The rating agency affirmed Sverdlovsk Region’s long-term credit rating at BB, with Stable Rating Outlook, the spokesperson for Sverdlovsk Region Ministry for Economics and Labor reports. Standard & Poor’s said the regional ratings can’t grow further because of the deeply felt economic recession which, in combination with limited flexibility and predictability of the budget indicators, leads to a currently weakened regional budget balance. What is more, the metallurgical and pipe-manufacturing enterprises comprise the lion’s share of the regional economy, which makes Sverdlovsk Region

Head of Sverdlovsk Region Government Anatoly Gredin met the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Turkey to Russia Halil Akinci, Sverdlovsk Region Government’s press center reports. ‘The Turkish companies keep taking part in the construction projects in the mid-Urals, contributing to a number of large-scale projects. For one, the Turkish Korai helped put up Metro Cash & Carry. The Turkish builders will also assist in the implementation of Olympus Mall project; this mall will be put up on the highway connecting Yekaterinburg to Koltsovo Airport. The twenty-hectare

Former Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel was appointed Member of the Russian Federation Soviet of the Federation’s Upper Chamber on Wednesday, RIA Novosti reports. Eduard Rossel’s authority as the Senator of Sverdlovsk Region’s executive branch was confirmed by the majority of the Soviet votes. The former Governor is going to succeed Alexander Shkolnik in this position.

Sverdlovsk Region division of the Russian Federation Ministry of Emergencies received a phone call regarding a fire in Alatyr shopping mall in the morning of December 16, 2009. Several fire brigades headed for the mall at once. ‘The firemen found out that a short-circuit failure occurred in the building, but luckily no fire broke out,’ the spokesperson for Sverdlovsk Region division of the Russian Federation Ministry of Emergencies said to UrBC. In fact, the official opening ceremony of Alatyr has been scheduled for Thursday. The mall management is going to hold a press briefing on Wednesday

The Republic of Cyprus is going to set up three consulates in Russia very soon, Chairman of Cyprus Tourism Organization Alekos Orundiotis informed the reporters. ‘The additional consulates will soon start working in Yekaterinburg, Krasnodar, and Samara. It is now only the matter of some technicalities on the Russian part,’ RIA Novosti quoted Orundiotis as saying. The executive reported 180,000 Russian tourists visited the island in 2008, although the figure dropped the following year due to economic recession and the devaluation of the ruble. Orundiotis says Russia is the third largest