Rusipoteka.ru, an online service devoted to mortgage lending and securitization, has recently published a rating based on the volume of mortgage loans issued by Russia’s leading banks. SKB-Bank of Yekaterinburg, with its 15th position in the rating, joined the group of banks with the record numbers of mortgage loans provided to clients. As regards the Urals-based banks, SKB-Bank is the obvious leader in terms of both number and volume of mortgage loans. It offered its borrowers 1,667 mortgage loans worth more than 1.7 billion RUR in 2006 alone, which exceeds the total number and volume of

‘One could expect the real estate prices to go up 20% to 30% in 2007,’ President of Ural Chamber of Real Estate Pavel Kuznetsov announced at today’s press conference. ‘The average existing home prices in Yekaterinburg doubled last year; as for the downtown area, the prices grew by 127%. The price growth rate has slowed down recently: apartments only got 3% more expensive in January. At the moment, the figures come to 60,000 to 70,000 RUR per square meter of a dwelling located outside the city center and to 70,000 - 75,000 RUR in the downtown area,’ Mr Kuznetsov said.

The inspection conducted by the State Environmental Surveillance Department revealed that a number of regional enterprises had been operating without any atmospheric emission permits. Among the offenders are SPK Ltd., SK-Plast Ltd., Crystal Trading Firm Ltd., Regional Secondary Raw Material Company Ltd., and SE-SU-Impax, reports the spokesperson for the Ural division of Rostechnadzor (the state environmental watchdog).

Governor Eduard Rossel met local architects and builders on February 7 to discuss the prospective construction of dwellings in the south-east of Yekaterinburg. The land is currently owned by Istok and leased by GlavSredUralStroy Management Company Ltd. According to CEO Alexander Lukach, the allotment would fit approximately 6 million square meters of two-to-five storey buildings. The Governor emphasized the fact that only the most up-to-date technologies and building materials should be used in the construction process, reports the Governor’s press officer.

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 is already selling the tickets for the company’s summer flights, as such was the wish of its clients. One can now get a discount on a ticket to Sochi, Krasnodar, Anapa, Mineralniye Vody, or Simferopol (all of these are situated at the Black Sea) scheduled for the months of June, July, and August; the offer is valid from February 1 to March 31, 2007. The price of the single ticket has been deliberately made comparable to that of a train transfer and amounts to 3,999 RUR (including the fuel fee). ‘As recently as just a few years ago, sales used to be seen by Russian people as a

A container terminal belonging to Territorial Company has been operating on the premises of Uralmashzavod (part of United Machine Building Works (aka OMZ (Obedinennye Mashinostroitelnye Zavody, formerly United Heavy Machinery)) since May 2005. Its turnover revenues barely covered all the expenses as recently as July 2006, yet this turnover had already tripled by January 2007. Last summer, the terminal only stocked 100 containers, but the number rose to over 550 in January 2007. Over 85% of the total area are being used now, reports the spokesperson for Uralmashzavod. This area comes to 18,000

Banks have lost in the consumer loan transparency fight: Home Credit and Finance Bank Ltd. in Yekaterinburg admitted being defeated by Rospotrebnadzor (the state consumer rights watchdog) and came up with a new agreement form; this time, it is commission-free. In the meantime, Rospotrebnadzor has been looking into the affairs of the consumer loan leader – Russian Standard Bank after a claim was laid against the company and RosBank by their Moscow-based borrowers. Commissions charged for opening and servicing an account and other payments raise the actual interest rate on a consumer loan from

The report on the state of the environment and the way environmental factors affect the health of Sverdlovsk Region population indicates that SukholozhskCement, Nevyanskiy Cement-Maker, and SZMF, a plant based in the town of Sukhoi Log, are Sverdlovsk Region’s major air polluters among building companies. Their shares in the total amount of atmospheric emissions come to 17.1% (8,290 tons), 13.8% (7,188 tons), and 7.3% (3,804 tons), respectively. 185 building companies, or 61.3% of the total number, have been dumping pollutants without recycling them first.

The banking community of Kazakhstan is in the middle of a crisis. The editor of Svoboda Slova received the original letter written by Armangul Kapasheva, wife of missing chairman of NurBank Zholdas Timraliev, to President Nazarbaev. In it, Ms Kapasheva reports that Mr Timraliev has been missing since his meeting with the one of the bank’s executives (Ms G. Jumadillaeva) and Rakhat Aliev, the bank’s shareholder. Ms Kapasheva held an emergency press briefing and sent a letter to the President, since she was worried about her husband’s well-being and life. The Nazarbaev Administration has not