Ural Airlines held its third annual contest (called Our Wings Through Media’s Eyes) involving the Ural Federal District’s leading mass media agents. The competitors presented this year’s essays, articles, and TV or radio features on civil aviation where the airline’s brand had been mentioned. UralBusinessConsulting Agency of Information and Analytics won the first prize in the Great Professionalism in Ural Airline’s Activity’s E-Coverage category. The first prizes in the other categories were awarded to Expert-Ural magazine, Echo Moskvy-Yekaterinburg radio station, and Ermak, the TV Company.

‘The price of gold determined by the Central Bank’s rate has increased by 12% since our Gold Deposit was first offered to customers. This means that the first prize grows more and more substantial not only because of increasingly more companies taking part in the offer, but also because of gold growing more expensive,’ the spokesperson for the Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development said to an UrBC reporter. The sum of the prize is calculated by multiplying the number of businesses opening an account at the bank before December 29, 2008 and the price of gold on this last day of the

SKB-Bank’s deposit volume rose by 121 million RUR in just one day on December 24, 2008. ‘The bank’s latest deposit offer known as Patriot definitely enjoys the greatest popularity. The deposit was introduced at the beginning of December, and our customers have already deposited 1.375 billion RUR with us using this deposit type,’ the bank’s press officer reports. The minimum amount of money one has to deposit comes to 10,000 RUR; the deposit period lasts 100 days, with the annual interest rate coming to 16.01%. What is more, foreign currency deposits are available as well, and UAZ Patriot, the

Koltsovo Airport of Yekaterinburg’s passenger turnover is expected to come to more than 2.55 million RUR in 2008, which would exceed the figures for 2007 by 8.8%, the airport’s press officer reports. The airport’s cargo turnover also rose by 3.3% against a year earlier. At the same time, these figures actually indicate a decrease in the airport’s performance, since Koltsovo Airport’s passenger turnover came to 2.34 million people in 2007, which was 32.9% better than in 2006. The airport’s management explains this dampened turnover growth has to do with the economic troubles in Russia and the

RusRating promoted Yekaterinburg-based Bank Severnaya Kazna’s credit rating from BB- to BB+, with Indefinite rating outlook. ‘This rating promotion stems from the bank’s being acquired by a new, financially strong majority stockholder (Alfa-Bank), which definitely supports the troubled bank’s finances,’ says RusRating’s leading analyst Elena Nikolaenko. ‘In addition, the bank was aided by the government through credit resources. Apart from being supported by the state and the strong proprietor, the bank can also boast a stable position on the regional market. Nevertheless, the bank’s