December 22, 2014. Uralvagonzavod’s Okunev Palace of Culture hosted a round table discussion on partnership development with Chinese businesses. A Chinese delegation, headed by the People’s Republic of China’s Consul-General in Yekaterinburg Tyan Ynsan, joined the discussion as guests of honor, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service reports. First Deputy Mayor of Nizhniy Tagil Vladislav Pinayev and Nizhniy Tagil Chamber of Commerce & Industry President and Chairman Boris Sokolov took part in the discussion as well, as did business representatives, including Uralvagonzavod’s Chief

December 22, 2014. A robbery occurred in Dekabristov St: the target was the office of Pangea, the authorized agent of Tez Tour, a tour operator. According to preliminary reports, 50,000 RUR were stolen, says Valeriy Gorelykh, head of the Department of Internal Affairs’ Sverdlovsk Region division’s press service. Gorelykh said two unidentified persons wearing masks, armed with something that looked like a gun, broke into the office. There were three managers in the room at the moment. The offenders threatened them and made them opened the safe and took the money that was in it. There were no

December 22, 2014. IKEA put a temporary halt on selling kitchen furniture and home appliances in Russia. ‘We are currently updating our current prices on a website, so the prices quoted here may differ from the ones in our stores,’ the company’s website says. IKEA promises to re-launch sales on December 20. Now IKEA has warned about an increase in wardrobe, kitchen, and storage system prices starting December 18.

December 22, 2014. Yekaterinburg proved one of Russia’s top best cities for traveling to with children, Travel.ru reports. Saint Petersburg, Sochi, Moscow, Anapa, Kazan, Yaroslavl, Velikiy Novgorod, Kostroma, and Pskov were also on this rating. The rating was based on the hotel bookings made by family travelers in 2014. According to the results of the research, a trip of Russian citizens traveling with children around Russia lasted for five days on average, while the price of a night at a hotel came to 3,500 RUR on average. In Yekaterinburg, the average stay was three days long and cost 3,000

December 22, 2014. Yekaterinburg banks don’t seem to have enough foreign currency in cash: not every bank is able to sell a customer $1,000 or €1,000. Uralprivatbank reports it has no more dollars in its Pervomayskaya St branch. The one in Wilhelm de Genin St is out of euros. Promsvyazbank’s outlet in Nikolay Nikonov St says they are out of dollars and can only sell euros. Binbank’s branch in Sverdlov St claims they have no foreign currency in cash, while its branch in Bankovsky Lane is out of dollars but can still sell euros. MDM Bank’s branch in Lenin Ave says they have no cash whatsoever