According to Chelyabinsk Region Minister of Economic development Yuri Klepov, the area received 75.7% more investments last year (the total volume of invested finances reached nearly $1.5bn), made by over 50 countries all over the world. Cyprus, with its $496.6m, or 33.9% of the total volume of finances, was by far the greatest-scale investor, followed by Switzerland (whose share amounted to $186.5m, or 12.7%) and Great Britain (whose share came to $166.9m, or 11.4%). In addition, about 100 joint ventures have been successfully operating within the region, for instance, Omya, the Austrian

‘We’ve been very pleased to hear that Ural Airlines is now offering a 70% discount on tickets to Israel. This is a unique offer that a lot of both Russian and Israeli citizens are going to use; this includes the members of our community as well. We are trying to bring some performers from Israel and keep in touch with those who relocated there; a trip is quite expensive, though, and not always affordable to all sorts of people, which is why we are particularly grateful to the carrier for this wonderful special offer,’ Alla Domnich, Director of Menorah Jewish Community Center, said to UrBC.

Beginning from March 6, 2007, a new customs declaration will have to be used for cars imported by natural persons for their own use. Experts of the Federal Customs Service say this new declaration was needed to make sure all the automobiles, including those containing unattended luggage, are properly examined by the customs officers. The car owner will now have to provide answers to 17 questions such as place of residence, passport details, car details and documents and its customs value as well as documents that prove this value. The forms used earlier did not have any requirements as to the

Metallurgical Industrial Complex of Nizhniy Tagil (part of Evraz Group) won in the first European Quality Gold Medal contest. The company competed in the Russia’s Top 100 Enterprises: Environment and Environmental Management category. More than 150 companies that deal in conservational activities took part in the contest altogether. Metallurgical Industrial Complex of Nizhniy Tagil received the medal and a certificate for special achievements in the field of conservation technologies. The company’s Managing Director Alexei Kushnarev was given the honorary title of Environmentalist of the Year

According to RBC-Daily, some fraudsters from Moscow have been offering citizens of Russia and the NIS Metro Cash & Carry cards at prices varying from 650 to 1,550 RUR. The company itself claims their cards are only distributed free of charge among legal entities and sole traders and promises to block the fake ones. A company named Planet Tornado Ltd. has been sending out e-mail advertisements claiming that any natural person living in Russia or any country of the NIS can get a card provided their send them an application with passport details, in which case a sole trader Ilya Konovalov

A group of executives from Ausmelt, Austria-based industrial equipment producer, has recently visited Karabashmed (asset of Russian Copper Company), reports a spokesperson. Ausmelt executives, including Managing Director Paul Abbot, checked out the production sites and met the management of Russian Copper Company in their Yekaterinburg-based office. The visit was aimed at strengthening the business ties between the two companies that have been cooperating for quite a while.

‘The setting up of a large industrial corporation by United Machine Building Works and MetalloInvest will make use of Uralmash facilities more efficient,’ Evgeniy Sergeev, General Director of United Machine Building Works (aka OMZ (Obedinennye Mashinostroitelnye Zavody, formerly United Heavy Machinery), said to UrBC. ‘The idea behind uniting Uralmashzavod and ORMETO-YUMZ Heavy Engineering Joint Stock Co. is creating a strong and competitive Russian supplier of equipment to ore mining and metallurgical enterprises in this country and abroad, which is particularly important because of Russia’s

All Russian citizens wishing to travel to Thailand will need no entrance visa beginning from March 23, 2007, RosTourism (the Federal Tourism Agency) announced on March 6, 2007 referring to the official report of Thailand’s Embassy in Russia. The only limitation is that these tourists should stay in the country for no longer than 30 days. According to RosBusinessConsulting, the agreement providing for visa-free stays of Thai citizens in Russia and vice versa was signed in Kuala Lumpur on December 13, 2005.

Aviacon Zitotrans (part of AVS-Group) is going to keep flying to the EU, says the company’s press officer. Until the carrier fixes all the problems regarding its aircraft (all of which were revealed in the course of commissions in 2004-2006), it will have to obtain special one-time permission to perform flights to Europe. The procedure includes applying for the permission seven days before the flight and the obligatory notification of the Russian Federation aviation authorities and of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy and Transport regarding the examination of the

First Deputy Head of Sverdlovsk Region Government Galina Kovaleva conducted a meeting of interdepartmental committee devoted to assisting the local companies in entering the WTO. The agenda of the meeting covered protection of the food market and development of the infrastructure of the region’s foreign economic activity. ‘Quite a few food producers are not ready to operate on the free market. Modern equipment and advanced managerial technologies give our western counterparts a great competitive advantage, whereas Russian producers have to use some obsolete equipment (nearly half of which is

A meeting devoted to the setting up of the French consulate in Yekaterinburg was held in the Ministry for International and Foreign Economic Relations of Sverdlovsk Region. The meeting was attended by Minister Viktor Koksharov and First Secretary of the French Embassy in Russia Thierry Vautrin, reports the spokesperson for Governor of Sverdlovsk Region. According to M. Vautrin, the French party has handled a number of technical issues related to the introduction of the consulate, which will serve three purposes: giving visas, facilitating economic partnership, and building up cultural and