February 27, 2013. The assembly of the modern 500-ton-strong double-point press manufactured by the German company ERFURT PKZZ began at the press department of Uralvagonzavod, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s head plant. The new machinery costs 26m RUR, the corporation’s press service reports. According to the press service, the technology that is used at these double-point presses makes it possible to stamp 3D parts with the help of deep drawing from the metal sheets. The launch of the ERFURT PKZZ equipment will improve considerably on the quality of goods that are needed for the corporation’s

February 27, 2013. The employees of Sinara Pipe Plant (SinTZ, a member of Pipe Metallurgical Company) coordinated its traditional special event called Smile, Soldier! This was done on the eve of the Defender of the Motherland’s Day. During a charity marathon, the plant workers and the students from the plant-sponsored schools collected over 700 parcels with the useful things for the soldiers in the army, the company’s press service reports. It is reported that the event coordinators visited Elansky District Training Center and presented their gifts to the regular soldiers around February 23.

February 27, 2013. Banki.ru, an information & analytics service, did an express research on the changes on the bank cards market since the beginning of 2013. The analysts behind this research observe that lending through credit cards is one of the most interesting and fastest-developing retail banking market segments at the moment, SKB-Bank reports. The total lending portfolio (for private individuals and via credit cards) rose by 4.5% up to 674bn RUR for the largest thirty banks. On average, the lending portfolio growth rate for the banks that were featured in this ranking amounted to

February 27, 2013. Sverdlovsk Region Government came up with report on the performance of its municipalities in terms of urban improvements and developments in 2012. Yekaterinburg only came third in this rating, preceded by Nizhniy Tagil and Kamensk-Uralsky, Sverdlovsk Region Government’s Press Service & Information Administration told UrBC. The above data apply to the big cities rating; as for the medium-sized towns, Kachkanar came first, and as for the small and very small towns, the first prize went to Refta and Svobodny, respectively. In addition to an honorary certificate issued by

February 27, 2013. The Bank of Russia extended its freeze on Svyaznoy Bank’s deposit transactions for three more months. The bank reports this was caused by the fact that the company exceeded the deposit growth rates approved of by the Central Bank, RBC daily reports. The bank owner Maxim Nogotkov told the newspaper that the bank was not forbidden by the Central Bank to accept private individuals’ savings on its deposits; nor were any other limitations imposed on the asset growth. ‘Svyaznoy is quite allowed to accept private individuals’ funds, it’s just that this has to be done under certain