SKB-Bank introduced a new ATM in Krasnoturinsk, Sverdlovsk Region. This has become the bank’s northernmost automatic teller machine in the region so far. Besides, the new ATM, located at 68 Lenin St. in the bank’s Krasnoturinskiy outlet is the city’s first and the Mid-Urals’ 193d machine. The town dwellers can now get some cash, check their account balance, and pay their mobile phone bills 24/7 using the new ATM. SKB-Bank has got over 250 ATMs in nine Russian regions at the moment. The machines can normally be found in big cities’ business quarters and residential areas as well as on premises

‘More Lexus cars are being sold in Sverdlovsk Region this year compared with 2007; RX series and AS250 makes appear to enjoy the greatest demand at the moment,’ Autoplus’s marketing expert Tatiana Shmakova said to UrBC. At the same time, the country’s average sales figures for expensive premium class foreign cars have shown less impressive growth dynamics this year against the year 2007. The sales figures for Land Rover, Infiniti, Cadillac, and Jaguar, however, rose by over 50%, while Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, and Volvo sales figures increased by less than 50%. Lexus sales went down

Sberbank of Russia, Visa International, and Aeroflot came up with a special offer known as Your Way to Beijing with Sberbank’s Visa Aeroflot; the offer is valid through May 31, 2008 and is dedicated to this year’s most memorable sports event: the Olympics to be held in China this summer. All of Sberbank’s cardholders who own Visa Classic Aeroflot and Visa Gold Aeroflot can take part in the prize-winning lottery provided they use these cards at least once to pay for their shopping. Prizes include two trips for two to the Olympics in Beijing. In addition, for every 30 RUR, $1, or ?1 you spend

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by SberInvestBank to nongovernmental financial institutions for 181 days to 1 year went down by 20.5% (from 19.635 million RUR to 15.61 million RUR) in January-March 2008.

Following the mine workers’ numerous requests, a number of bauxite mines in Severouralsk (parts of SUBR) were ordered to resume working on April 11, 2008, UC RUSAL’s press officer for the Urals Roman Lukichev said to UrBC. Lukichev reports the miners have to strictly comply with the safety and labor protection regulations, besides, the mines have to be examined and be given Rostechnazor’s permits first. The ad hoc committee created to handle the recent miners’ strike is still looking for ways out. The committee has to think of and introduce the mechanisms that could prevent the occurrence of

Ural Treasures Bank came up with a special V-Day offer for customers who use its Pensioners’ Deposit scheme. The offer is valid from April 14, 2008 to May 31, 2008. To use the offer, you have to deposit at least 1,500 RUR for anything between 180 days to 1,080 days; the interest rate varies from 11.5% to 13.5% a year and is subject to the existing tax regulations. You can top up your deposit account any time you like. The interest is paid monthly and can be withdrawn easily; besides, after the deposit period expires, the deposit can be prolonged automatically. However, your interest will only

‘There are only five or six Russian airports at the moment capable of supporting an airline and offering ground services to the passengers in case a flight has been delayed; regrettably, most other airports are simply unable to meet the new regulations,’ Ural Airlines CFO Kirill Skuratov announced at a conference devoted to local carriers’ successes and challenges on April 14, 2008. ‘In case all the rooms in the airport hotel are booked, we normally try to place our passengers with the city’s hotels and make sure their have some telephone connection. In addition, we are planning to add a new

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Uralprivatbank to sole traders for 31 to 90 days plummeted by 100% (from 600,000 RUR to zero) in January-March 2008.

MOTIV Telecommunications Group, backed up by RAO UES of Russia, was able to complete the first stage of putting up its own fiber-optic communication network between Yekaterinburg and Nizhniy Tagil along Sverdlovenergo’s power lines. The length of the network came to over 600 kilometers; it was built using a 96-fiber optical cable with great carrying capacity. ‘If you put all the lengths of MOTIV’s existing fiber optic networks together, the total length will come to twice the circumference of the globe. This is the Urals’ first large-scale fiber-optic network, and having such

Sverdlovsk Region’s division of Rosprirodnadzor (the state environmental watchdog) carried out scheduled inspections of Krasnouralsk-based Svyatogor on March 17-28, 2008. The inspections were targeted at checking the enterprise’s compliance with the terms of its five subsoil use licenses, the spokesperson for Rosprirodnadzor says. Four violations were detected in the course of the inspections; for instance, Svyatogor turned out not to have any agreement with Kushva’s municipal council regarding the development of the town’s infrastructure. Rosprirodnadzor’s PR Department also reports the