‘The drop of RTS index on Friday cannot be solely explained by the Prime Minister’s unfavorable remarks on Mechel’s pricing policies. I feel the uninspiring statistics (typical of the current state of the global economy in general) had the main part to play. One must realize that the Russian stock market was bound to do badly anyway as long as we still depend on the U.S. market’s success,’ says Eurogreen’s General Director Evgeniy Kostarev. RTS index dropped below 2,000 points on July 25, 2008, coming to 1,994.35 points at 11 AM on Friday morning (Moscow time). Evgeniy Kostarev reports the

‘This was not a good morning for the Russian stock market, as American stock indices kept going down and the oil kept getting cheaper. In addition, the Prime Minister’s unfavorable comments related to Mechel’s primary proprietor were a shot in the eye for the market. These comments led to people selling Mechel’s ADRs and consequently to considerable changes in the whole mining and metallurgical sector,’ FINAM Investment Company’s analyst Denis Kruglov said to UrBC. RTS index dropped below 2,000 points on July 25, 2008, coming to 1,994.35 points on Friday morning. ‘At the moment, Raspadskaya,

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of for-profit self-regulatory organizations’ deposits in Bank24.ru valid for 1 to 3 years dropped by 72.01% (from 191.292 million RUR to 53.536 million RUR) in January-June 2008.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of for-profit self-regulatory organizations’ deposits in VUZ Bank valid for 91 to 180 days went down by 75% (from 1.2 million RUR to 300,000 RUR) in January-June 2008.

Ural Airlines stated selling e-tickets for all of its international flights that take off in Yekaterinburg via the company’s official website www.uralairlines.com. ‘Before the service became available online, the purchase of e-tickets had to be handled through the booking offices, but now one can book and buy an electronic ticket without even setting foot outside one’s house. This certainly saves you a lot of time,’ the carrier’s press officer reports. Payments can be made with the help of Visa, EuroCard/MasterCard, DINERS CLUB, and JCB cards or using YandexMoney, WebMoney, E-port, or Credit

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of for-profit self-regulatory organizations’ deposits in Sverdlovsk Gubernskiy Bank valid for 181 days to 1 year plummeted by 71.42% (from 140 million RUR to 40 million RUR) in January-June 2008.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of private individuals’ deposits and other investments in UralFinPromBank valid for 91 to 180 days dropped by 23.88% (from 61.116 million RUR to 46.519 million RUR) in January-June 2008.

‘The soaring inflation rate is a grave factor on the financial services market. This factor does not create an advantage for some players at the expense of others but manages to modify the market as a whole. This is normally most noticeable when the entire branches (for instance, banks and the food industry) rather than mere banks compete with one another, trying to lure in more customers,’ says the Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s Strategic Development Director Andrei Emelyanov. The executive reports inflation growth and any other market changes affect banks large enough to

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of private individuals’ deposits and other investments in Pervouralsk Joint Stock Commercial Bank valid for 181 days to 1 year went down by 13.87% (from 75.695 million RUR to 65.189 million RUR) in January-June 2008.

Starting August 5, 2008, S7 Airlines (Siberia Airlines) will operate flights from Koltsovo airport of Yekaterinburg to Adler airport of Sochi, the company’s press officer reports. Starting September 2, 2008, a daily Yekaterinburg-Moscow flight will be introduced by the carrier. The plane will take off in Koltsovo airport of Yekaterinburg and arrive in Domodedovo airport of Moscow. ‘Until quite recently, Yekaterinburg was Russia’s only city with the population of over a million people that did not have any of S7 Airlines’ flights available. Apart from flights to Moscow and Sochi, the carrier