The extraordinary general meeting of shareholders of Kalina Concern JSC that took place on January 12, 2006 resulted in electing the new Board of Directors. As the voting results have it, the Board now includes the company’s R&D Director Nikolai Geller, the company’s GD Timur Goryaev, Finance and Economics Director Alexander Petrov, member of Dr.Scheller Cosmetics AG Board of Directors Reinhold Schlennsock (a German citizen), Johan Grietsen, Hendrick Freiman (the Netherlands), Christoff Clavet, and KIT-Capital Director Mark Allan Bush (the United States). This meeting also lead to the

Peschanaya substation located near Nizhniy Tagil within hydroelectric power plant of Verkhniy Tagil to Pervomayskaya power line was cut off due to the lightning protection cable coming detached yesterday. As the spokesperson for Sverdlovskenergo JSC said to UrBC representative, the consumers did not experience any interruption in the electricity supplies though as the power backup came on immediately. An emergency team arrived at the sight of the accident and spent about five hours fixing the cable, so the hydroelectric power plant of Verkhniy Tagil to Pervomayskaya power line was linked up

Two joint-stock companies of CHTPS Group (Tube rolling plants of Chelyabinsk and Pervouralsk) shipped 1,516000 tons of tubes and other goods in 2005. To be more precise, the plant of Pervouralsk had sold 743300 tons of tubes over the months of January to December 2005, with 60200 tons sold in December. The plant’s output comprised 731600 tons of tubes in 2005, which exceeds the figures for 2004 (namely, 678300 tons) by 7%. 57200 tons of tubes were sold in December only.

‘Despite freezing weather, all of the company’s cars are being used as scheduled. We leave them in well-heated boxes for the night, so starting the car in the morning isn’t a problem,’ General Director of Yekaterinburgskoye Taxi JSC Vladimir Komissarov said to UrBC representative. Mr Komissarov also says that, in order to lower the breakage risks, all taxis are currently using petrol, which has already made the fuel costs double. The company is not going to have the fares go up, however. ‘It is already clear that the arrival of unusually cold weather led to more taxis being hired for local

Severskiy Trubniy Zavod JSC (part of Trubnaya Metallurgicheskaya Kompaniya (Tube-Making Metallurgical Company)) shipped 609900 tons of steel tubes in 2005, which is 15.8% more than in 2004. 662000 tons of steel had been cast over the twelve months of 2005, which means a 4% increase in casting as opposed to the year before, the spokesperson for Trubnaya Metallurgicheskaya Kompaniya said.

Bank of Yekaterinburg JSC summed up its achievements in 2005. According to their spokesperson, the bank’s balance-sheet total came up to 3.5 billion RUR. There was also a 60% increase in balance-sheet turnover (390 billion RUR) and a 51-million RUR pre-tax profit.

The introduction by our Federal Government of some antidumping duties on the Ukrainian tube and pipe import on January 1, 2006 was an appropriate and timely thing that the Government did to protect the Russian tube-makers’ interests. This decision was made on the basis of the antidumping research carried out by Russian Federation Ministry of Economics and Development’, Vitaliy Sadykov, General Director of CHTPS Group CJSC said. Mr Sadykov also noted that the introduction of these duties could help to create a level playing field for Russian and Ukrainian tube and pipe makers on the local

According to the spokesperson for the local subsidiary of LUKOIL-Permneftprodukt PLC, the retail oil and mineral oil prices at the company’s filling stations are expected to remain stable for some time. As Mikhail Mazein, LUKOIL-Permneftprodukt PLC Financial Director, noted, the company is not going to have the prices go up; moreover, the regular customer 3% discount is also going to be valid. Mr Mazein also said that due to more foreign cars being used nowadays, more AI-92 and AI-95 and less AI-80 types of petrol were being consumed.

Bogdanovichskiy farforovy zavod CJSC ceramic works summed up its success in 2005. ‘In 2005, our works produced and shipped 204 million RUR worth of ceramics,’ Head of Economics Department of Bogdanovichskiy farforovy zavod CJSC Olga Belousova said to UrBC representative. According to Ms Belousova, in 2005, Bogdanovichskiy farforovy zavod CJSC sold 10 million pieces of porcelain and 11 million low-temperature porcelain items.

Sinarskiy Tube Plant JSC (part of Trubnaya Metallurgicheskaya Kompaniya (Tube-Making Metallurgical Company)) shipped 594100 tons of steel tubes in 2005, which exceeds the figures for 2004 by 2.35%. According to the company’s spokesperson, the plant also expanded their assortment of drill pipes, casing tubes, and stalks.