European Aerospace and Defense Syndicate (EADS, Munich-based producer of civil aircrafts) signed a long-term agreement on supplying titanium produce for Airbus aircrafts production with VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation JSC today. The contract is valid until 2011 and provides for the annual increase of supply in accordance with the needs of Airbus production. The total cost of the project is estimated to come to $1bn within five years, but this figure might rise significantly over the time. VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation will keep on supplying Airbus with the regular billets such as sticks, sheets, and

Market capitalization of Utair Airlines came to $180m in May 2006. According to the company’s spokesperson, their shares have been going up significantly since the beginning of the year. Thus, the price rose from 5.88 RUR per share on February 15 to 8.5 RUR on May 11. These results look even more impressive given that only two carriers (Aeroflot-Russian Airlines and Utair) are currently offering their shares on the Russian stock market. The shares are sold as TMAT on RTS stock exchange and as UTAR on Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange. One can also acquire the company’s shares in New York,

The Board of Directors of VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation JSC met on May 12 to schedule the annual shareholder meeting for June 28, 2006. The points on the agenda include agreeing on the annual report and the accounting report for 2005, profit distribution, electing the General Director, the Board of Directors, the Inspection Committee, and the company’s Auditor. The Board of Directors suggested that the shareholders declare the dividend of 37.88 RUR per share, which is 30% greater than in 2004. Among the proffered Board Members are Vyacheslav Bresht, Vasiliy Besedin, Dennis Kelly, Nikolay Melnikov,

Sverdlovsk Region subsidiary of TGK-9 is going to carry out the first stages of high-pressure pipelines testing on May 16 to May 18, 2006 in order to start preparing for the next heating season. The block pipelines will stop supplying hot water and will be tested from 9 AM to 6 PM on May 16, the backbone pipelines will be tested from midnight to 6 AM on May 17 and 18; hot water will still be available. The plan provides for seven stages of testing altogether, with everything completed by August 23.

Regional Duma Deputy and UralArm CJSC shareholder Vladimir Taskayev confirms investigative action concerning his company. ‘The company premises were searched on Friday night; I believe the whole thing has political lining,’ Mr Taskayev said.

‘The company is renovating a high-voltage line to the west of the city at the moment,’ reports their spokesperson. This is going to last until the end of the year, and in the meantime, the areas of Shirokaya Rechka, Medniy, Polovinka, Centralniy and some garden patches will have no electricity. The physiotherapy clinic and the hospital near Pond Glukhoy will have to use their own diesel generators.

Subsidiary of City Mortgage Bank Ltd. opened in Yekaterinburg on May 16, 2006. ‘Before entering the new regional market, we normally look at its development potential and the turnover of transactions. Yekaterinburg is currently one of Russia’s leading building industry areas, which is a very important factor for a bank like ours. It is here that we will introduce the ruble mortgage schemes; besides, we’ll be able to provide the most convenient kinds of loans,’ President Nikolai Schitov said at the press conference. ‘Our loan portfolio comes to over $120m, and we are planning on giving $80m

Two new Belarus-made dumpers with the capacity of 30 tons are now used in No 7 haulage shop servicing Sheregeshskiy mine of Kemerov Region. According to Evrazruda JSC spokesperson, these dumpers replaced the worn-out vehicles in the process of transporting chip from the grinding and concentrating mill onto the spoil bank. There are a total of five 30-ton dumpers used in the process 24/7; all of them are quite new (two were bought in 2002, one in 2005, the other two – a few days ago). Each dumper makes about 17 trips per turn; the chip is used for filling exhausted mines.