The second pilot sample of Granit (Series 2ES10), Russia’s only electric locomotive with an asynchronic tract gear created by Ural Locomotives (Sinara Group and Siemens’s joint venture) has been successfully tested at Sverdlovsk Region Railways in accordance with the technical requirements of Russian Railways Public Company. Head of Sverdlovsk Region Railways Alexei Mironov says the introduction of the new 2ES10 locomotive is particularly important for the coordination of heavy trains at West-Siberian, South-Ural, and Sverdlovsk Region Railways. Thanks to Granit, transit trains of 6,300 kg

The Finance magazine’s analysts drew up a rating of Russian banks’ reliability on the basis of the data available as of the first quarter of 2011. SKB-Bank was promoted by one position, with its reliability rating rising from B+ to BB-. This is the highest rating level reached by Sverdlovsk Region-based banks. The bank’s rating was calculated on the basis of formalized assessments of its assets and liabilities, its capital and liquidity, and on the basis of the qualitative evaluation of the non-financial information available. The rating was affected by such criteria as the dynamics, the

UTair Airlines is planning to close down its subsidiaries in Berezovsky, Noyabrsk, Taz, and Mys-Kamensk. The idea will be considered by the company’s supervisory board on May 27, 2011.

Egypt’s tourist industry is gradually recovering, but Russian holiday-makers appear to be taking their time in heading for the African country’s resorts: in April 2011, the number of Russian tourists in Egypt was 65% less than a year earlier, the director of Egyptian Consulate’s Travel Department Nahid Nazmy Ayad Hanna told RIA Novosti. According to the data, the drop came to 65% in April 2011 against April 2010. This means over 111,000 Russian tourists came to Egypt in April,’ she explained. The official did not specify, however, whether the figure covered only the last three weeks of April,

Rosaviation carried out an unscheduled inspection of NordWind to see whether the company complies with the existing aviation law. The commission was aimed at investigating the circumstances behind the cancellation and delays of 509 flights in the summer of 2010 and the winter of 2010/2011 as well as of flights operated between April 26, 2011 and May 7, 2011, the Association of Russian Tour Operators reports. The airline admitted it had delayed 112 flights due to technical problems, 160 flights because of the need to replace the aircraft or change the slot times, 434 flights due to the