April 8, 2015. The international rating agency Moody’s Investors Service confirmed Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works/MMK CFR at Ba3; the company’s PDR was confirmed at Ba3 PD, with Stable rating outlook. This confirmation completes the rating re-evaluation procedure that was instituted for a number of Russian companies on December 23 because of a dramatic deterioration of conditions for operating in Russia and increased risks of a prolonged economic downfall. Moody’s explains in their press release that MMK should remain competitive expenses-wise (for one, the prime cost of slabs dropped

April 8, 2015. QR codes will appear on Nizhniy Tagil’s important war landmarks in celebration of Victory Day. The whole thing is coordinated by Uralvagonzavod Corporation, the company press service reports. ‘Thanks to these 2D barcodes, it will take smartphone users just a click to find out about the historic places and learn about the well-known local residents’ contribution to winning the war, as well as about the efforts of those who were evacuated to Ural Tank Plant 183 (know known as Uralvagonzavod),’ the press service says. The QR codes will appear in Glory Square, Memorial Hill, and

April 8, 2015. Russian Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky suggested that Sverdlovsk Film Studio should not be privatized and should be converted from federal to local government property instead, Sverdlovsk Region Ministry for Public Property Management refers to Medinsky’s letter to Governor Evgeniy Kuivashev as stating. ‘The studio might try out a different format, talks on the subject are under way, with no details just yet. Nor do we have a specific interested investor or customer at the moment,’ the studio’s Director-General Mikhail Churbanov says. Now Sverdlovsk Film Studio was actually

April 8, 2015. Sysert-based Energomash-Uralgidromash is now involved in a criminal suit, with charges of neglect to pay workers’ wages, Sverdlovsk Region public prosecution authorities’ press service reports. It was determined that the company owed its workers more than 68.7m RUR as of April 1, 2015. The money is owed for the period between November 2014 and March 2015. Based on the findings of their inquiry, Sysert public prosecution authorities instituted administrative proceedings against the company’s director, with charges based on Article 5.27 (Part 1) of the Russian Federation

April 8, 2015. Russian Federation General Prosecutor’s Office used court authority to make Slavyanka’s Yekaterinburg branch pay its former workers’ wages (over 3m RUR all in all), their press service reports. It was determined that the company did not actually employ 169 workers but signed service contracts instead to have its military-purpose facilities taken care of; the contracts were later annulled, with no payments for the work done. The victims went to the military prosecution authorities, and an investigation of the company’s activity was carried out. ‘The garrison’s military

April 8, 2015. The German automobile concern Daimler/Mercedes might put up a factory in Sverdlovsk Region: the constituency was shortlisted along with Saint Petersburg and Kazan, TASS refers to President of Russian Investment Agency Yuri Spiridonov as saying. ‘Negotiations are in progress, and the company representatives are in Saint Petersburg all the time. They are considering three areas, including Kazan, where they run a commercial vehicle assembly facility, and Sverdlovsk Region,’ Spiridonov said. According to Spiridonov, five passenger vehicles (S, E, ML, GL and A Series) might be