown an airplane in the last 2-3 years 71 percent) stopped flying, the remaining 29 percent used this mode of transport with varying degrees of frequency. This is evidenced by the results of a study by VTsIOM, published on the organization's website. Thus, nine percent of respondents have made only one flight over the past few years, 11 percent – two or three. Another five percent of respondents have traveled by plane more than six times. Most of the passengers (18 percent) are residents of Moscow and St. Petersburg. According to VTsIOM, 89 percent of Russians liked the airports they used. Among them, 28 percent of respondents noted the politeness of the staff, 20 percent – cleanliness and order in the air harbor, 15 percent – comfort and no queues. Another 11 percent of the survey participants praised the organization of passenger traffic. Dissatisfaction

Virologist Altstein: data on the omicron reaction to vaccines can be obtained within a week be received within this week. This was stated in a conversation with Lenta.ru by a virologist, doctor of medical sciences, professor, chief employee of the Gamaleya Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology Anatoly Altstein. “Maybe this week there will be results on how omicron responds to vaccines. The deadline is next week, “the virologist said. To obtain such data, a neutralization reaction is required in the laboratory, explained the chief employee of the Gamaleya Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology. We need to get a multiplying strain of the virus, added the virologist. “I think it has already been obtained and molecular research is now underway,” said Altstein. The virologist said that companies involved in the development of vaccines are interested in getting research results as soon as possible, so they do their best to