July 31, 2014. The authorized capital of NPO Avtomatiki, a scientific & production association and a federal government-run unitary enterprise based in Yekaterinburg, increased by 2.66bn RUR, the organization’s report states. In early July, the enterprise went through with an issue of 2.66m of ordinary shares with face value of 1,000 RUR per item. The joint stock company’s shares can be, as it is reported, ‘purchased by the Russian Federation, Russian Federation constituencies or municipalities if the latter or its divisions are being restructured into a federal or local government-run

July 31, 2014. The U.S. Consulate in Yekaterinburg temporarily stopped issuing visas due to a technical problem within the passport and visa-issuing system, the US Consulate-General in Yekaterinburg’s website states. The same announcements were made via the US websites in other parts of Russia. The announcements explain that it is not only Russia but also other countries where the problem exists. The Department of State’s Bureau of Consular Affairs says some systemic changes were made at the weekend aimed at an increase in productivity, which resulted in this technical problem. It is not

July 31, 2014. The worth of all the construction jobs completed within Sverdlovsk Region with the help of local resources amounted to 40.8bn RUR in January-June 2014, Sverdlovskstat reports. This figure was, in comparable scores, 5.8% lower than a year earlier. As for Russia on the whole, the figure declined by 2.6%. In fact, in the first half of 2014, 777,000 sq m worth of housing were commissioned in Sverdlovsk Region, which was twice as much as in the first half of 2013.

July 31, 2014. NPO Electromachine, one of Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s Chelyabinsk-based member enterprises, started introducing the principles of lean production. The company has already come up with a production system development plan based on this method. Some of the basic principles are already being used at some of the company’s processing departments, Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s press service reports. Personnel training is one of the first stages of the project. Nearly 100% of staff are expected to be trained. The enterprise is offering workshops on the

July 31, 2014. Omsktransmash (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) now offers a virtual tour of the company military and labor hall of fame on its website. Any visitor can now take a tour of the hall and have a look at the exhibits, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service reports. Omsktransmash set up a hall of fame in 1980. The area of the hall comes to over 400 sq m, including 350 sq m of exhibition area. Hundreds of people visit the actual hall every year. Tours are offered to both the company employees and high school and college students. The hall of fame comprises some

July 30, 2014. Evgeniy Olkhovik was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors at Koltsovo Airport, the Yekaterinburg-based airport reports. The election took place during Koltsovo Airport BOD meeting on July 25. The airport’s company secretary was also elected during the meeting. Following the annual general meeting which was held on June 30, a new Board of Directors was elected as well. The BOD now comprises Andrei Shtorkh, Alexander Zaporozhskiy, Evgeniy Olkhovik, Evgeniy Chudnovskiy, Alexei Piskunov, Dmitri Kasatkin, Nikolai Ulyanov, and Oleg Fedotovskikh.

Moscow, July 29, 2014. Sverdlovsk Region residents proved some of the most active users of the United Government Services Portal in the first half of 2014, the Russian Telecommunications Ministry reports. People living in Sverdlovsk Region use the portal as often as those living in Moscow, Moscow Region, Saint Petersburg, and Samara Region. Checking for road fines, unpaid taxes, and being on the list of enforcement proceedings instituted by the Federal Service of Court Officers was the most popular service. Also, more people applied for international passports and pension savings online than

July 30, 2014. The e-banking system of the Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development was declared the best in the Convenience of Payments & Data Layout category among the banks based in Central and Eastern Europe. The award was given out by the respected international magazine Global Finance which decides upon the best financial institutions all over the world every year, the bank’s press service reports. Winners were announced upon the completion of a large-scale research on e-banking systems for private individuals offered in six sectors of the world. Based on the research

July 30, 2014. Eric Trump, son of the American billionaire Donald Trump, is going to visit Yekaterinburg in the fall. He confirmed his participation in the international high-rise construction forum (100+Forum Russia) that will be held in Yekaterinburg on September 24-26 with the Russian Construction Ministry’s support, the forum’s press service says. Eric Trump is now executive Vice President, Development and Acquisitions, at The Trump Organization, one of the major US construction companies with a reputation for skyscrapers. One such skyscraper is Trump Tower, the world-renowned 58-storey

July 30, 2014. A subsidiary of the State Hermitage Museum might open in Yekaterinburg soon. On July 29, Head of Yekaterinburg Council Alexander Yakob met the Hermitage representatives to talk about Russia’s largest museum’s arrival in the Urals’ capital. According to the city council’s press service, Head of Yekaterinburg Council Culture Department Tatiana Yaroshevskaya and Director of Yekaterinburg Fine Arts Museum Nikita Korytin took part in the meeting as well. The State Hermitage Museum’s team comprised Deputy Director-General Alexei Bogdanov and Deputy Head of the West-European Fine Art

July 29, 2014. 22,261 people living in Sverdlovsk Region are currently not allowed to leave the Russian Federation because of debts, Sverdlovsk Region division of the Federal Service of Court Officers’ press service reports. As of July 21, 2014, the total amount of debt owed by local residents whose traveling opportunities have thus been limited exceeded 13bn RUR. The better part of such debtors is made up of parents who failed to pay their children’s allowances (3,813 people with consolidated debt of 1,430,808,000 RUR worth of debt); then there are those with unpaid criminal fines (2,594

July 29, 2014. There were 939 hotels and similar types of accommodation in Ural Federal District in 2013, Rostourism refers to Rossstat as stating. There were over 9,800 hotels operating in Russia last year altogether; 76,7bn nights were spent there by a total of more than 42.5bn people. The amount of paid services within the hotel industry exceeded 162bn RUR. According to Rosstat, Central Federal District has the greatest number of hotels (1,861); it is followed by Southern Federal District (1,691), the Volga Federal District (1,607), Siberian Federal District (1,564), North-Western Federal

July 29, 2014. It was 75 years ago when the tractors made at Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ-Uraltrac) took part in a special Chelyabinsk-Moscow tour, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service reports. ‘On July 26, 1939, Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant saw two of its C2 transport tractors off to Moscow in the course of a solemn ceremony. These tractors were actually the prototypes of the future artillery towing vehicles that the plant soon started making on an industrial scale. This trial tour was preceded by C2 travelling to nearby Sverdlovsk and Zlatoust. In order to conduct the final test of

July 29, 2014. Igor Dolzhenko, a 5th-labor rank engine tester from Omsktransmash (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) received the Russian Federation Defense Ministry award – the Labor Merit Medal. The award was given to him by the Russian Defense Minister General Sergey Shoigu on the acceptance day for the enterprise’s military-purpose produce, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service reports. The company says Igor Dolzhenko is a lieutenant of the reserve and is 27 years old. He has been working at Omsktransmash since 2011 and has advanced to the prestigious position of the

July 29, 2014. In the first half of 2014, the amount of profit tax paid to Sverdlovsk Region budget was 5bn RUR smaller than in the first half of 2013. The figures dropped the most in the processing industry and metallurgical sectors. Such segments as trading and construction, however, actually produced greater tax revenues, Deputy Head of Sverdlovsk Region division of Russia’s Federal Taz Service Marina Ryabova announced at a press conference in Yekaterinburg. The tax revenues amounted to 109bn RUR in the first half of the year altogether. Around 80% of this sum came from personal income tax

July 28, 2014. Another step was made on the way to deeper integration of Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s member enterprises. From now on, all of the purchasing for all of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s member enterprises (of which there are about forty plants, design bureaus, and scientific research institutes located all over Russia) will be handled by UBT-Uralvagonzavod, the corporation’s press service reports. Prior to this, UBT-Uralvagonzavod only used to liaise with the corporation’s ten largest enterprises and made some 40% of their accumulated purchases. Other

July 28, 2014. 7,174 companies based in Sverdlovsk Region submitted information on their job openings with the local employment agencies in January-June 2014. The amount of pay advertized was 8.9% greater than in 2013, Sverdlovsk Region Labor & Employment Department’s press service says. All in all, employers posted 134,733 vacancies, including 95,849 ones for blue-collar jobs (71.1% of all the job openings). The number of people officially registered as unemployed within the first six months of the year was 31,021. The demand for employees at processing enterprises, transport and

July 26, 2014. Ural Airlines launched an additional flight in the popular summer destination, from Chelyabinsk to Simferopol. Starting from August 9, 2014, you can fly to the Black Sea not only on Fridays but also on Sundays. Tickets are already available for booking and purchase. ‘If you make a trip to the Crimea, you will be in for an unforgettably good time on the coast of the Black Sea. This place has everything a traveler needs: golden beaches, the purest mountain air, the intact primeval landscapes, antique and medieval artifacts, countless health resorts, a cornucopia of fruit and

July 28, 2014. The Republic of Cyprus Consulate-General opened in Yekaterinburg. The office is centrally located at 15G Gogol St and is open from 9 AM to 4 PM on weekdays. The consulate will issue national visas to the citizens of Russia and other countries, both short-term and long-term ones, as well as single and multiple entry ones. Besides, the consulate will also liaise with the local governments in terms of development of trade, economic, cultural, and scientific ties between Cyprus and Russia. What is more, the consulate is in charge of promoting the Republic of Cyprus among tour

July 28, 2014. Sverdlovsk Region Court sustained the claim laid by a private investor against MMM-2011, a financial pyramid, regarding the payment back of 100,000 RUR which the plaintiff handed over to the defendant, the pyramid’s so-called over-man, the court’s press officer reports. According to the files relating to the case, the plaintiff met the pyramid representative via MMM-2011 website. The organization’s website stated that the money invested in the scheme would yield some profit. Despite all the disclaimers and warnings that could be found right on the site, the plaintiff gave their