‘We are expecting the regional budget profits to reach 64 billion RUR by the end of 2005,’ Ms Kovaleva said at the recent press-conference. ‘The original sum has gone up by 8 billion RUR, while the delays in paying off the wages have been diminishing steadily: the debt is plummeting to 8 million RUR from last year’s one billion. There are fewer people with incomes below living wage: 14% compared to last year’s 16.9%. The average salary in December has been estimated at 10,000 RUR,’ the Minister for Economics and Labour in Sverdlovsk Region Galina Kovaleva announced.