Beloyarskaya nuclear power plant has recently completed the first stage of putting up BN-800 feeding unit. The site of the would-be unit is fully prepared for laying the foundation of the main building, the ground has been removed down to the rock bed, the dampproof and concrete layers are already in place, reports the spokesperson for the plant. The foundation of the main building of the unit, with its estimated 30,000 cubic meters of concrete, will be concreted in blocks. The unit is expected to have been introduced by 2012, with the next BN-1800 main commercial feeding unit introduced in

Capital Reinsurance CJSC is going to set up an office in Yekaterinburg in order to coordinate the company’s activity in the Ural Federal District, reports their spokesperson.’ ‘Our presence in Yekaterinburg makes it much easier to deal with the reinsurance contracts quickly. Since we are trying to be client-friendly and offer high quality service, we’ll introduce more offices in a number of Russian regions soon,’ said Deputy Director of Capital Reinsurance CJSC Alexander Korolev.

‘The two major non-ferrous metallurgical enterprises in Sverdlovsk Region, Electrolytic Copper Works of Kyshtym and Karabashmed CJSC, are part of Russian Copper Company,’ General Director of Zinc Plant of Chelyabinsk Vsevolod Geihmann announced at the meeting of PROMASS, the Organization of Employers of Chelyabinsk Region. ‘It is certain that the copper and zinc producers have a brilliant future ahead of them. Suffice it to say that the global output of zinc comes to 10.5 million tons per year. This amount appears to be unsatisfactory, so there has definitely been some zinc shortage that has

Ramenka Ltd. (Ramstore chain of retail stores) is planning on introducing their store in Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk Region, in 2006. ‘This particular city and Ural Federal District as a whole are quite attractive in terms of chain development in Russia, so breaking into the Ural market is our top priority at the moment. We have been working on a few projects targeted at a number of Ural cities simultaneously. For instance, we set up the first Ramstore in Ufa in 2006 and hope to open stores in Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Perm, and Ohrenburg soon,’ the company’s spokesperson said to UrBC

The production of iron and blast-furnace ferroalloys in Chelyabinsk Region grew by 3.4% in the six months of 2006 compared to the first half of 2005; the output of rolled metal went up by 8.7%, steel output increased by 4.6%, steel tubes output by 18.8%. The output of ferrosilicon rose by 2.8 times, pure copper output grew by 24%, nickel output by 33%. In addition, 9.6% more metal products were produced compared to the period of January to June 2005, the spokesperson for Chelyabinsk Region Ministry of Economic Development said to UrBC representative. The experts from the Ministry have also

Magnesite Industrial Complex JSC (part of Magnesite Group) produced 29,800 tons of refractory goods in June 2006, which exceeds the figures for June 2005 by 8%. The production of commercial powders went up by 26.6% and came to 69,300 tons, the spokesperson for Magnesite Group said to UrBC representative.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, the volume of long-term loans (given for a term of 3 years or more) given by CreditUralBank JSC to sole traders has gone down by 15.5% within the first six months of 2006. At the beginning of the year, the bank’s loan portfolio (as far as sole traders were concerned) was worth 3, 083,000, 000 RUR, whereas it came to only 2,667,000,000 RUR on June 1, 2006. There also appears to be a decrease in the volume of short-term loans (given for a term of 1 to 3 years) from 86,450,000,000 RUR on January 1, 2006 to 84,664,000,000 RUR on June 1, 2006.