‘MMK keeps investing in its social benefits packages as usual,’ Chairman of Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) trade union committee Alexander Derunov announced at a meeting held by United Russia’s local members and Magnitogorsk Trade Union Association representatives. Derunov explained that the enterprise had decided to prolong their Collective Agreement for 2009; meanwhile, the terms of this agreement are designed so as to protect the workers’ basic social welfare guarantees. As a matter of fact, MMK’s daughter enterprises will probably follow suit. What is more, the company has come

The current economic instability shouldn’t be allowed to affect the social benefits packages guaranteed to the retirees by the state. All of them need to keep getting their pensions in full and on time, Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Petr Sumin said in the course of a meeting with the head of the state retirement fund’s division Viktor Chernobrovin. Chernobrovin said the pensioners had no reason to worry, as all the payments and social benefits would arrive in time. The official explained there were over 900,000 retirees in the region at the moment, including the 300,000 people who kept on

Chelyabinsk Region Government and the Russian Federation Government signed an agreement targeted at solving the labor market’s current problems. The signatories were represented by Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Petr Sumin and Head of the Federal Labor and Employment Service Yuri Gertsiy. The agreement is valid throughout the year 2009 and provides for some financial aid to the unemployment-fighting agencies. The federal government has promised to supply Chelyabinsk Region with 570 million RUR, while the region’s government is to spend 30 million RUR on this. According to the spokesperson for

The Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by UralFinPromBank to sole traders for up to thrity days had dropped by 100% (from 6 million RUR to zero) by January 1, 2009.

Bank Severnaya Kazna’s Moscow subsidiary located at 2 Bolshaya Tulskaya St. isn’t going to operate any longer. The office is to welcome its private and business customers for the last time on March 27, 2009, the bank’s official website states.

Sverdlovsk Region Arbitration Court conducted a preliminary hearing of the claim laid by Ural Railway Machine-Building Plant against Uralmash Drilling Machinery (case А60-584/09) on February 17, 2009. The plaintiff insists on the defendant paying the company 38,624 million RUR. The court says this sum is actually the money Uralmash Drilling Machinery owes the plaintiff for product delivery. The main court hearing has been scheduled for March 26, 2009.

‘Despite the Russian economy’s current troubles, Ural Airlines’ development indicators still showed some positive dynamics in January 2009. All in all, most of them have remained at or above last year’s level,’ the airline’s press officer said to an UrBC reporter. In the meantime, the transport clearing chamber reports the overall Russian carriers’ passenger turnover has dropped by 20% this January in comparison with a year earlier. However, Ural Airlines serviced exactly the same number of people last month as in January 2008, that is, 64,800 passengers altogether, including 22,240 people

Moscow’s public prosecution authorities (namely, their Investigative Committee) initiated a criminal lawsuit against Auchan hypermarket chain after it was detected that some poor quality seafood had been on sale in the stores. ‘After the fact of one of Auchan’s divisions selling bad foods had been verified, our investigative authorities took legal action with charge based on Article 237 of the Russian Federation Criminal Code (Manufacturing, storage, and transportation or sale of products or rendering of services that don’t meet the determined safety requirements),’ the authorities report.