UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 8, 2015. The average monthly pay came to 32,300 RUR in Sverdlovsk Region-based companies with over 15 people of staff in August; this was 5.4% less than in the previous month, Sverdlovskstat reports. The average pay went down by 7.3% (down to 34,900 RUR) in the processing sector, by 5.2% (down to 34,500 RUR) in the construction sector, by 5.2% (down to 36,300 RUR) in the oil and gas sector, by 13.5% (down to 23,000 RUR) in the culture sector, by 10% (down to 17,100 RUR) in the education sector, and by 6.1% (down to 28,500 RUR) in the health care sector. At the

UrBC, Saint Petersburg, October 8, 2015. Pipe Metallurgical Comapny/ TMK and Gazprom signed a memorandum of cooperation at the 5th Saint Petersburg International Natural Gas Forum; the document, signed by Gazprom Chairman of the Board Alexei Miller and TMK BOD Chairman Dmitri Pumpyanski, sets out the two parties’ policy on use of natural gas as motor fuel, TMK press service reports. The two parties’ main goals are switching TMK fleet of vehicles and its Russia-based enterprises to natural gas, renovating its fleet of vehicles so that it could rely on natural gas more, and creating better

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 8, 2015. Three employees of Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant/PNTZ (a member enterprise of ChTPZ Group) received certificates of acknowledgment from Sverdlovsk Region Government for their hard work. The Group’s press service reports the certificates were awarded to Head of Technical Diagnostics Department Vladimir Zubov, Forewoman of Iron Ozone 32 Steel-Smelting Department Irina Pavlova, and etcher from the Pipe-Drawing Department Ilya Ismagilov for their many years of conscientious hard work and great production performance as well as in celebration of the company trade

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 8, 2015. ChTPZ Group and Gazprom signed a cooperation agreement at the 5th Saint Petersburg International Natural Gas Forum. The document was signed by Gazprom Chairman of the Board Alexei Miller and ChTPZ Director-General Alexander Grubman. The two companies agreed to gradually switch ChTPZ fleet of automobiles to natural gas, of which Gazprom is a major supplier. The former is to help ChTPZ fit its vehicles with the necessary equipment, ChTPZ Group’s press service reports. ‘The Group usually contributes to all of Gazprom’s pipeline construction projects with its

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 8, 2015. Omsktransmash (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) signed agreements with colleges to cover tuition fees of fifty-one students who will then come to work at the enterprise. Next year, company scholarships will be offered to fifty-three new students, the corporation’s press service says. There are currently 186 students on company scholarships majoring in ten different fields at Omsk State Technical University and B.N. Yeltsin Ural Federal University. Their fields are Design Engineering in Machine-Building Industry, Machine-Building,