The Russian Federation Government introduced a set of measures to support the Russian provinces at the time of a financial downfall. However, this support is not a proof against the local authorities’ failures, the international rating agency Standard & Poor's says in its recent report: ‘The anti-recession measures taken by the government did improve the situation in the Russian regions, but did not prevent any future breakdowns.’ The analysts behind the report believe that these provincial breakdowns are actually not very likely to happen. Nevertheless, given the federal

OAO Ural Airlines operated its Yekaterinburg-Sofia-Yekaterinburg flight for the first time this week. The opening ceremony included a presentation and a press conference at the departure lounge prior to the plane heading back for Yekaterinburg. The press conference was attended by the airline representatives, airport executives, and officials from Bulgaria’s Transport Ministry. Champagne and a custom-made cake were served at the event, the plane crew was given a fruit ‘bouquet’, and a water salute was organized by Sofia Airport to welcome the new carrier. In fact, the flight to Sofia is the

The Bank of Russia’s PR Department reports the reorganization of ZAO Kommerzbank (Eurasia), namely, the bank’s merging with ZAO Dresdner Bank, resulted in the liquidation of the latter. The corresponding entry in the United State Register of Legal Entities was made by Moscow division of Russia’s Federal Tax Service on September 24, 2010. Following this entry, a note stating that ZAO Dresdner Bank stopped operating on September 24, 2010 was made in the Book for State Registration of Lending Institutions.

A delegation of ambassadors representing some Latin American countries in the Russian Federation is going to visit Sverdlovsk Region on October 7-8, 2010. The agenda of the visit covers meetings with the heads of regional ministries, the representatives of local scientific and business communities, and college students. In addition, a so-called ‘free microphone’ discussion will be organized for the ambassadors and the representatives of Sverdlovsk Region-based enterprises and organizations interested in considering the cooperation options available.

Khanty-Mansiysk Customs processed 307,000 tons of freight in January-September 2010; this figure was 41% lower than that for the nine months of 2009, the customs’ press service reports. All in all, the region’s customs points processed 4,340 cargo manifests, with Khanty-Mansiysk Customs transferring 4.02 billion RUR to the federal budget.