January 26, 2015. Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s latest meeting in Nizhniy Tagil was almost entirely dedicated to making sure the head plant’s stadium is ready for the important Russian Classic, the Supreme Hockey League championship. ‘The League’s Managing Director German Skoropupov, his deputy, and the project curator Nikolai Karpovich, as well as heads of the enterprise’s Security, Marketing, and PR divisions arrived to make sure all the finishing jobs are in full swing at the stadium,’ the corporation’s press service reports. ‘The game is one of the three significant events the company has

January 26, 2015. 1,152 inspections of enterprises and territories were conducted in Sverdlovsk Region last year, with 2,169 violations detected by the state authorities, Governor of Sverdlovsk Region’s Information Policy Department reports. 2014 proved an important year for local environmental authorities in terms of fighting illegal landfill sites. Following Governor Evgeniy Kuivashev’s request, large-scale efforts were made in May-December to detect and eliminate illegal landfills throughout Sverdlovsk Region. Under inspection were agricultural lands, forests, settlements, and protection

January 26, 2015. Sverdlovsk Region’s government debt came to 49,660,666,000 RUR on January 1, 2015, the local finance ministry states. A month before, the figure stood at 33,939,645,000 RUR, and a year earlier, the amount of debt was 33,889,052,000 RUR. Sverdlovsk Region Finance Minister Galina Kulachenko said the constituency’s government debt would triple by January 1, 2018 and come to 126.4bn RUR due to economic difficulties in the area.

January 26, 2015. The amount of German exports to Russia dropped by €6bn because of the EU sanctions on Russia and Russia’s countersanctions, Lenta.ru refers to the data that Chairman of the Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations Prof. Dr. Eckhard Cordes cited to Rheinische Post. According to Cordes, export of German goods to Russia decreased by 18%, which could result in 60,000 job losses in the German economy. The official says things could get much worse in 2015. The Committee on Eastern European Economic Relations is an influential organization which represents the interests of

January 26, 2015. Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK) shipped 4,377,000,000 kg of steel pipes to customers last year, which was 1.5% better than in 2013, the company’s press service reports. The shipments in the last quarter of the year were 10.4% greater than in the previous quarter and amounted to 1,218,000,000 kg. Weldless pipe shipments rose by 3.8% compared with the year 2013 and reached 2,541,000,000 kg. In Q4’14, shipments increased by 11.5% against the previous quarter and came to 693,000,000 kg. Welded pipe shipments, however, went down by 1.5% compared with the year 2013 and amounted

January 23, 2015. ChTZ Uraltrac (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) is going to ship one of its B11 swamp bulldozers to Ukraine. According to the corporation’s press service, the vehicle was bought by Assol, one of the plant’s dealers in Zaporozhye. The new bulldozer make with hydro-mechanical transmission, Yaroslavl Motor Plant-made engine, and plastic coating, will be used in the energy sector. ‘Despite the current trying circumstances, we keep on cooperating with our Ukrainian partners,’ says Director for International & CIS Sales Alexander Sergeyev. ‘We are still

January 23, 2015. Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (a member enterprise of ChTPZ Group) upgraded its cold-roll mill (KhPTR 15-30 No. 9) meant for making longitudinal pipes up to 20.5m long, the plant’s press service reports. ‘Thanks to these improvements, the product’s performance characteristics grew much better: the geometrical accuracy is considerably higher and the idle time is down,’ ChTPZ Group says. The mill has been operating at the plant’s pipe-drawing department since 1980. The last overhaul was given to it in 2001. Due to an excessive workload, the mill has been operating non-stop since

January 23, 2015. Ural Airlines is offering the residents of the Crimea more flights to Moscow, with convenient departure times, the airline’s press service says. Starting on February 1, 2015, a new Simferopol-Moscow flight (departure time 8:00 AM) will be operated by the company. The return flight departs at 7:00 PM. ‘These additional flights will allow those living in the Crimea to go to Moscow on business without any time difference inconveniences. Tickets are already available for purchase,’ the airline says. Ural Airlines operate daily flights from Simferopol to Moscow and back on Airbus

January 23, 2015. Consumer price index rose by 0.7% in Russia within January 13-19, 2015 and by1.5% since January 1, Rosstat reports. Sugar grew 3.6% more expensive over last week, while the price of rice went up by 2.8% and that of frozen fish, sunflower seed oil, margarine, cheese, millet, vermicelli, and tea rose by 1.4% to 2.1%. The price of fruit and vegetables grew by 4.6% on average, including a 9.5% increase in the price of cabbage and 6% to 8.3% increase in the price of onions, carrots, cucumbers, and tomatoes.

January 23, 2015. The overall profits of Russian banks plummeted by 40.7% in 2014 and amounted to 589bn RUR, the Central Bank reports. The Central Bank points out that the drop in profits was mainly brought about by the need to increase the possible loss reserves: these rose by 1.203 trillion RUR, or 42.2%. The banks’ assets grew by 35.2% (if one makes adjustments for the changes in the exchange rate, the increase was 18.3%). The amount of loans issued to non-financial organizations went up by 31.3%, that of loans issued to private individuals rose by 13.8%, and the total loan book increased

January 22, 2015. 28 Sverdlovsk Region-based enterprises announced they were going to lay off staff, Sverdlovsk Region Labor & Employment Department’s press secretary Olga Ruleva informed UrBC. ‘Nearly all of these enterprises informed us as early as at the end of last year, and only one enterprise notified us in early 2015,’ Ruleva said. Uralasbest (Asbest, Sverdlovsk Region) will lay off 441 people, VSMPO Avisma (Verknyaya Salda) will let go over a hundred workers, Vodokanal (Volchansk) will lay off 80 workers, and Municipal Filtering Works of Bogdanovich will lay off 41 people.

January 22, 2015. Ural Airlines is launching new flights from the Volga Region to the country’s capital. Starting on January 30, 2015, a new flight U6 384/383 (Kazan-Moscow-Kazan) will be operated by the air carrier every Monday and Friday (Kazan-Moscow) and every Friday and Sunday (Moscow-Kazan), the airline’s press service reports. Starting from January 30, another scheduled flight will be offered by the company: U6 382/381 will take passengers from Volgograd to Moscow and back. The flight to Moscow will be operated every Friday and Sunday, the return one every Monday and Friday. Besides,

January 22, 2015. Two Starbucks cafes will open at Yekaterinburg’s Koltsovo Airport very soon: the first one will appear next to Terminal B airside, the other one in Terminal B landside within three months’ time, the airport’s press service reports. ‘Passengers can treat themselves to the entire range of the famous coffee chain’s drinks and dishes: espresso-based drinks, Starbucks Frappuccinos, freshly made coffee, pour-over coffee, sandwiches, desserts, and other offers. Besides, the cafes will coordinate seminars where every visitor will be able to learn about different kinds of coffee and

January 22, 2015. Volchansk subsidiary of UVZ, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s head plant, produced flat car 23-5176 for in-plant transportation purposes. According to the corporation’s press service, the platform was designed by Ural Carriage-Making Design Office (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) and was customized to meet the specific needs of the customer, one of Sverdlovsk Region-based industrial enterprises. перевозок. ‘This 23-5176 flat car, mounted on 18-194-1 makes, is meant for transportation of processing tools and equipment that weighs up to 110,000 kg. Volchansk

January 22, 2015. Sverdlovsk Region Government is not going to sell its 17.28% shareholding in Koltsovo Airport, the Public Property Management Ministry’s website states. All in all, Sverdlovsk Region (through the Mid-Urals Development Corporation) owns 34.56% of the airport’s shares. The airport’s shareholders agreed to raise the enterprise’s authorized capital by 200,000 RUR through a share issue (200,000 of ordinary registered shares with face value of 1 RUR each), which means the government’s shareholding risks being diluted. A portion of the shareholding will be sold by auction on

January 21, 2015. Lastochka, an electric train produced by Verkhnyaya Pyshma-based Ural Locomotives (a member enterprise of Sinara Group) went on its first-time shift from Yekaterinburg to Verkhoturye, Sinara Group’s PR Center reports. During this trip, Sinara Group Director-General Mikhail Khodorovsky and Ural Locomotives DG Alexander Saltayev informed Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Evgeny Kuivashev of all the advantages of the new train and of the production development options. The Governor also paid a visit to the driver’s cabin in order to see how comfortable it was for the crew. Saltayev

January 21, 2015. Ural Airlines made the sign-in process easier for its Wings Club members. According to the airline’s press service, the club members can now use not only their membership card number but also their mobile phone number of their email address to sign into their account at www.uralairlines.com. ‘The Wings Club members can choose one of the three options to sign into their account easily. The password remains the same. Now Wings Club members can book a free-of-charge flight using their bonus miles; the bonuses can also be used for a seat upgrade in order to fly business class.

January 21, 2015. In 2013, the number of illegal immigrants who had to be deported from Sverdlovsk Region stood at 700. In 2014, it was 1,300. ‘Deportation of illegal immigrants is fully and wholly the responsibility of the Federal Service of Court Officers. According to the Federal Migration Service, over 200 people entered Russia through customs and passport controls last year, and clearly not all of them went to register with the immigration authorities,’ says Sverdlovsk Region’s Chief Officer of Court Sergey Shchebekin. According to Shchebekin, a new law is expected to decrease the number

January 21, 2015. VSMPO Avisma is planning to let go over a hundred workers soon, Sverdlovsk Region’s Senior Public Prosecutor for Surveillance over Compliance with the Federal Laws and Civil Rights & Liberties Svetlana Sukhikh announced at a press conference. ‘We identified 513 instances in which the federal employment laws were violated last year. As a result, 181 officials had to face administrative liability. Our department also coordinated inspections of several large Sverdlovsk Region-based enterprises last year. For one, VSMPO Avisma, which is planning to make a hundred out of its

January 21, 2015. Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation is going to direct more than 280m RUR to environmentally important projects this year. According to the corporation’s press service, keeping the city of Nizhniy Tagil as environmentally unaffected as possible remains one of the corporation’s head plant’s top priorities. ‘The plant spent over 188m RUR to implement 18 green projects last year; another seven projects will be completed this year. In 2014, Ural Federal District division of the Federal Nature Management Surveillance Service issued a lifetime license for