In the first half of 2017, Russian banks issued 420,000 mortgage loans for a total amount of 765 billion rubles, which is 15% higher in volume than January-June 2016, the Housing Mortgage Lending Agency (AHML) said in a statement. The volume of the mortgage portfolio as of July 1, 2017 reached RUB 4.7 trillion. In June 2017, according to the agency’s preliminary estimates, mortgage loans worth RUB 150 billion were issued. (31% increase compared to June 2016).

01 August 2017, 09:48 / Business Tour operator Vekturia suspended operations due to robbery and decline in demand Vedomosti Moscow tour operator Vekturia announced the suspension of work from July 28. The company cited the reasons for this decision as the decline in demand in 2017, which led to a lack of working capital, as well as the office robbery that took place on August 27, 2016, after which Vecturia suffered heavy losses.

The Washington Post claims that President Donald Trump dictated a statement in which his son, Donald Trump Jr., explained that she had offered to discuss the issue of adopting Russian orphans at a meeting with Russian lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya. The New York Times first reported on the meeting in early July. The president was then advised that his son release a full and truthful account of the conversation, so that if details appeared in the media, nothing would have to be denied.

01 August 2017, 11:18 / Auto PSA completes purchase of General Motors' European business - Opel and Vauxhall Vedomosti France's PSA Group has completed the acquisition of General Motors Co.'s European business. (GM), which includes the Opel and Vauxhall brands, the automaker said in a statement . The value of the assets is estimated at 1.3 billion euros and 0.9 billion euros, respectively, as noted earlier.

The creators of the Crystal Palace recalled the traditions of the 18th century / European Foundation for Support of Culture The time and place of action is January 1740, St. Petersburg. The plot of the ballet is taken from Russian history - Empress Anna Ioannovna decided to marry her Jester and Shutiha, and after the wedding sent them to the Ice House for the night.

GM is no longer a major player in Europe after 88 years of losses / Mark Blinch / Reuters General Motors completed the sale of its European division, which includes Opel and Vauxhall, to France's PSA Group on Tuesday. This means that GM will cease to be a major player in the European market after 88 years of losses for almost two decades. The deal between the American and French concerns was announced on March 6.

01 August 2017, 00:19 / Business How to insure yourself against the rise and fall of raw material prices Producers and consumers of coking coal recalculate its cost upon completion of supplies Vitaly Petlevoy Sharp fluctuations in commodity prices are forcing companies to abandon standard contracts.

The Kremlin is calling for avoiding actions that could provoke an increase in tension in Ukraine, TASS reports . "We believe that all parties, especially those countries that claim a role in the settlement, should avoid any actions that could provoke an increase in tension in an already difficult region," presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on August 1.

The number of crimes in the digital environment - cybercrime, also known as cyber theft of money and information - has increased by 75% over the past three years. Such data, with reference to a survey of entrepreneurs, are presented in the “Russian Digital Economy” program signed on Monday by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev. According to Group-IB, in 2016, the main targets of cybercriminals were banks and owners of Android smartphones (an increase in the amount of thefts by 300–471%).

August 01, 2017, 09:04 / Finance / News Oil prices continue to rise after a sharp jump in July undefined Vedomosti Oil prices are rising on Tuesday after rising following a very volatile session the day before, July 31. The cost of October futures for Brent by 8.45 Moscow time increased by 0.13% to $52.79 per barrel, WTI rose by 0.2% to $50.27 per barrel.

Sistema Capital Partners (SCP, owned by AFK Sistema ) has withdrawn from the capital of the Highstreet IV and Highstreet Prime I funds, which own assets in the retail real estate sector in Germany, AFK told Interfax. The buyer was a German institutional investor. However, Sistema did not specify when exactly the assets were sold. According to information on the SCP website, Highstreet IV owns 57,700 sq. m of retail space, Highstreet Prime I – 60,000 sq. m.

Plans to build Europe's first Universal Studios were announced in 2012 / Universal Studios The construction of the Universal Studios park is being moved from Varshavskoe Shosse to the territory of New Moscow, the main owner of the Safmar group Mikhail Gutseriev told Vedomosti in an interview. In December 2015, it acquired the company A101 Development from Vadim Moshkovich, which owns 2,400 hectares of the former Kommunarka state farm in New Moscow.

The Metro has switched to random inspection / Evgeny Egorov / Vedomosti The Ministry of Transport will take measures that will ensure the safety of passengers, avoiding total inspection at the entrance, Russian Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov said yesterday. "The problem of passenger inspection in the St. Petersburg metro is under my personal control," he added. Last week, four stations of the St.

BP's profit from Rosneft stake falls BP's profit from its stake in Rosneft in the first half of 2017 fell by 2.5% year-on-year to $344 million, the British company said in a report. BP's share of Rosneft's oil production in the reporting period was 907,000 barrels per day. This is 12% higher than the January-June 2016 figure. Its share in gas production increased by 3.5% to 1.318 million cubic feet per day.

01 August 2017, 11:32 / Business Loading on the Russian Railways network increased by 2.2% in July Vedomosti Loading on the Russian Railways network in July 2017 increased by 2.2% and amounted to 106.6 million tons compared to the same period in 2016, the company said in a statement. Freight turnover in July 2017 increased by 5.1% compared to the same period last year and amounted to 208 billion tariff tonne-kilometers (tkm).