Chelyabinsk-based SOT, a company dealing in production of pipeline bends and part of Rimera (ChTPZ Group’s O&G maintenance division) has been successfully audited by QS Azia Sertik (based in Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan) and proved the compliance of its quality management system with the ST RK ISO 9001-2001 standards. The above-mentioned standard has been adopted by the Republic of Kazakhstan as the official state standard and is based on the international ISO 9001:2000 one. The examination and assessment of its certified quality management system is necessary for SOT to be able to deliver its

SKB-Bank’s development indicators showed some impressive growth dynamics in the first half of 2008. The volume of the bank’s assets came to more than 35.9 billion RUR on July 1, 2008, which was over 6 billion RUR better than at the beginning of the year. SKB-Bank’s loan portfolio increased by 5.5 billion RUR and amounted to 24.8 billion RUR on July 1, 2008. As for the investments the bank managed to attract, these reached 31.4 billion RUR on July 1, 2008 compared with 27.2 billion RUR on January 1, 2008. The private individuals’ investment portfolio went up particularly fast by 3.3 billion

‘In terms of theory, paying dividends to Koltsovo airport’s shareholders looks a bit strange. As a rule, a company that keeps investing heavily in its own development does not normally declare any dividends. If a company is prepared to pay the dividends to its shareholders after all, this usually means there is no way of the company’s further development for the time being,’ Management Company’s Investment Director Alexander Metzger said to UrBC. In the meantime, Koltsovo airport’s last AGM resulted in the stockholders’ decision to declare 74,255,776 RUR worth of dividends for 2007, with

The Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development raised its assets by 24.7% in the first half of 2008, so these reached 47,750,900,000 RUR on July 1, 2008. The bank’s balance sheet total rose by 42.2%, its loan portfolio went up by 19.8%. The amount of money deposited by the bank’s customers within the bank increased by 15.7% over the first half of 2008; this includes a 16.3% increase in the volume of private individuals’ deposits. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s own funds reached 4,109,954,000 RUR on July 1, 2008, which exceeded the figures for January 1, 2008 by 17.6%,

Senior Public Prosecutor of Ural Federal District’s division of General Prosecutor’s Office Dmitriy Serebrennikov reports all the issues related to Bank24.ru’s former BOD member Alexei Kalinichenko’s extradition from Italy are being handled by the General Prosecutor’s Office’s Administration for International Legal Cooperation. The authorities reported on July 11, 2008 that the person who is believed to have masterminded a financial pyramid and to have stolen over a billion RUR was detained. Alexei Kalinichenko was arrested by Interpol officers in Italy in June 2008; this was done upon the

‘Our retail customers will be able to use our e-services in the very near future. We actually run some e-banking for private customers in the test mode at the moment, and the service is soon to become widely available,’ SKB-Bank’s BOD Chairman Mikhail Khodorovskiy said to UrBC. ‘On the whole, we are trying to shape our new and existing products in a way that answers our customers’ demands. We analyze the market needs and try to meet them by either launching new products or improving on the currently available ones, for example, through better terms and interest rates. We do our best to make

‘The Russian Federation Ministry of Finances was quick in reacting to the U.S. mortgage lending agencies’ problems and came up with an official statement fast, which is a good thing. The fact that only a portion of the Central Bank’s foreign and gold holdings and not the Reserve Fund or the National Welfare Fund’s reserves are invested in their bonds is another good thing. And, besides, the forex/gold holdings were invested in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s debt securities, not in their shares,’ Management Company’s Investment Director Alexander Metzger said to UrBC. Nevertheless, over $100bn,

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Ural Innovational Commercial Bank to private individuals for 1 to 3 years dropped by 24.42% (from 6.48 million RUR to 4.897 million RUR) in January-June 2008.

‘Alexei Kalinichenko’s recent detention might affect Bank24.ru’s reputation; however, in the long run, the outcome depends on the bank’s policy toward the event,’ says Accord Invest’s Deputy GD Konstantin Selyanin. Ural Federal District’s division of General Prosecutor’s Office reports the person who is believed to have masterminded a financial pyramid and to have stolen over a billion RUR has recently been detained. The name of the detainee is Alexei Kalinichenko, one of Bank24.ru’s former BOD members. ‘Bank24.ru has already had the experience of anti-crisis public relations management

Ural Airlines came up with a performance report for the first half of 2008. The carrier rendered its services to 640,125 passengers in January-June 2008 (which is 25% better than a year earlier). Almost a third of these customers (191,760 people) used the airline in June 2008, which exceeds the figures for last June by 40%. The airline’s aircraft operated 5,739 flights in January-June 2008, which was 18%, or 877 flights better than a year earlier and included 1,735 international flights (56% more than in January-June 2007), 3,439 domestic flights (6% more than in January-June 2007), and 504