Most users who peruse Russian web-pages were sent out a letter that stated a new domain name uralsvyazinform.com (an almost identical copy of uralsvyazinform.ru, the name of the Urals’ major telecommunication provider) had been registered recently. Uralsvyazinform.com is currently hosting a dating site and a link offering to buy this domain name. Experts believe Uralsvyazinform must have been attacked by cybersquatters – people who register popular domain names in order to sell them later at a much more significant price. Cybersquatters might be trying to make the mobile operator buy this

An inspection conducted by the public prosecution authorities of Khanty-Mansiyskiy Autonomous Region revealed grave violations of Articles 137, 138, and 140 of Russian Labor Code by UTair Airlines; the carrier is believed to have withheld the entire salary of a pilot upon his resignation. The airline’s General Director A. Martirosyan was requested to eliminate these violations on May 16, 2007, but he appears to have ignored the request issued by the public prosecution authorities, which is why he had an administrative suit filed against him. Mr. Martirosyan is charged with failing to meet the

‘If the Federal Antimonopoly Service abandons the claims it has in terms of Russian Standard Bank’s actions and stops inspecting it, the profitability of Russian Standard Bank’s stock might go down by 30 to 40 basis points,’ Stanislav Ponomarenko of ING said to UrBC. Mr. Ponomarenko also says that the inspection of the bank seems to be far from being complete: the upcoming parliamentary elections this December induce the federal authorities to carry out a public relations campaign, and something that could be presented as protection of consumers’ rights would be a good idea. At the end of

The examination of witnesses regarding the case of Pavel Fedulev (a local entrepreneur) that was supposed to have taken place at 10 AM on August 8, 2007 was never actually carried out. The spokesperson for Sverdlovsk Region Court reports the trial of Mr. Fedulev was postponed indefinitely due to the judge’s illness. Mr. Fedulev is accused of attempted fraud, falsification of evidence, forgery, and mass riots (Articles 30 (part 1), 159 (part 4), 33 (part 3), 303 (part 3), 327 (part 2), and 212 (part 1) of Russian Criminal Code).

It was announced at the meeting of Ministry for International and Foreign Economic Relations of Sverdlovsk Region executives with some representatives of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam who arrived in Yekaterinburg that a Vietnamese Consulate-General would start operating in Yekaterinburg in September 2007. This diplomatic meeting was attended by the Vietnamese Consul-General in Yekaterinburg and two other consuls. The spokesperson for the Governor of Sverdlovsk Region reports the Vietnamese diplomats are now waiting to get their exequaturs from the Russian Federation Ministry of Foreign

Uralmashzavod, one of Russia’s major industrial giants, underwent the usual annual insurance procedure, the company’s press officer reports. All the property was insured against a whole range or risks such as fire, explosion, natural disasters, and third party offense. The liability of Rossgosstrakh (the insurer) amounts to 1.515 billion RUR.

BrokerCreditService Consulting Ltd. reports Olips has gone through with the offering of promissory notes successfully. 27,307,165 RUR worth of notes will be in circulation for three months; they are to be retired by Accept Commercial Bank in Novosibirsk, by SKB-Bank in Yekaterinburg, and by Probusinessbank in Moscow. Olips’s promissory notes program began last April; to date, the total volume of circulated notes has come to 100,233,030 RUR, with 308,596,590 RUR paid already. This program is part of the company’s external financing project and is primarily seen as a pre-marketing tool meant to

The public prosecution bodies of Ordzhonikidzevskiy district of Magnitogorsk initiated a criminal suit related to violations of labor safety regulations resulting in lethal outcomes (Article 143 (part 2) or Russian Criminal Code), their press office reports. On August 6, 2007, an oil pipe operating under pressure at Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works continuous casting unit got torn and broken. The oil spilt onto the red-hot metal and caught fire, giving massive burns to two casters, aged 34 and 32. One of them was killed immediately, the other one, with burns over 80% his body, was taken to

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Uralfinprombank to profit-making self-regulatory organizations for 31 to 90 days went down by 60.8% (from 255.187 million RUR to 99.931 million RUR) in January-July 2007.

Ural Airlines is planning to perform two extra Yekaterinburg-Khabarovsk-Yekaterinburg flights before the school year starts, the carrier’s press officer reports. The airline normally offers just one weekly flight available every Thursday, but at the moment, given the upcoming end of the holiday season, the company’s passengers have been offered an opportunity to fly to Khabarovsk on August 25, 2007 and September 1, 2007 (both days are Saturdays). The flight timetable takes into account the possible flight connections for passengers coming home from the Black Sea (Krasnodar, Sochi, Simferopol,