UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 31, 2015. Sverdlovsk Region Arbitration court declared Sredneuralskaya poultry factory insolvent on July 29, Kommersant refers to a court representative as saying. The court stated the factory should undergo bankruptcy proceedings for a period of six months, with the company’s former manager Timur Latypov as the trustee in bankruptcy. Sredneuralskaya is registered in the town of Verkhnyaya Pyshma and is 100% Sverdlovsk Region Government-owned. The factory was placed under supervision on April 10, 2015 following Sberbank’s demand that the company be declared

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 31, 2015. The number of the unemployed in Sverdlovsk Region came to 32,528 people on July 1, 2015 (against 27,088 people a year earlier), the Labor & Employment Department reports. 40,828 people on the lookout for jobs got registered with the local employment services by the start of the month, 38,769 of them with no current employment. The registered unemployment rate thus came to 1.43% (compared with 1.17% a year earlier). Forty-eight companies informed the employment agencies in the first half of the year that they were planning to lay off 5,962 people. 145

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 31, 2015. The overall amount of past-due payments on loans issued to Sverdlovsk Region’s residents rose by 2bn RUR in the first half of 2015, the Central Bank’s local division reports. As of July 1, 2015, this figure stood at around 8.3bn RUR (compared with 6.5bn RUR on January 1). The overall amount of overdue debt owed to banks by non-financial institutions came to 5.8bn RUR (plus 29.5m RUR in foreign currency) on July 1.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 31, 2015. Some representatives of Omsktransmash (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) took part in a business conference with their potential partners at Omsk Chamber of Commerce & Industry, the corporation’s press service reports. The round table discussion gathered together leading industrial and research experts who presented their developments in the fields of power equipment and welding and forging technologies. Conference delegates demonstrated the potential of their metal-cutting devices made from superalloys, induction heating units,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 31, 2015. All the work at Staratel Range in Nizhniy Tagil, done in preparation for the 10th International Russia Arms Expo 2015 Exhibition is nearly complete, the event website states. The news was announced at Sverdlovsk Region Exhibition Coordination Committee meeting; Mayor of Nizhniy Tagil Sergey Nosov said all the sports and culture facilities as well as highways and park-and-ride lots were being reconstructed in time for the opening. Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s Advertising & PR Director Alexander Bachurin said the company would be very noticeably present

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July29, 2015. Sverdlovsk Region Arbitration Court is to process an insolvency application involving Nizhniy Tagil-based Vysokogorsky Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise/VGOK, the court reports. The application was submitted by OOO Teploservis on July 17, 2015. It is not yet clear how big the plaintiff’s claims are. VGOK used to be a part of EVRAZ Holding until September 2013 and was then sold to Ural Group, owned by Vladislav Shatsillo. The enterprise now runs three mines: Magnetitovaya, Yestyuninskaya, and Yuzhnay, as well as an open-pit mine, a processing facility, a

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 30, 2015. A Russian citizen living in Sverdlovsk Region spends an average of 39,000 RUR on international travel this summer (up 3,000 RUR on a year earlier), Director of Ural Tourism Association Mikhail Maltsev announced at a press conference. ‘This is the average price of a week’s hotel stay and a round trip per person, provided the flight departs from Yekaterinburg. Remarkably, the figure is the same regardless of whether one flies to Europe or Turkey or Egypt,’ he said. Maltsev said the average price of a hotel stay in Russia and a domestic flight currently came

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 30, 2015. 431 instances of corruption-related crimes were registered in Sverdlovsk Region in the first half of 2015, which exceeded the figures for a year earlier by 15%, head of Sverdlovsk Region Prosecution Service’s Anti-Corruption Enforcement division Vladimir Kurochkin announced at a press conference in Yekaterinburg. Kurochkin said fifty-five cases out of these involved charges of bribe-taking (Article 290 of the Russian Federation Criminal Code), twenty-two involved charges of abuse of power (Article 285), and some of them – charges of fraud (Article 159). 195

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 30, 2015. In the first half of 2015, Yekaterinburg hotels were 52% booked, on average, the city council refers to Deputy Mayor for Commodity Market & Services Vladimir Bolikov as stating. Bolikov said there were currently 111 hotels operating in Yekaterinburg. ‘The city is quite prepared to host various events comfortably. All of the city’s hotels are being assigned star categories at the moment,’ he said in the course of Open Studio. Yekaterinburg on Channel 41-Domashniy. The official also spoke about the growing segment of economy class hotels. At the moment,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 30, 2015. Uralvagonzavod Corporation/UVZ keeps working on a new children’s playground located on the premises of I.V. Okunev Palace of Culture in Nizhniy Tagil, the company press service reports. Four out of eight playground sections have already been assembled, and the work is about to begin for the remaining four. Every section is complete with sports and games implements made from safe materials that meet all the government standards. ‘A playground will be complemented by a stage for large-scale festive events, an electric cart range to teach children the traffic

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 29, 2015. The actual incomes of people living in Sverdlovsk Region declined by 5.7% in the first half of 2015 compared with the first half of 2014, head of the Federal State Statistics Service’s local division Elena Kutina announced at a press conference. ‘Their nominal monthly income actually went up by 9.2% compared with the first half of 2014 and amounted to 32,663 RUR per capita against 29,949 RUR a year earlier,’ she said. Kutina said locals directed most of their income (81%) to buying goods and services. 7.1% more money was spent on these in the first half of

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 29, 2015. Sverdlovsk Region’s retail trade turnover dropped by 10% in the first half of the year, head of the Federal State Statistics Service’s local division Elena Kutina announced at a press conference. ‘This is a rather noticeable decline observable in all of the Russian Federation’s constituencies. Food items sales decreased by 10.8%, non-food items sales by 9.3%. In June, the per capita amount of sold commodity goods was 20,230 RUR, compared with 19,286 RUR a year earlier: this signals an increase in prices or a decrease in the population’s buying capacity,’

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 29, 2015. Locals are no longer investing in the less expensive foreign property in Bulgaria or Turkey, Pavel Fomin, Director of Yekaterinburg-based BeHome, told UrBC. ‘The customers who used to buy homes abroad do not have the money at the moment, so the demand sagged down to zero. The other type of customer, the ones who used to invest in expensive property in Spain, have hardly been affected by the crisis, so things are looking much better in this market segment. On the whole, the foreign estate market is faced with declining demand,’ Fomin said. Fomin reports the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 29, 2015. Omsktransmash (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) produced a set of heavy-duty mechanized bridges TMM6 and an amphibious track vehicle PTS4. The corporation’s press service reports special in-plant compliance tests had to be performed prior to shipping the machines to the customer. For one, the plant’s experts were to make sure the equipment would prove efficient in actual operating conditions. ‘To test the bridges, special earth trenches were dug on the premises to imitate natural obstacles, with bridges placed over them. The purpose of the

UrBC, Moscow, July 29, 2015. Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation was placed on the list of the world’s top hundred weapon manufacturers in 2014 by Defence News; the Russian company, with its $1.54bn in revenues, was given the 52nd position in the rating, Interfax reports. There are six more Russian companies on the list: Almaz-Antey ($9.2bn), United Aircraft Corporation ($6.24bn), Russian Helicopters ($3.96bn), United Engine Corporation ($3.32bn), Tactical Missiles Corporation ($2.8bn), and RTI Systems ($947m). Defence News reports the Russian companies’ performance was

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 28, 2015. The Russian Government allocated 14,521,500 RUR for highway reconstruction in Sverdlovsk Region, the Cabinet’s official website states. All in all, 4.5bn RUR were allocated by the federal authorities to get roads rebuild in fifty-two Russian Federation constituencies. The money is distributed in accordance with the road construction and reconstruction regulations for highways and roads leading to socially important infrastructure facilities and agricultural production and processing facilities.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 28, 2015. ChTPZ Group’s employees got 67 original inventions patented in the first half of 2015, the company press service reports. The Group’s workers develop unique equipment, technologies, and methods that have never been used in the pipe-making industry before. The government patents are valid for twenty years. Most of the inventions aim to improve the technologies for production of Premium threaded joints, new types of OCTGs and pipes for the nuclear and heat supply industries as well as the machine-building sector, or to reduce prime costs and improve product

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 28, 2015. Russian President Vladimir Putin was invited to come to the 10th Russia Arms Expo 2015 International Exhibition (to be held at Staratel Range in Nizhniy Tagil on September 9-12, 2015), the event coordinators announced at a press conference in Yekaterinburg. Vladimir Putin has attended the annual exhibition a number of times before. He first came there in 2000, when Eduard Rossel was Governor of Sverdlovsk Region, and then in 2011, when the constituency was governed by Alexander Misharin. Once Evgeniy Kuivashev became Governor, President Putin’s visits to

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 28, 2015. Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s head plant’s armored vehicles museum became part of the Urals’ Gemstone Ring, a tourist route that is a pilot project on the federal domestic tourism development program for 2011-2018, the corporation’s press service reports. ‘The project was approved of by Rostourism and placed on the federal tourism program list. The Urals’ Gemstone Ring is a tourist route that covers the most historically important landmarks in the local towns and cities. The armored vehicle museum was chosen as one of Nizhniy Tagil’s most interesting

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 28, 2015. Armata, the new tank designed by Uralvagonzavod Corporation, will be displayed to the public on the second day of Russia Arms Expo 2015 Exhibition, the corporation’s Nikolai Smirnov announced at a press conference in Yekaterinburg. ‘Armata won’t be featured in the opening day show; only the weaponry already adopted by the Defense Ministry will be on display then. On the second day, our member enterprises will be demonstrating their latest achievements, so visitors to the exhibition will be able to see Armata and other new developments,’ Smirnov said. Armata