Page 37 - RUSRptSept18

specialized level. In district centres and villages, this number is only 32%.
Computer and internet skills are widespread among working Russians. Only 6% of those working in the capitals do not have computer or internet skills, versus 16% of workers in villages. Russians also show an interest in foreign languages with 5% of the country studying another language either through classes or independently.
At the same time, only 10% of Moscow and St. Petersburg residents and 4% of rural citizens consciously recognize that investing in advancing their education and honing their professional skills can lead to a higher level of well-being. 63% of working villagers have not replenished their knowledge in the past three years.
4.5.2 Income dynamics
The growth of real wages and disposable income growth remained robust in July, with real wages up to 8% growth y/y, increasing from 7.2% in June. Real disposable incomes grew 2% y/y versus 0.7% y/y in June.
"This improvement [in wages] reflects low headline inflation, limited indexation of utilities in July, the favourable base effect and conditions for the tradable sector’s profitability," VTB Capital argues.
At the same time, Sberbank CIB notes that real disposable income continuously lagging behind real wages could be the result of an "increasing amount of under-the-table wages being made official (and thus now being picked up by the statistics)."
Russia's GDP in January - July, previously increased by 1.6% compared to the same period last year, according to Rosstat.
This is slightly lower than the calculations of the Ministry of Economic Development, which estimated GDP growth in the first half of 1.7%.
Rosstat published a preliminary estimate for the second quarter of this year: Russia's GDP for May-July rose by 1.8%. In the first quarter, GDP showed an increase of 1.3%.
37 RUSSIA Country Report September 2018 www.intellinews.com