The foreign trade turnover of Sverdlovsk Region reached the point of $9bn in 2006, which exceeds the figures for 2005 by 20%, reports the spokesperson for the Ministry for International and Foreign Economic Relations of Sverdlovsk Region. The share of exported goods and services amounted to $7.2bn; the share of the import came to approximately $1.8bn, or four times less than that of the export share. The region is currently cooperating with 115 states; its partnerships with Kazakhstan, the Ukraine, China, and Germany have proved to be the most fruitful ones.

Ural Airlines made a special offer called Your Dreams – Our Wings in December 2006; the offer provided for a travel tour lottery among the company’s clients. The winner was identified in the course of an online drawing on January 1, 2007. This lucky passenger’s name was Olga Bazhenova, who could choose between a trip to Velikiy Ustyug, Russian Santa’s place of abode, and a visit to the Moscow-based beauty salon run by the leading expert of Slava Zaitsev Fashion House, reports the company’s press officer.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) approved of a Russian-American transaction on behalf of the U.S. Government. The transaction involves Evraz Group, a Russian company that has been allowed to acquire Oregon Steel Mills Inc., The Oregonian newspaper reported today. According to the newspaper, the U.S. Government sees no reasons for preventing the acquisition from happening in terms of national security. Evraz Group announced the purchase of Oregon Steel for $2.3bn on November 20, 2006. According to the Russian Company’s press release, Evraz and Oregon Steel

The experts of Ural Airlines believe that more people are going to travel to Israel after this country’s Ministry of Interior made visa procedures much easier for the citizens of the Commonwealth of Independent States. ‘The Yekaterinburg-Tel Aviv flight used to be a charter one and only available in the summer, yet this year it’s become regular; one can use this direct flight once in a fortnight on Wednesdays; the passengers will travel by A-320. This destination enjoys stable demand that is believed to have all the grounds for becoming even greater. The flight is mainly taken by people who

The solemn opening ceremony of the new subsidiary of SberBank of Russia took place in Kurgan on December 25, 2006. This new office offers the full range of services for small businesses, including loans, point-of-sale systems based on BiPrint and Client-SberBank programs, dealing in securities, and other things.

The Ural division of Rostehnadzor, Russia’s state technological safety watchdog, initiated a number of administrative lawsuits against companies that exceeded their atmospheric emission limits and dumped harmful substances into the local rivers. These offenders will now have to pay additional fines for their emissions. Nizhneturinskoye division of TyumenTransGas Ltd. that has accidentally let 1, 493,390 tons of methane escape into the air must pay 4.032m RUR to make up for this. Pelymskoye division of TyumenTransGas Ltd. will have to pay 447,600 RUR for the same offense, reports

According to the Central Bank of Russia, the volume of loans given by UralTransBank to local governments and financial bodies for a term of 181 days to 1 year went down 52% (from 8.334m RUR to 4m RUR) in January-December 2006.

Eighteen violations of the environmental legislation requirements were found at Rezhnickel Production Association in the course of the inspection conducted by the Ural division of, Russia’s state environmental watchdog. As a result, this authority issued sixteen orders and three reports on administrative offenses, with 9,000 RUR worth of fines to be paid, reports the press officer of Rostehnadzor.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, the volume of deposits placed by nongovernmental profit-making organizations in UralTransBank for a term of 91 to 180 days went down 94.5% (from 86.918m RUR to 4.778m RUR) in January-December 2006.

‘Road transport will start operating in the area as soon as the first block of buildings has been commissioned, and trams and trolleys will become available in another one and a half to two years. This delay is due to the difficulties of making tracks,’ says Academic construction project manager Stanislav Pridvishkin. ‘A high-speed tram is expected to be introduced in 2010, when the first series of trade and business centers is done. The advantage of this new means of transport, still new to the Urals, is that one can get downtown in fifteen to twenty minutes, which is really good, given the