Toyota’s Russian dealers sold 30,895 automobiles in the first half of 2010, which was 19% less than a year earlier, even though the sales went up by 28% (6,922 cars) in June, Avtostat reports. Camry, a business class sedan made in Saint Petersburg, proved to be the car manufacturer’s best-selling make in January-June 2010. Nevertheless, even Camry’s sales decreased by 16%, with dealers selling 8,052 automobiles in the first half of the year altogether. Corolla was the second best-selling make, with 5,529 cars purchased in January to June 2010, but the sales figures were still 33% lower than a

The Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development has been running its loans-to-SMEs program for five years now. During these five years, thousands of companies have taken up on the offer, which means the program has contributed significantly to the Urals’ economy as well as that of the other Russian regions where the bank operates. The loans-to-SMEs scheme is currently the major external source of financing for small businesses. This means the companies can borrow money fast, with very few documents to file, and on good terms. The special borrowing party evaluation techniques and standardized

The Ural division of Rostechnadzor (the state environmental, technological, and nuclear safety watchdog) completed its investigation of the fatal accident at UMMC’s OAO Svyatogor based in Krasnouralsk, Sverdlovsk Region. The ad hoc committee came to the conclusion that the accident had been caused by poor production control over compliance with the industrial safety regulations and unsatisfactory production and technological discipline, the spokesperson for Rostechnadzor says. The top executives of Svyatogor were notified of poor production discipline in the divisions of Severniy ore and zinc

Koltso Urala Commercial Bank’s Retail Department’s analysts report private individuals have been opening more deposits since the summer started, so the bank’s private individuals’ deposits volume is increasing by at least 15 million RUR daily these days. Remarkably, the growth figures only reached 1 to 2 million RUR as recently as January. The bank’s Retail Director Denis Belogurov says the deposit volume growth has been witnessed by the entire banking system. Various banks’ representatives explain that people no longer need a special reason for opening a bank deposit; they normally go on