Page 82 - RusRPTApr23

Labor. By analogy with the PM, social pensions will also increase, the press service explained. Deputy Minister of Labor and Social Protection - State Secretary Andrei Pudov specified that the social pension will increase by 13.6% over the year, its growth will exceed the actual inflation for 2022 (11.9%). In April 2022, the social pension was indexed as planned by 8.6%, and in July an unscheduled indexation was carried out by another 10%. The amount of the payment depends on the basis on which it is awarded.
Russia's wage arrears decreased by 3.5% to RUB770.6mn rubles in February according to the Federal State Statistics Service, as of March 1st. The total wage arrears for 2023 were 125.9mn rubles, with 352.1mn rubles in arrears from 2022, and 292.6mn rubles in arrears from 2021 and earlier. In terms of sectors, the processing industry accounted for the largest proportion of the debt at 34.7%, followed by the education sector at 28.2%. Construction accounted for 7.9%, while water dispatching and waste recycling accounted for 7.3%. The agriculture and timber industries accounted for 6.5%, mining for 6.2%, transport for 3.5%, real estate management for 2.6%, and electric power and gas provision for 1.8%. Science and engineering accounted for 1% of the debt.
4.5.3 Retail sector dynamics
Retail sales, which declined by 6.6% y/y in January, fell by 7.6% in February. However, retail sales rose by an unexpected 0.8% month-on-month in seasonally adjusted terms, following a sharp increase in January.
82 RUSSIA Country Report Russia April 2023 www.intellinews.com