Just to document my point...
Intostranets No. 17 May 2001 [from WPS Monitoring Agency, www.wps.ru/e_index.html] AROUND 40% OF RUSSIAN WORKERS ARE PAID IN CASH
The Sociology Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences did a survey last week in Moscow and St. Petersburg, aimed at shedding some light on the problems of individual income tax. The results were remarkable.
It turns out that 38% of Russian workers who took part in the survey are paid in cash, off the record; 45% of respondents receive their wages officially, recorded by company accountants; 11% by card; and 2% have their wages paid as insurance premiums or into bank accounts. The remaining 4% of respondents indicated various other ways of receiving wages.
According to the survey, 48% of St. Petersburg respondents receive their wages "in cash, without any official record, by agreement with their superiors". In Moscow, the corresponding figure is 30%.