Одиннадцатый выпуск сезона №2. Слушайте и прокачивайте свой английский. Поддержите меня, если вам нравится то, что я делаю: https://boosty.to/english117/donate News 1:The next round of EU sanctions against Russia will not include new import bans or “big names,” sources tell Reuters. This decision is due to the desire to adopt restrictions by February 24, 2024. The head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said that new European sanctions against Russia will affect individuals and legal entities that help sanctioned persons bypass the restrictions.News 2:In 2023, almost a third (27%) of entrepreneurs had difficulty finding financing. In particular, one in five (19%) found it difficult to find an investor. Another problem last year was the staff shortage, which was reported by 20% of founders.News 3:In January-December 2023, Russian citizens made 27 million trips abroad, according to statistics from the FSB border service. This is 17% more than in 2022. Also, the number of trips for tourism purposes increased by 35% year on year.News 4:The Russian government has simplified the procedure for admitting Russian transport companies to international road transportation: from September 1, 2024, this process will take not 20, but five working days. The number of documents that must be provided to obtain admission will also be reduced.News 5:The sanctions have affected the safety of Russian aviation, writes The Wall Street Journal. In 2023, operators in Russia recorded at least 74 incidents compared to 36 in 2022. At the same time, the company also includes in its statistics incidents not related to sanctions, such as bird strikes.

Десятый выпуск сезона №2. Слушайте и прокачивайте свой английский. Поддержите меня, если вам нравится то, что я делаю: https://boosty.to/english117/donate News 1:The volume of cash in circulation in Russia in January 2024 decreased by 540 billion rubles - this is the maximum drop since March 2022, according to Central Bank data. The drop is due to seasonal factors.News 2:Kaliningrad Avtotor plans to begin mass production of electric cars of its own design in 2025, and show the first copies in 2024, said Valery Gorbunov, head of the board of directors of the auto holding.News 3:Chinese AI chip manufacturer Sophgo has entered into a distribution contract with a Russian company. Softlogic became the partner. Based on Chinese chips, Softlogic plans to develop and produce domestic servers for AI. The company is also negotiating with two Russian companies to supply them with chips as a distributor.News 4:Russian gambling zones are experiencing a shortage of specialists, the Association of Entertainment and Event Tourism Operators (unites all legally operating gambling zones in Russia) reported. The personnel shortage is 15%; in the next two years, due to the expansion of the industry, it will grow to 25%. Experts attribute this to the development of domestic tourism and the specificity of professions.News 5:IKEA still has assets in Russia. On the balance sheet of Ikea Torg, to which the Federal Tax Service arose the day before, there is a distribution center with a total area of about 180 thousand m² in Yesipovo, near Moscow. There is talk on the real estate market that the IKEA structure does not want to sell the warehouse in Esipovo, but is instead ready to rent it out.

Девятый выпуск сезона №2. Слушайте и прокачивайте свой английский. Поддержите меня, если вам нравится то, что я делаю: https://boosty.to/english117/donate News 1:The Ministry of Economic Development has prepared step-by-step instructions for conducting foreign trade barter transactions. The document describes the mechanism for determining the equal value of exchanged goods and services, standard forms of contracts and governing regulations.News 2:The State Duma has developed bills to reduce the requirements for air taxis. The authors propose to separate transport into a separate category of aviation and partially abolish regulation, leaving safety control.News 3:The volume of transfers from Russia to Kazakhstan, Georgia, Armenia and Kyrgyzstan fell by 12% over the year, to $7.7 billion. Experts explain the dynamics by the fact that some citizens returned to Russia, some found income outside the country, and some faced restrictions on transfers due to sanctions.News 4:The permanent representatives of the European Union agreed on the European Commission's initial measures to use Russia's frozen assets to restore Ukraine. The income received by the European company Euroclear from the Russian frozen assets will be kept in special accounts until EU member states unanimously agree on how to spend it.News 5:Lipetsk Motorinvest, the official distributor of Chinese Dongfeng passenger cars in Russia, has agreed to assemble the first batch of crossover models ix5 and ix7 at the Avtotor plant in Kaliningrad. Assembly will be carried out from vehicle kits “obtained by semi-disassembling finished vehicles.”

Восьмой выпуск сезона №2. Слушайте и прокачивайте свой английский. Поддержите меня, если вам нравится то, что я делаю: https://boosty.to/english117/donateNews 1:Angola is forcing the Russian company Alrosa to leave the Catoca diamond mine (41% owned by Alrosa, 59% owned by the Angolan state-owned company Endiama). The joint project became “toxic” due to sanctions imposed against Russia. The confrontation has been going on for several months: Alrosa wants compensation for the development of the field, Endiama wants the Russian company to leave without any demands.News 2:In 2023, the authorities conducted 350 thousand business inspections (compared to 1.5 million in 2019 and 339 thousand in 2022). Half of them were in the private sector (building control - 23%, social facilities - 20%, state-owned enterprises - 7%).News 3:The share of loans issued for the purchase of used cars in 2023 amounted to 15% of the total volume of their sales in Russia. In total, Russians spent 5.8 trillion rubles on used carsNews 4:Azerbaijan will resume the work of the representative office of the state tourism agency in Russia in 2024, said the country's ambassador to Russia Polad Bulbul ogly. It stopped working due to the Covid-19 pandemic.News 5:The Moscow Arbitration Court satisfied the claim against Google from 2GIS, which obliges it to return the application to Google Play. But lawyers doubt that this measure will help restore service in the store.News 6:The version of the bill on self-ban on loans, which deputies prepared for the second reading, proposes to allow Russians to apply for a ban not only through Gosuslugi, but also in banks.

Седьмой выпуск сезона №2. Слушайте и прокачивайте свой английский. Поддержите меня, если вам нравится то, что я делаю: https://boosty.to/english117/donate News 1:The Chinese developer of tensor processors Sophgo offers Russian equipment manufacturers to arrange supplies of their solutions. Experts doubt the effectiveness of cooperation, since solutions based on x86 and ARM are more popular among domestic vendors, but they admit that Sophgo’s solutions may be of interest, including to AI developers.News 2:Foreign hosting providers have not submitted a single application for inclusion in the Roskomnadzor register to operate in Russia. From February 1, 2024, companies not included in the register will be prohibited from providing hosting services in the country. Experts attribute the reluctance of foreign providers to comply with the requirements with fear of sanctions and strict requirements of the Russian authorities.News 3:Russian state-owned companies must switch to Russian operating systems, office suites and antiviruses by January 1, 2025, and to domestic database management systems by January 2026. The recommendations were prepared by the Ministry of Digital Development.News 4:The demand of Russian business for foreign visas has doubled at the end of 2023, business tourism operators reported. More than half of the requests came from China.News 5:About 47% of industrial enterprises are experiencing a shortage of qualified personnel, a survey showed in January 2024. The level of personnel shortage has reached a record level in the history of surveys since 1996.

Шестой выпуск сезона №2. Слушайте и прокачивайте свой английский. Поддержите меня, если вам нравится то, что я делаю: https://boosty.to/english117/donateNews 1:The American coworking network WeWork has agreed to sell its business in Russia to the investment company O1 Properties. The deal has not yet been closed, but is at a high stage of readiness, said consultants working with the parties. It will include four sites in Moscow with 3,000 jobs and a total area of 18 thousand m².News 2:Sberbank is testing about 50 thousand tablets and laptops of its own brand in its branches. Deliveries of devices were carried out in 2023. Experts believe that Sberbank needs the devices for internal use. According to their estimates, the bank could already cover about 25% of its needs.News 3:In 2023, radio broadcasters managed to replace most of the foreign equipment that was subject to sanctions restrictions. Problems remain only with coaxial cables, which are not produced in Russia, and in China they cost one and a half times more.News 4:For the fifth month in a row, Russian banks have been increasing balances on dollar correspondent accounts with non-resident banks, according to Central Bank data. As of December 1, 2023, they grew to $17.4 billion. International payments are heavily “dollarized” and this will not change soon, experts explain.News 5:The number of transactions for the purchase of real estate by Russians in Bali in 2023 increased 1.5 times year-on-year, to 1,050 objects, according to data from the consulting company Ricci. In terms of money, their volume reached $230 million.

Пятый выпуск сезона №2. Слушайте и прокачивайте свой английский. Поддержите меня, если вам нравится то, что я делаю: https://boosty.to/english117/donateNews 1:Microsoft reported an attack on corporate systems by the Russian hacker group Midnight Blizzard (also known as Nobelium). Hackers gained access to a “small percentage” of corporate email accounts, including senior management and employees responsible for cybersecurity and legal functions.News 2:A bill on confiscation of property for “fakes” about the army, public calls for extremist activities, calls against state security, and the imposition of sanctions will be submitted to the State Duma on January 22, 2024.News 3:Prices for secondary real estate in Russia increased by 8% in the fourth quarter of 2023; at the end of the year, the growth was 11.9%. Apartments have become more expensive in most cities with the exception of Moscow. In the capital, housing prices fell by an average of 3% over three months due to a decrease in the average area of ​​properties from 57 to 54 m².News 4:Qiwi will sell its business in Russia to Hong Kong Fusion Factor Fintech for 23.75 billion rubles. Also, after the sale of the Russian business, Qiwi Plc plans to repurchase up to 10% of its depositary receipts traded on Nasdaq and the Moscow Exchange.News 5:Google is laying off thousands of employees and has no plans to stop. In the first 20 days of the new year, Google laid off several thousand employees. This happened due to the large-scale introduction of artificial intelligence into the work of the corporation.

Четвёртый выпуск сезона №2. Слушайте и прокачивайте свой английский. Поддержите меня, если вам нравится то, что я делаю: https://boosty.to/english117/donate News 1:Turkey has begun to reduce the flow of dual-use goods to Russia amid US pressure, according to the Turkish Institute of Statistics. For example, this applies to electronics, chips, printed circuit boards, communication and navigation equipment, and more.News 2:Kazakhstan's Kaspi raised $1 billion after its IPO on the Nasdaq exchange. The shares are already traded on the London Stock Exchange and two others in Kazakhstan. Kaspi is a bank and marketplace, services are available in one application.News 3:The German Parliament adopted a bill on simplified acquisition of citizenship. It allows you not to renounce other citizenship and apply for German citizenship after five years instead of eight. In the “coming weeks,” the amendments should be signed by the Bundestag with reference to members of parliament. The latter expect the law to come into force in April-May 2024.News 4:The European Commission has confirmed Apple's proposal to allow developers in the EU access to contactless payment via NFC. Apple confirmed that it has “committed” to providing European users with the ability to use third-party services for NFC payments.News 5:The EU has begun discussing a new package of sanctions against Russia, Bloomberg writes, citing sources. Potential measures could include additions to sanctions lists and new trade restrictions.

Третий выпуск сезона №2. Слушайте и прокачивайте свой английский. Поддержите меня, если вам нравится то, что я делаю: https://boosty.to/english117/donate News 1:AvtoVAZ proposed to the Ministry of Industry and Trade to double localization points for installing Russian auto electronics on cars produced in Russia on Chinese platforms. AvtoVAZ explained that the idea is still being discussed and it is too early to announce details.News 2:The German OBI filed a new claim against the Russian network of the same name for 25 million rubles. Both sides declined to comment; the application itself has not yet been accepted for consideration. There are no details in the case card. The company once again demands to stop using OBI trademarks in Russia.News 3:Turkish banks have begun to more often break correspondent relationships with Russian financial institutions and suspend payment processing without officially terminating contracts. The problems arose a long time ago; they simply worsened in December 2023, after threats of secondary sanctions from the United States.News 4:The Central Bank reported that 557 banks and companies have connected to the domestic analogue of SWIFT, of which 159 are non-residents from 20 countries. Thus, in early January, the head of the Central Bank of Iran announced that Moscow and Tehran had connected their systems for transmitting financial messages and now the banks of the two countries “no longer need Switzerland” to communicate with each other.News 5:There are no “unfriendly” currencies left in the National Welfare Fund, the Ministry of Finance reported. As of January 1, 2024, funds in the National Welfare Fund were placed in yuan, rubles and gold.

Второй выпуск сезона №2. Слушайте и прокачивайте свой английский. Поддержите меня, если вам нравится то, что я делаю: https://boosty.to/english117/donateNews 1:The Ministry of Economy and the Ministry of Transport are discussing the possibility of resuming the experiment on free travel of electric vehicles on toll roads, which was carried out from March to December 2023 as part of the concept for the development of the production and use of electric vehicles in Russia.News 2:In 2023, three foreign bank representative offices were closed in Russia, according to data from the Central Bank. These are branches of the German Aareal, the Cyprus AstroBank and the bank of the Italian financial group Intesa Sanpaolo. Another representative office, on the contrary, has opened - the Kyrgyz Aiyl Bank.News 3:The growth in prices for new buildings in the largest regional markets of Russia in January 2024 slowed down to 1% compared to December 2023. Analysts attribute the decline in dynamics to increased supply due to the uncertainty of the future of preferential mortgage programs, as well as limited holiday demand.News 4:At the end of 2023, Russia increased the volume of exports of goods to Brazil by 27%, to 10 billion rubles, and became one of the top five largest exporters in the country according to the Brazilian Statistical Service.News 5:There is an acute shortage of personnel in the Russian tourism industry, and salaries in the industry are among the lowest, said the head of Cosmos Hotel Group Alexander Biba. However, he said that the departure of foreign players had a positive impact on the market.

Начинаю сезон №2. Теперь в одном выпуске ещё больше новостей! Слушайте и прокачивайте свой английский.Поддержите меня, если вам нравится то, что я делаю: https://boosty.to/english117/donateNews 1:The FAS has received complaints about banks that impose restrictions on the issuance of preferential mortgages and commissions for developers. The FAS clarified that they will consider it in their “established order” - but did not say who exactly is complaining about the new practice. Sberbank, VTB and Alfa Bank announced in January 2024 that they would issue mortgages only for housing purchased from their partners.News 2:Higher educational institutions announced an increase in the cost of paid education for the new academic year by 10-12%, the Association of Non-State Universities of Russia reported.News 3:In 2023, Russians most often downloaded VPN services in the Google Play and App Store stores, and the top most popular applications by downloads were headed by Wildberries. The category of VPN services in Russia grew by 3%, to 160 million downloads. The top 20 downloaded apps included Planet VPN and VPN Master.News 4:Russia has terminated the agreement with Ukraine on international road transport from December 17, 2023, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. The agreement dealt with regular and irregular transportation of passengers by buses, including tourists, as well as transportation of goods by motor vehicles.News 5:The flow of tourists from Russia to Cuba broke the pre-pandemic record: in 2023, almost 185 thousand Russians visited the country, which is 7,000 more than in 2019.