‘If Maxi Group actually enters the weldless pipe market, its rivals are bound to try to prevent the company from succeeding in the business,’ UralPromSnab’s Sales Manager Dmitriy Gilvanov said to UrBC. He is also inclined to think Maxi Group might experience some difficulties creating the demand for its goods. ‘Consumers are more likely to buy weldless pipes from a company with a well-established reputation, a company they have for a long time been doing business with,’ Mr. Gilvanov observed. Maxi Group has recently started putting up a weldless pipe production plant in Revda; experts tend to

‘The fact that two large Yekaterinburg-based car dealers have been campaigning against each other via mass media resources is sure to affect them both badly. If it is actually proved that the companies themselves are behind the negative publicity targeted against one another, they are simply going to lose all the credibility as far as their customers are concerned,’ Andrei Tavolzhanskiy, PR Manager of Obratnaya Svyaz Agency (based in Moscow), said to UrBC. Mr. Tavolzhanskiy believes if some bad reports on the companies appear online often enough, they will gradually seep in the potential

‘Our customers normally come to us with pre-chosen mortgage schemes from this or that bank, yet no one has ever come with an offer from URALSIB,’ Director of SV Nedvizhimost Ltd Svetlana Scherbinina said to UrBC, explaining the reason why her real estate agency is not at all aware of the bank’s mortgage offers and sees no reason for doing business with URALSIB. In the meanwhile, the number of Sverdlovsk Region-based banks that deal in mortgage lending keeps growing, and so does the variety of options. However, this has not resulted in greater numbers of given mortgages: this year, the amount

A round table discussion devoted to the new banking season was held in Yekaterinburg on August 24, 2007. A number of representatives of crediting and non-profit organizations from both Yekaterinburg and Moscow took part in the event. The main point on the agenda covered the issue of the banking crisis. Bankers claimed there was not going to be any crises in the upcoming year. ‘In fact, we expect our business to expand next year,’ SKB-Bank’s Deputy Chairman Alexander Kudryavtsev said. The banking experts support the idea of the banking sector’s stable development; some drastic political and

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by VUZ Bank to sole traders for 91 to 180 days went down by 53.44% (from 78.343 million RUR to 36.478 million RUR) in January-July 2007.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of for-profit self-regulatory organizations’ deposits in UralFinance Bank valid for 181 days to 1 year went down by 92.31 (from 32.5 million RUR to 2.5 million RUR) in January-July 2007.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Plato Bank Ltd to natural persons for a term of over three years went down by 83.84% (from 4.145 million RUR to 670,000 RUR) in January-July 2007.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of for-profit self-regulatory organizations’ deposits in SberInvestBank valid for 1 to 3 years went down by 35.71% (from 21 million RUR to 13.5 million RUR) in January-July 2007.

‘The summer tourist season is gradually coming to an end; the city dwellers have already bought tours for September and are considering offers available for the upcoming fall. Egypt is definitely going to get the greatest number of travelers in the next few months, as people are attracted by inexpensive trips to Hurghada as well as by premium class hotels and nice service in Sharm El Sheikh. Apart from that, the United Arab Emirates, Thailand, and Goa are also expected to enjoy great popularity with tourists,’ Director of Inna Tour (a Yekaterinburg-based travel agency) Inna Averyanova said to

‘The current state of events at the local agricultural market is simply deplorable. The problem is of social rather than economic nature, since the livelihood of thousands of people depends on the conditions and opportunities of producing and selling their foods,’ Farming Coordination Director of Chelyabinsk Region Ministry of Agriculture Igor Kushnirenko said at the round table discussion devoted to ways of introducing the quality produce of local farmers on the regional markets. ‘Helping our farmers sell their produce should be seen as a top priority national challenge. These types of food

Ural Airlines and Grazhdanskiye Samolyoty Sukhogo (Sukhoi Civil Aircraft) signed an agreement of intent regarding the purchase of five SuperJet100 airplanes. 'Ural Airlines thus made it clear that they intend to support Russian aircraft makers and, since the carrier needs some new airplanes with small seating capacity, the company held preliminary talks with representatives of Sukhoi Civil Aircraft; the agenda of this meeting covered looking into the technical characteristics of the aircraft and giving Ural Airlines’ future business partners all the data on the potential travel routes so

'I think Russian stock market could largely appeal to foreign investors that have business in Russia and are interested in attracting some more rubles for the development of their Russian assets. Besides, some of them might see trading at Russian stock exchanges as a clever image-shaping act that could bring the additional advertising benefit,’ FINAM Investment Company’s PR and Media Director Vladislav Kochetkov said to UrBC. In the meanwhile, the Federal Financial Market Service has been working on a new legislation that would allow foreign companies to sell their shares on Russian

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of for-profit self-regulatory organizations’ deposits in Pervouralsk Joint Stock Commercial Bank valid for 1 to 3 years went down by 89.1% (from 92 million RUR to 10 million RUR) in January-July 2007.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Ural Interregional Bank to natural persons for 181 days to 1 year went down by 51.36% (from 16.184 million RUR to 7.872 million RUR) in January-July 2007.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Uralprivatbank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for up to 30 days went down by 100% (from 1 million RUR to zero) in January-July 2007.

'Euroset (a consumer electronics chain store) had to stop acting as a travel agent because this project totally lacked potential,’ says Director of Inna Tour Travel Agency Inna Averyanova. 'Euroset’s first problem was the lack of professionals. Today, a traveler is a clever and well-informed person, so he or she wants to be dealt with by a qualified employee. As regards Euroset, most of the staff are students holding part-time jobs. Then, the personnel have every other two days off, which means a customer has no opportunity of consulting the manager that handles their order at any

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Sverdlovsk Gubersnkiy Bank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for 31 to 90 days went down by 33.48% (from 176.67 million RUR to 117.12 million RUR) in January-July 2007.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of for-profit self-regulatory organizations’ deposits in GRAN Bank valid for 1 to 3 years went down by 22.7% (from 102.334 million RUR to 79.046 million RUR) in January-July 2007.

The value of net assets of Energy – Mixed Investments (the unit investment trust) managed by Eurogreen Management Company Ltd. went down by 10.5% on August 16, 2007 compared to July 16, 2007. According to Eurogreen’s website, the company’s net assets decreased from 5,352,219.92 RUR on July 16, 2007 to 4,785,707.37 RUR on August 16, 2007.

Two large Yekaterinburg-based car dealers that sell premium class cars have recently waged an information war against each other. This summer, the Internet has been flooded by some negative references to the two companies (namely, Autoland and Krasnolesye), both of which compete in terms of selling Volvo, Jaguar, and Land Rover cars. A number of information resources and online car forums have featured materials that could be damaging to one or the other company, and car dealers have said off the record that this could be the rivals’ attempts to outstrip each other. Early in August 2007, a