Excise duty rates for alcohol, tobacco, and automobiles are to go up on January 1, 2007. This covers both cigars and cigarettes, strong drinks and spirit-based goods, and cars with engine power of more than 67.5 kW (90 HP), eCraft reports. The excise duty set for cars with engine power ranging from 57.5 kW (90 HP) to 112.5 kW (150 HP), for instance, will come to 19.26 RUR per .75 kW(1 HP). These changes have been brought about by the Federal Customs Service’s order issued on December 6, 2007. The order states that excise duty rates are to be raised gradually, that is, in three steps (January

RTS’ Board of Directors decided not to deal in any trading in any of its stock markets on December 29, 2007. Besides, according to the Russian Government’s decree regarding the New Year recess, the exchange won’t be operating from December 30, 2007 to January 8, 2008. RTS is to resume trading on January 9, 2008.

Ural Treasures Bank set up a new office in Sukhoi Log, Sverdlovsk Region, on December 25, 2007, the bank’s press officer reports. Office 1214/1/107 can be found at 3 Yubileynaya St. It welcomes private individuals from 9 AM to 6 PM on weekdays and from 10 AM to 6 PM on Saturdays. Legal entities are serviced from 9 AM to 4 PM on weekdays.

'We are not experiencing any gasoline supply shortage at the moment. Our Perm- and Ufa-based suppliers deliver the gas regularly and without any interruptions,’ Oil-Ek’s Director Andrei Chetverkin said to UrBC. He explained that the only local company that did have some supply problems was Yekaterinburgnefteprodukt (Sibneft) that had been suffering from acute gas shortage since the beginning of the week. 'The suppliers promised to decrease the wholesale prices in January, so we might be able to decrease ours as well,’ Mr. Chetverkin added. On average, the retail prices went up by

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of non-profit NGOs’ deposits in Sverdlovsk Gubernskiy Bank valid for 1 to 3 years went down by 46.99% (from 110 million RUR to 58. 301 million RUR) in January-November 2007.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of for-profit self-regulatory organizations’ deposits in Tagilbank valid for 91 to 180 days went down by 28.57% (from 7 million RUR to 5 million RUR) in January-November 2007.

The volume of taxes subject to special tax regimes that were paid to Sverdlovsk Region’s extra-budgetary funds in January-November 2007 exceeded that for a year earlier by 127% and reached 657 million RUR, the spokesperson for the regional tax authorities reports.

Some of Sverdlovsk Region’s gas stations have been experiencing certain automobile gasoline shortage. Drivers say this is particularly true of stations run by Sibneft, some of which have very little or no top-bracket gasoline. In addition, the retail prices went up by 3.6% on average last week. The company refused to comment on the situation, yet its rivals do support these shortage rumors.

‘The end-of-the-year special offers are generally targeted at enticing customers through the emotional excitement of gifts, bonuses, and the like rather than through advantageous interest rates,’ Unicom Partner Investment Company’s Asset Management Director Sergei Kaliberda said to UrBC. In fact, some of the rates bank offer on deposits at New Year are below the inflation rate. ‘This is why we think it best to take all these holiday offers critically and look at the terms carefully. They might end up looking more attractive than they actually are, compared especially to offers launched

According to the state’s statistics, the volume of bank deposits opened by private individuals keeps growing. SKB-Bank’s Deposit Management Director Denis Belogurov says this is only logical because the general income and welfare growth is bound to result in greater deposit volume. ‘This is true of SKB-Bank as well, as the volume of natural persons’ deposits has increased by more than one-third since the beginning of the year,’ he says. ‘Besides, the deposit insurance system has played a great part in making them more popular as well. The fact that the system is actually working, as well as