March 20, 2014. Some 8bn RUR will be directed to the technical upgrades of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s head plant in Nizhniy Tagil this year. According to the corporation’s press service, the main focus is on upgrading the mechanical assembly section. ‘The modernization program for the head plant will be several-fold and will include, among other things, the projects that were embarked upon in 2013. More than 1.1bn RUR will be directed to this. Nearly 660m RUR will be directed to the development of innovative railway products, and some 540m RUR will be spent on

March 20, 2014. The official unemployment rate was registered at 1.24% in Sverdlovsk Region on March 1, 2014. This was 0.11% lower than a year earlier (1.35% on March 1, 2013). In 23 towns and cities within the federal constituency, the figure was actually even lower than in Sverdlovsk Region on the whole, the local Economics Ministry’s press service reports. The number of the unemployed registered with the state-run employment agencies was 28,506 on March 1, 2014. The number of job openings advertised by the local employers is actually 1.4 times greater than the number of the unemployed.

March 20, 2014. The Crimea crisis is bound to affect the Russian economy tremendously, yet this impact will be less keenly felt by startups, Advisor to President of Skolkovo Foundation Pekka Viljakainen said in the course of the Russian Startup Tour in Yekaterinburg today. ‘Startups are, by definition, international businesses. They might even profit from what is happening in the short term, because their salaries are paid in rubles, so the labor costs are lower against all the other currencies,’ the advisor said. Viljakainen believes that the heart of the problem is in the difficulties of

March 20, 2014. Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ, a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) will fully fulfill its contract for the delivery of 12 B10M tractors to Uzbekistan, the corporation’s press service reports. ‘The tractors are shipped to one of the local plants, where the vehicles are fitted with special attachments for the repair and maintenance of oil and natural gas wells. The company has already delivered a number of standard, series-produced tractors with mechanical transmission to the customer. In the future, the two companies might agree to have the basic model upgraded

March 20, 2014. Kalugaputmash (Kaluga-based track machine and hydraulic drive plant and a member enterprise of Sinara Transport Machines) Board of Directors appointed Andrei Antropov the company Director-General, Sinara Group’s PR Center reports. Andrei Antropov was born in Pervouralsk, Sverdlovsk Region, on July 29, 1963. He graduated from Ural Electromechanicall Institute for Railway Transport Engineers in 1987 with a degree in Electromechanical Engineering. He started working at Chelyabinsk Locomotive Repair Plant in 1987 and evolved from Electrical Machines Department foreman to the

March 20, 2014. The Russian Union of Industrialists and Employers summed up the results of the All-Russian Business Leaders Contest 2013. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) was awarded with a diploma in the category called For Contributing to the Solution of Local Social Problems, MMK says. The awarding ceremony took place during the Russian Business Week, at a conference dedicated to labor market, social investment, and public-private partnerships. A large part of MMK's CSR projects last year had to do with supporting family growth and helping mothers and families with many

March 20, 2014. The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) summed up the results of the All-Russian Russian Business Leaders: Dynamic & Responsibility 2013 Contest. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) was awarded a diploma in the Contribution to Solving Social Problems category, MMK says. The awarding ceremony took place during the Russian Business Week at the Labor Market & Social Investment: Private-Public Partnership Conference. In 2013, MMK's SCR activity focused on increase in childbirth and support to mothers and families with many children: 42m RUR