‘The public prosecution authorities of Yamalo-Nenetskiy Autonomous District are going to set up a plea for the reversal of judgment involving former Chairman of EuroGreen Ilya Gaffner based on the excessive leniency of the sentence,’ Public Prosecutor Nikolai Vetyugov said to UrBC representative. ‘I must admit that the sentence really was too lenient; arrears of wages on a scale like this have grave social consequences,’ Mr Vetyugov said. The Court of Noviy Urengoy sentenced Mr Gaffner to three years on parole with a 12-month probation period; his charge concerned violation of Article 145 of

The French economic legation, headed by the commercial attaché of French Embassy in Russia Christoff Lormel, started operating in Yekaterinburg today. The major objective of the legation is to involve more French enterprises in the economic development of the Mid-Urals, assist the businesses of the two countries in establishing contacts and keep French entrepreneurs in the know of the regional projects. The French Consulate will open in Yekaterinburg on January 1, 2007.

Over forty best employees of Evrazruda (part of Evraz Group) have started attending classes in the colleges located in the Urals and Siberia over the last few days. This is part of the corporate fellowships and grants program. Evrazruda has, for the first time in its history, invested in educating its best workers in the most needed fields. The candidates were selected based on their actual achievements, references from the department and subsidiary directors, and the results of the interviews and tests held by the Personnel Departments. Over thirty people started studying to become experts

The extraordinary general meeting of UralSvyazInform, the local cellular operator, took place in Moscow on September 27, 2006. The agenda contained a point concerning early termination of powers of the Board of Directors. Evgeniy Chechelnitskiy was elected the new Chairman; Anatoliy Ufimkin was elected Deputy Chairman. The Corporate Management Rating Department of Standard & Poor’s canceled the company’s rating in August.

The designers and engineers of Ural Turbine Works will be performing four times better by the middle of 2007. This acceleration of engineering and design will reduce the time needed for production of a turbine by one third, and this, in its turn, is expected to raise the total capacity of the plant. Ural Turbine Works is hoping to achieve this by introducing the new Pro/ENGINEER computer-aided design systems, as has recently been decided by the Board of Directors. ‘Our designers are using four types of software at the moment, which creates communication problems among different departments.

‘We do believe Auchan is going to entice away a number of customers, both retail and wholesale ones (probably in equal proportions), currently loyal to local stores. The introduction of this French chain store is an advantage for the consumers and an extra impetus for the local players to grow more client-friendly,’ the spokesperson for Kupets Ltd. (a popular local chain) Nadezhda Buriko said to UrBC representative. Ms Buriko thinks the market will have to go through re-distribution because of the competition created by the arrival of Auchan.

The first quality certificates for electricity provided by ChelyabEnergo, Chelyabinsk Region energy supplier, were awarded to two main substations at Sportivnaya station belonging to Chelyabinsk electrical networks. According to the company’s spokesperson, the quality audit is based on two criteria, namely, voltage level and frequency. Failing to keep up with these parameters may lead to breakdowns in the operation of home appliances and reduce their lifetime. The certification procedure is carried out by the experts from Vektra Ltd., Moscow-based certifying body. They read the equipment data

‘It’s not easy to determine whether the company has chosen the most suitable moment for the initial public offering as the market opportunities may all have changed in a few months’ and even weeks’ time. Yet Metallurgical Industrial Complex of Magnitogorsk may actually do okay as the investors have a positive view of the company. The main thing is to be able to explain what the Complex is planning to do with the money,’ the expert from FINAM Investment Company Sergey Kharchenko said to UrBC representative. According to Vedomosti newspaper, the Complex is now choosing the banks that will offer

‘The original project of South Ural nuclear power station is going to be edited,’ the Director of the Station Vladimir Morozov announced at today’s press conference. According to Mr Morozov, the project (which had been approved of and licensed) provided for the construction of the nuclear power station based on three BM-800 fast reactors. ‘However, taking into account that all the earlier projects on nuclear power industry development were never completed, as well as the fact that fast reactors are normally designed for a specific purpose and will only be actually needed no sooner than