UrBC, Moscow, October 1, 2015. The trade turnover between Russia and Italy dropped by 36% in the first half of 2015, Interfax refers to Chairman of State Duma Sergei Naryshkin as saying. Naryshkin said the Russian and Italian parliaments reopened their dialogue once again. ‘I must say we are truly sorry Italy decided to impose the so-called anti-Russian sanctions, I say ‘so-called’ because these stemmed, in fact, from a unilateral decision not supported by the UN Security Council, so we cannot consider them legitimate,’ the official said. According to Naryshkin, all this has been affecting

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 1, 2015. The number of private individuals who might actually fit all the requirements set forth in the private bankruptcy law (this one comes into force on October 1, 2015) has gone up by 1.5 times since the beginning of the year and now comes to 460,000 people, National Bureau of Credit History reports. The figure indicates the number of people with debts of over 500,000 RUR that haven’t been paid for over ninety days. There were no more than 300,000 such people in Russia last December. The Bureau feels the increase has been due to Russia’s current economic

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 1, 2015. Thirty new low-floor buses are now cruising the streets of Yekaterinburg, the city council reports. ‘These are smoothly running, comfortable buses that are warm, safe, and functional on the inside. We are very favorably impressed,’ one of the bus drivers said. Thanks to preliminary trial runs, bus technicians were able to practice all the O&M, commissioning, and launching routines and are now busy with all the final setup of navigation and information equipment and elimination of minor drawbacks detected in the course of the first runs, the city bus

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 1, 2015. Uralvagonzavod Corporation and ATOM, a design office, won the prestigious international RedDot Award (in the Design Concept category) for their innovative tram R1, the corporation’s press service reports. Red Dot Design Awards is a prestigious European consumer goods design contest, with over 4,000 designers (including those from such giants as Apple, Mercedes, Audi, and Bork) taking part every year. The awarding ceremony took place at the Red Dot Museum in Singapore on September 25. Around a hundred reputable designers from all over the world attended

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 1, 2015. Three new 5,000-kg electric bridge cranes made in Russia were mounted at Uralvagonzavod’s Casting Department 2, the company press service reports. The new cranes were custom-made for Uralvagonzavod, as their parameters had to be different from the standard measurements. For one, the leadstock pieces had to be 100mm narrower than the standard size. These modern cranes are used for making rolling stock, including the innovative gondola cars 12-196-01. The cranes have already been assembled and are now operating at the department’s three busiest sectors. The

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk Region, October 1, 2015. Shareholders at Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) general meeting voted for the payment of 0.58 RUR (adjusted for taxation) per share in dividends, the company reports. Dividends will be paid out in cash in accordance with the procedure prescribed by the Federal Joint Stock Companies Act.

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk Region, October 1, 2015. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) now focuses on low-budget, highly efficient investment projects with a short payoff period, the company reports. The shortlist of projects with payoff period of under 2 years is based on a longer list of proposals presented by MMK departments. In the first half of 2015, some fifty low-budget investment projects (Difficulty Level 2) were considered and implemented. There are 26 first-priority projects with the average payoff period of 1.22 years and 28 second-priority projects with the average