The agreement between the Russian Railways (RZD) state railway corporation and Translom company, one of the largest suppliers of ferrous and nonferrous metal scrap in Russia, under which the latter purchased 2,000 written-off coaches for dismantling, will be the subject of an inspection. Earlier, the State Duma deputies called the price paid by Translom for the coaches understated.

Gazprom's stocks with a total value of $5 bln have been purchased by clients of share investment funds. Forbes sources claim that the latter are under control of the specialized company Gazprombank - Asset Management.

As the first move, people’s pension savings were frozen. Later, the retirement age was raised. Not long ago, the authorities made threats that fines would levied if any additional income was found. Meanwhile, pensioners are still kept in the conditions where they literally have to survive. In general, the promises given by the authorities to Russian pensioners can scarcely be called a goodwill gesture. They promised to index the pensions at a level above the official inflation with an average increase to monthly payments at around 1,000 rubles per year. In doing so, the federal government tried somehow to excuse itself in front of millions of Russian citizens for the antisocial pension reform -- as experts and many politicians called it -- upon the adoption of which the retirement age in Russia was raised by 5 years.

It was expected that the reform of the garbage recycling system in Russia would as a minimum resolve the bulk of garbage utilization problems. But the on the power of tradition, “prompt” work of bureaucracy and economic reality cast overwhelming doubts over its implementation. Experts of the Accounting Chamber believe this country will not have space anymore for dumping garbage in a mere six years’ time.

The authorities of the Krasnoyarsk territory have come up with claims that the cost of the regional project for development of gas distribution networks in the region is still high. They are looking for its implementation options but are unlikely to find them in the next few years.

The year of 2019 was quite scandalous for the Rostov region. In terms of the number of criminal cases against officials, this region has practically broken all the records. Did the law enforcers really start to finally expose the corrupt system? Or is it a political order aimed at discrediting the incumbent governor?

Russian Federal Service for Intellectual Property (Rospatent) continues springing surprises on the operators of the market of intellectual property protection with the help of its paradoxical solutions, including the costs it sets for its own services.

Apart from the obvious problems with the absence of vital drugs in the country, the Ministry of Healthcare also has some time bombs in its arsenal. The name of one of them is Cagocel.

While the Libyan Armed Forces under the command of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar were conducting an anti-terrorist operation to liberate Tripoli, Lev Dengov, the head of the Russian contact team for the intra-Libyan conflict, effectively became a press-secretary for the bandits from National Transitional Council in Russia.

In December, a wave of rallies and pickets against construction of a pulp and paper mill on the bank of the Rybinsk water rolled across the Volga region. The project is launched by Alexei Mordashov's Sveza Group. Thousands of people from Rybinsk, Yaroslavl, Cherepovets and other cities took to the streets to protest.

The Indian defense officials were dissatisfied with the real tactical and technical characteristics of the Russian Pantsir missile system (Pantsir-S1), and are likely to give preference to its South Korean counterpart system.

They say, “if you want to make God laugh tell Him about your plans.” In the story with Ukraine, Gazprom has become the key figure of this saying. As they say, correctness of the aphorism was tested in the “taking-a-hit” style.

Trust Bank chaired by Mikhail Khabarov continues collecting bad debts. Among others, for example, the bank needs to deal with the legacy of Bin Bank left by the oligarch Mikhail Gutseriev and his relatives and business partners. Mikhail Khabarov risks his reputation because of the story with the withdrawal of MMK assets

Sales of New Year's goods this year decreased. At the start of the season, Russians bought one and a half times less New Year's decorations, the demand for string lights fell down by 25 % compared to last December, and the demand for artificial New Year trees declined by 12 %.

The Russian penitentiary (penal) system is one of the most off-limits for society. What happens under control of the Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN of Russia) to prisoners in penal colonies, which are broadly referred to in Russia as “zones”, becomes known only in the extreme cases that get into spotlight.

Instead of the notorious Spetsstroy, a new megastructure which will take over all military construction will appear in Russia. In theory, the creation of the Military Construction Company (VSK) should put an end to corruption in this sphere. But this is very unlikely, experts say.

The recent statement of the Ministry of Health that life expectancy in Russia has boosted up to 78.5 years among women and 68.5 years among men seems to be designed for paving the way for another increase of retirement age for the Russians.

Moscow City authorities have come up with a new plan for garbage disposal. The project has been published on the city hall’s website. It is said that the document contains the prospective patterns of accumulation, processing and recycling of waste from the capital in the next ten years, that is, until the end of 2029.

Three weeks before the end of 2019 and on the eve of 2020, we go through the complete list of “Putin’s successors”, i.e. the persons considered as the most likely stuntmen of the incumbent Russian President.

An investor intends to build a waste incineration plant near the village of Kubekovo almost in the suburbs of Krasnoyarsk. People disagree with its plans. The project has the name of Volchya Griva (Wolf’s Collar). Originally, it was an industrial estate to dispose of, process, place, and neutralise industrial and consumer waste. It was built back in 2017 and registered in the governmental register. Then it was mothballed. Currently, its owners intend to amend the technical documents including a plant into it.