It is no longer profitable for the users of United Billing Office to pay their housing bills through Sberbank, reports the spokesperson for the office. Since January 2007, the local offices of Sberbank have been taking a 3% commission on the bill-paying operation; this has already resulted in numerous complaints, as people were not informed about the charge.

Moody's Investors Service, the international rating agency, classed Russian and foreign currency deposits of Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development as having a long-term B3 rating, a short-term Not-Prime (NP) rating, and gave the bank the E+ rating in terms of financial stability. In the meantime, Moody's Interfax Rating Agency granted the company a long-term Baa2.ru rating on the national scale. The agency says the bank’s leadership in Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk Regions has supported its financial stability rating. Given the region’s rapid development and the company’s ties

Ural Airlines looked at the results of their activity in 2006. The carrier serviced 1,012,037 passengers last year, which exceeds the figures for 2005 by 11%. What is more, the company transferred its millionth passenger within a year: the last time it happened was only in 1998, prior to the national banking crisis. Getting past this point means the carrier is now one of the largest federal airlines, since only 9 out 199 Russian air carriers manage to attract more than a million passengers a year (these are Aeroflot, S7, Transaero, and some others). The above-mentioned 11% increase in the

Alexei Vorobiev, Head of Sverdlovsk Region Government, conducted a Cabinet meeting on January 29, 2007. The meeting was devoted to the report on the region’s economic and social development in 2006 presented by Sverdlovsk Region Ministry of Economy and Labour. The region’s GDP reached the point of 600bn RUR in 2006, which exceeds the figures for 2005 by 8%. Industrial production went up 7%, with machine-building industry output growing by over one-third. Sverdlovsk Region attracted more than 120bn RUR worth of investments last year, of which $1.36bn came from foreign investors (which is 25%

Following the Provision made by the Bank of Russia regarding informational transparency, URSA Bank has announced that it is going to issue 10,000,000 unconvertible certificated bearer bonds with face value of 1,000 RUR each. The public subscription will be handled by MICEX. The Board of Directors made the decision to issue 10bn RUR worth of securities on January 26, 2007. The bonds will be retired at face value on the 2548th day of initial offering. The last coupon period payments are provided. URSA Bank is the result of the recent merger of two large banks based in Siberia and the Urals.

Following the Provision made by the Bank of Russia regarding informational transparency, URSA Bank has announced today that it is going to issue 5,000,000 interest-bearing unconvertible certificated bearer bonds with face value of 1,000 RUR each. The public subscription will be handled by MICEX. The Board of Directors made the decision to issue 5bn RUR worth of securities on January 26, 2007, says the bank’s press officer. The bonds will be retired at face value on the 1820th day of initial offering. The last coupon period payments are provided. URSA Bank is the result of the recent merger of

The report on the state of the environment and the way environmental factors affect the health of Sverdlovsk Region population indicates that A. K. Serov Metallurgical Plant (part of Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC)), with its 54.5% share of all atmospheric emissions in the town of Serov, Sverdlovsk Region, is the town’s major air polluter. Serov-based enterprises that emit gases without recycling them first have dumped 52,184 tons of pollutants altogether.

‘Home Credit and Finance Bank Ltd. hasn’t produced any proof of complying with the Central Bank of Russia requirements on consumer loan transparency at the request of Federal Antimonopoly Service. Presenting the data on compliance can actually only be done voluntarily, and, so far, only ninety-one banks dealing in consumer lending have agreed to do so,’ Counselor to Deputy Head of Federal Antimonopoly Service Marina Saranskaya said to UrBC representative. People living in the Urals have been placing more complaints regarding poor banking services lately. In most cases, the complaints have to

According to the report on the state of the environment and the way environmental factors affect the health of Sverdlovsk Region population, Uralvagonzavod raised its harmful atmospheric emissions by 126 tons. Eighteen Sverdlovsk Region-based enterprises have increased the number of emissions altogether.

The damage sustained by Severnaya Kazna Insurance Company in terms of obligatory car insurance came to 81.49% in 2006, which exceeds the figures for 2005 by .9%. The total damage of the company amounted to 70.93% against 67.55% a year earlier; the damage sustained in terms of voluntary insurance came to 64.18% (compared to 58.55% in 2005).