URA.RU staff report mass layoffs across regions

Employees of the URA.RU editorial office have complained about mass layoffs. Journalists, editors, IT specialists, and managers are being dismissed. This was reported to E1.RU by former employees of the holding.

“For example, today in the IT department, the manager informed 60% of the team that they have a choice: either write a voluntary resignation letter, or reasons for dismissal under article will be sought. If those who are no longer needed by the company do not resign by the end of the month, their salary will be cut by 50%,” one former employee said.

Mass layoffs have affected all regional editorial offices of the publication — from Moscow to Yamal. The information was confirmed by URA.RU chief editor Diana Kozlova. However, she noted that it is not about layoffs initiated by the employer, but about voluntary resignations.

“We have lost a third of our advertising revenue, and the question of how to replace it remains open. The payment of October salaries has been dragging on for a week and has not been paid to everyone yet. Employees, in turn, have their own obligations — for example, loans and mortgages. And some are willing to wait, while others are not. And colleagues, knowing that we have professional staff, are approaching them with offers. Therefore, employees are resigning. How many and how — it«s impossible to say: firstly, it»s an unpredictable process, secondly, we are limited by the law on personal data and commercial secrecy,” chief editor Diana Kozlova explained in a conversation with E1.RU.

Earlier, bailiffs visited the URA.RU editorial office. In June, searches were conducted in the editorial office, after which a criminal case for bribery was opened against the agency«s editor Denis Allayarov. He has been under arrest for several months. We are gathering information on this episode in a separate story.

The URA.RU trademark is registered to the legal entity LLC Siberian-Ural Media Company. According to the Kontur.Focus service, the founders are Elena Kuimova (who owns 75%) and Mikhail Vyugin (who holds 25%).

The media company«s assets at the end of 2024 were 255.5 million rubles (approximately $2.84 million at current rates). Revenue was 445 million rubles (approximately $4.94 million). At the same time, the enterprise is unprofitable by 29 million rubles (approximately $322,000). In 2023, the net loss was 176 million rubles (approximately $1.96 million).

Note that Siberian-Ural Media Company is a frequent participant in government procurements. Only in 2025, they concluded seven contracts for covering the activities of government bodies in Chelyabinsk, Surgut, Perm Krai, and others.

It is known that employee salaries were paid through JSC CB Agropromkredit, which is associated with Bykov and Bobrov, and it is also on the prosecutor«s list and has already been disconnected from the fast payment system.

Vice Governor Oleg Chemezov also appeared on the list of defendants. The accounts of the politician and his family were blocked. Oleg Chemezov himself previously told E1.RU that he learned about the account freeze in a store when he tried to buy food for his children.

We published the official statement of Artem Bykov and Alexey Bobrov«s company regarding the claims of the General Prosecutor»s Office, and also told how the oligarchs earned their hundreds of billions. All news on the topic we gather in a special section.