'METCOMBANK is working hard to support its customers, especially those who get their pay through the bank’s plastic card accounts, by offering them some more advantageous types of loans. As a result, our customers are now using the credit having a bank card entitles them to,’ the bank’s press officer said to UrBC. 'It appears that using a bank card as a ‘family purse’ of sorts is the prevailing trend on the consumer lending market nowadays. People use cards to pay for everything, so the volume of these types of credit amounted to 114 million RUR on January 1, 2008 compared with only

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Plato Bank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for 1 to 3 years went down by 10.56% (from 61.96 million RUR to 55.395 million RUR) in December 2007-January 2008.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Universal Bank to sole traders for 181 days to 1 year dropped by 19.39% (from 16.5 million RUR to 13.3 million RUR) in December 2007-January 2008.

ChTPZ Group’s pipe-making enterprises reorganized and improved their maintenance services, the spokesperson for the Group said to UrBC. Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant and Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant, for example, needed one year to merge all the services meant for various shops in single maintenance centers. The idea behind these mergers was to cut down on costs through more effective cooperation among the main production shops and the auxiliary services. At the moment, the two plants’ maintenance centers employ over 6,000 people, who have to provide the shops with tools and equipment and

According to Interfax-CEA’s ranking of Russia’s top banks as of December 31, 2007, Ural Treasures Bank was Ural Federal District’s 15th largest bank and Russia’s 86th largest bank in terms of private individuals’ deposit volume. In addition, the bank was rated Ural Federal District’s 9th largest bank and Russia’s 185th largest bank in terms of asset volume. Ural Treasures Bank’s assets rose by 23.2% in 2007 compared to a year earlier.

According to the National Managers’ League’s profitability ranking of unit investment trusts as of February 12, 2008, the share price of Alfa Capital Index MICEX (Alfa Capital Management Company) has gone down by 12.35% since the beginning of the year.

According to the National Managers’ League’s profitability ranking of unit investment trusts as of February 11, 2008, the share price of VTB Stock Fund (VTB Asset Management Company) has gone down by 15.10% since the beginning of the year.

The Academic construction project manager Stanislav Pridvizhkin made a report on the implementation of the project at a meeting devoted to construction in Sverdlovsk Region. The meeting was chaired by Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel. The attendees were shown a few video snapshots made during the pilot launch of a powered balloon that is going to float above the construction site at the height of 100 meters, provided there is no strong wind. If this launch proves to be a success, the whole construction process could be monitored online.

According to the Bank of Russia, there were 1,135 crediting organizations in the country on February 1, 2008, which falls short of the figures for February 2003 by 115 banks. The maximum number of banks actually closed down in 2006. All these banks operate through 3,475 subsidiaries altogether; their number dropped by 99 outlets in 2003 and by 11 outlets in 2006, while the years 2004, 2005, and 2007 were the periods of extensive subsidiary network growth. 189 new bank subsidiaries were set up between February 1, 2007 and February 1, 2008. Besides, 20 new branches were introduced in January

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Uralfinance to for-profit self-regulatory organizations despite overdraft plummeted by 76.87% (from 4.268 million RUR to 987,000 RUR) in December 2007-January 2008.