Bank of Yekaterinburg JSC summed up the results of its operations with natural persons in 2005. Last year, more than 109,000 people placed over 1 billion RUR with the bank. Bank of Yekaterinburg JSC has issued nearly 100,000 Union Card cash cards so far, and 250 trading companies and services are accepting it. The bank installed 22 ATMs in 2005 as well as signed the zero percent interest ATM operation agreement with Uralvneshtorgbank JSC.

Ore miner Evrazruda JSC (part of Evraz Group) has been trying to implement the new grinders meant for foreign crown bits. According to the company’s spokesperson, three Sandvik grinders are currently used in Sheregeshskaya and Kazskaya mines. The iron ore in the deposits the company is mining is particularly hard, so having properly sharpened tools always at hand is a big issue. Evrazruda JSC decided to use foreign crown bits and rods as early as 2004, so the produce of Sandvik, a Swedish company, was chosen after various types of equipment had been tested. Sandvik supplied about 5,000 pintle

Severnaya Kazna, insurance company of Yekaterinburg, attracted 591,178 million RUR of investments in 2005, of which 185,644 million RUR were collected in the last three months, the company’s spokesperson reports. According to Marketing and Advertising Director Marina Medvedeva, the amount of money invested throughout October to December 2005 was 16% percent greater than that invested in July to September. Yet the company had to pay 399,043,000 RUR, or up 46.5% of insurance money in 2005 (compared to 272,346,000 RUR a year earlier). Thus, the total unprofitableness of the company comprised

Uralvagonzavod Federal State Unitary Enterprise, carriage maker of Nizhniy Tagil, presented its new RTM-160 tractor at the event organized by Sverdlovsk Region Ministry of Agriculture and Food Industry along with the Bolshoy Ural Association; representatives of agricultural enterprises form Sverdlovsk, Kurgan, Chelyabinsk, Ohrenburg, Tyumen and Omsk Regions took part in the meeting. The tractor has been included in the Russian Federation Ministry of Agriculture roll for 2006, and it is subject to the state agricultural leasing program, the company’s spokesperson reports.

Director of Transglobal Airlines Mikhail Turkanov was arrested last Saturday. According to the spokesperson for Sverdlovsk Region Municipal Internal Affairs Administration, Mr Churkanov is now kept in detention and has been charged with large-scale fraud (Clause 159 of Russian Federation Criminal Code). ‘Mr Churkanov has been charged with the same offense and tried before, it happened in 2005 but the court only made him give a written undertaking not to leave a place,’ the spokesperson said.

‘We had to limit our gas supplies in January because of the cold weather and thus switched to coal, which was not good financially; besides, the boilers that use coal are more complicated technically than the regular ones and require more maintenance expenses,’ TGK-10 GD Andrey Shishkin said at the press conference on Friday. Yet, according to Mr Shishkin, the amount of coal bought from Chelyabinsk Coal Company in 2006 will remain the same as last year. ‘As for the additional coal expenses, they have already been included into the tariffs,’ Mr Shishkin said.

Yekaterinburgnefteprodukt JSC and Sverdlovsknefteprodukt JSC (Ural District oil dealers of Sibneft JSC) summed up their achievements in 2005. The total turnover of retail trade in Sibneft filling stations grew by 19.6% (over 60,000 tons) given that the general growth of Sverdlovsk Region oil market increased by 1.3% (11,000 tons). The two companies launched multifuel filling stations last year, and Sibneft is going to invest about 200 million RUR into regional development in 2006.

The major shareholders of Mechel JSC, metallurgical company of Chelyabinsk, decided to allow Chair of the Board Igor Zyuzin to buy a 42.2% share holding from GD Vladimir Iorikh within the next 12 months, the company’s spokesperson said to UrBC representative. Mr Zyuzin has been considering different options to cover these expenses, for example, stock exchange operations and strategic partnership. Regardless of the source of his purchase money, he is to keep at least 51% holding in Mechel joint stock. Meanwhile, Mr Iorikh will be gradually delegating his liabilities to the current Executive

‘The year 2005 brought some new players into the banking field and witnessed a wider range of mortgage programs. Since the terms of the payments were prolonged to 25 to 30 years compared to 10 to 15 years in the past, mortgage programs became more available,’ Johann Jonah, Chairman of RaiffeisenBank Austria CJSC, said to UrBC representative. ‘Mortgage loans are only starting to develop regionally, but we think the amount of loans and the money given to clients will increase at least ten times in 2006,’ Mr Jonah said. ‘Regionally, mortgage loans in Russian currency are most demanded, so some

Fireproof Works of Kyshtym (part of Magnesite Group) summed up its success in January 2006. According to Magnesite Group spokesperson, during January 2006 production output and sales of commercial powders at Fireproof Works of Kyshtym grew by 155,6% compared to the same figures for the previous year and came to 182.8 tons. Delivery of the company’s production under the contract with Rosatomstroy Federal State Unitary Enterprise (which the company carries out according to an agreement of storing, destruction and non-proliferation of nuclear arms between Russia and USA signed in 1992)