Moscow, 21 October 2008 - UC RUSAL, the world’s largest aluminium and alumina producer, is pleased to announce the launch of production of super thin 9 microns aluminium foil at the ARMENAL foil mill (Armenia). The company invested USD 6 million in super thin foil production technology in 2007-2008 to meet the high demand from global markets. The share of super thin foil in the total volume of production at ARMENAL will rise to 70% once the new equipment reaches its design capacity. The super thin foil is aimed at clients in the USA, Europe, and Middle East. The increase of super thin foil

Starting October 20, 2008, URSA Bank’s most frequently visited offices in the Urals are going to stay open longer. ‘Our customers can now peacefully apply for a loan, have a bank card issued, use a money order, open a bank deposit, top up their accounts or withdraw some money after the end of the regular working day,’ the bank’s press officer said to an UrBC reporter. Such Yekaterinburg-based offices as Generalskiy, Yuzhniy, Dom Kredita, Na Kosmonavtov, and Botanicheskiy now welcome visitors from 9 AM to 9 PM. The same hours have been introduced for the offices located in Krasnoturinsk and

According to UralBusinessConsulting Agency of Information and Analytics’ own sources, Bank24.ru might impose even more sanctions on people and businesses who are trying to take their money out of the bank deposits. For one, the bank might raise the interest rates on loans by 10% in case the loan involves a company that withdrew some working assets from Bank24.ru in September or October 2008. The bank’s call center employee explained the management hadn’t made any official decisions yet but did admit that it was actually not improbable.

Bank Severnaya Kazna’s Chairman Vladimir Frolov said in the course of a Channel 4 program aired on October 18, 2008 that the databases of some local banks could have been stolen. ‘This or that bank’s bankruptcy rumors never hit the provincial towns in the periphery of Yekaterinburg. No gossip ever popped up there. What I think had happened was that someone had stolen quite a few banks’ databases and used the information to ‘warn’ the banks’ private customers and business client against the danger of the bank allegedly going bust. I feel this is a grave circumstance that the Federal Security

Sverdlovsk Gubernskiy Bank keeps charging the customers who want to cash their deposits before the end of the deposit period a 20% commission. This is charged in case a customer takes out more than 50,000 RUR, and the fee comes to 20% of the remainder of the sum exceeding this 50,000-ruble limit. The spokesperson for the bank claims the main idea behind this measure is to prevent the people from taking their money back ahead of time en masse. The limitations were imposed on October 14, 2008. The bank’s customers (including those who had placed their applications for money withdrawal

Ural Airlines will once again start operating flights to Paris on December 27, 2008. The company’s first France-bound flight will be a chartered one, but as soon as January 20, 2009, scheduled flights will be operated every Tuesday. The flight will be operated on a modern A 320 plane. These aircraft are quite fuel-efficient, which means the prices are going to be very reasonable, the spokesperson for the airline reports. The tickets for a flight to Paris are already available at the booking offices.