Information about the exams

The negative effect on the movement of Industrial Production Index in February was produced by the decline, in annual terms, in the processing industry by 2.8%, and in the sector of production and distribution of natural gas and water by 1.7%.

In 2015, the processing industry displayed a continuation of the downward movement of the production index in the capital machinery & equipment production sector, which that had been on a steady decline since November 2014. The output of passenger cars amounted to 83%, and that of trucks – to 62.8% of the corresponding indices for February 2014. Automobile manufacturers reduced the working hours of their personnel. One of the main factors behind the drop in automobile output is the shrinkage of effective demand on the part of both corporate and individual consumers.

February 2015 saw a continuing decline in the production of machinery and equipment for construction and agriculture. The shrinkage in the output of the major types of machinery and equipment reflects the persisting low investment activity index in the national economy.
As far as mineral resources extraction is concerned, its output in February 2015 increased in annual terms by 0.7% (overall growth by 0.1% in January–February).

The behavior of the production index in the consumer goods manufacturing industry displayed significant by-segment differences. The growth rate of food commodities production was on the rise, alongside an accelerating decline in the textiles and textile products manufacturing sector, and the footwear manufacturing sector.

Production decline is taking place alongside rising wages in arrears. As of 1 March 2015, the aggregate wages in arrears amounted to Rb 2,875m, having increased by Rb 368m (or 14.7%) on 1 February 2015. The bulk of this debt is observed in the processing industry due to the shortage of earnings experienced by the companies operating there.

Olga Izryadnova – Head of the Structural Policy Department