UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 30, 2016. Kamensk-Uralsky Foundry Plant/KULZ (a member enterprise of Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation) is about to start making friction drives for special-purpose vehicles as part of the state-run import substitution program, the company press service reports. ‘Our machine-building plants used to get these in Ukraine, but now KULZ is getting ready to start manufacturing the drives on site. We are busy renovating our existing facilities and getting new ones, buying digitally controlled treatment units, hydraulic presses, batch mixing units, and thermal treatment

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 30, 2016. Sputnik Sports Club’s junior team performed at the national track-and-field championship in Cheboksary, the club’s sponsor Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation reports. The ten sportsmen and women took part in the competition as part of Sverdlovsk Region team. This is, in fact, a difficult time for the athletes. ‘It was decided shortly before the championship that the All-Russia Athletic Federation (RusAthletics) would not be allowed to compete internationally. Nevertheless, all our sports players did their best to win the right to go to Rio de Janeiro Olympics,’

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 30, 2016. SKB-Bank made it to the list of Russia’s ten largest banks in terms of capital value on June 1, 2016. The list was made by the Kommersant-Dengi magazine. The rating excludes banks with headquarters in Moscow or Saint Petersburg. According to the magazine, SKB-Bank’s capital value came to 14,214,473,000 RUR on June 1, 2016. This is the 58th position in the all-Russian bank rating, the bank’s press service reports.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 30, 2016. Sinara Group’s charity foundation completed its Pou Sto 2016 job counseling contest and selected the winning schools which will be awarded grants to equip their science labs. Their press service reports grants have been awarded to nine schools in Verkhnyaya Pyshma, Kamensk-Uralsky, and Polevskoy, with one more lab to be soon set up in Training & Job Counseling Center in Verkhnyaya Pyshma. School 3 in Kamensk-Uralsky, the contest finalist, will spend its 100,000 RUR on buying chemistry lab supplies and equipment. Lyceum 10, the silver winner, will spend

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 30, 2016. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development’s savings certificate portfolio amounted to 1.7bn RUR on June 1, thus doubling in amount since the start of the year, the bank’s press service reports. A savings certificate is a type of securities that certifies the amount of one’s bank deposit. The interest rate is fixed for the entire deposit period and the interest gets added to the principal amount from the start. The press service says customers tend to choose the certificates as an alternative to regular deposits increasingly more often. The average

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 29, 2016. Even though Russia and Turkey are resolved to resume their relations now, the threats of terrorist attacks on the Turkish soil, including popular tourist locations, are still there, Director of Ural Tourist Association Mikhail Maltsev informs UrBC. The Kremlin announced yesterday that the Turkish President Erdogan sent his formal apologies and condolences to Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding the accident that killed a Russian pilot operating a SU 24 airplane. It is believed this could result in the two countries becoming friends again and in trips

UrBC, Moscow, June 29, 2016. The number of Russians traveling abroad declined by 22% in the first quarter of 2016 compared with the start of the year, that is, down to 1.479m people, Interfax refers to the Russian Tourist Industry Union as reporting. ‘This is quite a decrease, but it is still only half as big as last year’s, when the tourist traffic dropped by 40.3% in the first quarter of 2015, down to 1,899m people. This is the third year in a row that the tourist numbers keep decreasing. In the first quarter of 2014, the decrease was 4%,’ says the Union’s press secretary Irina Tyurina.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 29, 2016. The number of the Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development’s customers who failed to make their very first loan repayments declined by 33% in the five months of 2016 compared with January-May 2015, the bank’s press service reports. The overall amount of past-due debts also went down by 12%. Also, the share of the bank’s private customer loan book that this amount constitutes is now 2% less than one year earlier. According to the bank’s Retail Credit Risk Control Director Alexander Trofimov, they have been working to improve the borrowing parties’

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 29, 2016. EVRAZ Holding’s Nizhniy Tagil Integrated Metallurgical Works (NTMK) got a certificate allowing it to make wheels for Lastochka, a high-speed electric train, EVRAZ Holding Ural’s press office reports. The paper was issued by Russia’s Federal Railway Transport Certification Register and is valid through 2021. The 920-mm Lastochka wheels are made from carbonized Type 2 steel in accordance with the Russian GOST standard. The product hardness comes to 255-320 HB. NTMK had to make a pilot set of wheels for them to get assessed and accepted by an ad hoc committee

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 29, 2016. Three workers of Omsktransmash (a member enterprise of Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation) got the Russian Defense Ministry awards, the company press service reports. ‘Under the Minister’s decree, the company Deputy Director-General Georgiy Chevdar was awarded the For Strengthening of the Military Cooperation Medal, while head of the plant’s Assembly Department Oleg Zakharov and head of Metrological Department Gennady Okoneshnikov received the For Labor Valor Medals,’ the press service says. The former decoration is awarded for the awardee’s contribution to

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 28, 2016. SKB-Bank now offers business owners and managers a new service: they can now find a contractor to best suit their unique needs, the bank’s press service reports. The bank can now provide its customer with a database of Russian businesses operating in a certain sector. ‘Let’s say the customer is looking for a metal supplier in order to put up a building, or wants to save the time its employees would have to spend on finding the suitable companies and getting in touch with them. SKB-Bank can provide this information in no time at all,’ the press service says.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 28, 2016. EVRAZ Holding member West-Siberian Integrated Metallurgical Works (ZSMK) completed the overhaul of its blast furnace 1, EVRAZ Holding Siberia’s press office reports. ‘This will ensure better production performance and increase time between repairs. To make sure there are no emergencies, we had the hood partially replaced and the cooling system completely replaced, new modern pumps added and the fire-insulating adjustments renovated. We also had the loading units repaired and some of the upper-part equipment replaced,’ the press office says. The repairs also

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 28, 2016. Sinara Group, Russian Railways, China Railway and the Chinese company CRRC signed an agreement to set up a joint venture in Russia that would specialize in making high-speed trains (over 300 km/h), the Group’s press service reports. The agreement states that the four parties would consolidate their efforts in finding orders for at least a hundred high-speed trains. The goal is to create a localized production plant and to offer lifetime after-sale services in Russia as well. The Group is in charge of organizing production, while CRRC will be responsible for

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 28, 2016. EVRAZ Holding’s Nizhniy Tagil Integrated Metallurgical Works (NTMK) launched a modern gas-filtering system that has reduced the gas and dust emissions by four times, EVRAZ Holding Ural’s press service reports. The new system is fitted with 450 filtering hoses to prevent harmful atmospheric emissions. The system also comprises a filtering chamber, a special transporter to move the dust into an airtight bunker from which it can be re-used and recycled. The equipment has improved the crane operators’ and the steelmakers’ working conditions considerably. A

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 28, 2016. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation got its tank-type railcar 15-5183 certified by the Federal Railway Transport Register, the company press service reports. The tank is meant for transportation of liquefied ammonium and can be used on all the 1,520-mmm railways. The tank’s internal capacity has been increased to 3,200 mm/73.1 m3, which is much better than most of its counterparts currently used on the Russian market. The extra 11.5-m3 load option allows for an 18% reduction in the number of railcars a freight forwarder will need for the same amount of ammonium.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 27, 2016. Experts from Ural State Mining University carried out an independent audit of Tominsky Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise and stated it could be environmentally safe to go ahead with the construction, Russian Copper Company’s press service reports. The independent auditing procedure was commissioned by Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Boris Dubrovsky. Ural State Mining University was assigned to do the job. The experts were presented with over 600 volumes of project documentation, which it took them several months to look into. According to Deputy

UrBC, Moscow, June 27, 2016. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development expanded the range of services it offers through Light, an e-banking package for business customers, the bank’s press service reports. ‘Businesspeople using our e-banking options can now transfer, sell, or buy foreign currencies online as well as have all the transaction certificates and report forms issued remotely,’ the press service says. The bank invariably relies on customer feedback when working on new e-banking and m-banking services, so Light was given an entirely new interface last year to better suit the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 27, 2016. United Energy Systems Federal Grid Company/FGC UES got all the high-voltage equipment at its Sotnik 220-kilowatt substation in Khanty-Mansiysky Autonomous Region upgraded or renovated, the company press service reports. These changes ensures a much more reliable power supply for the O&G companies in the area and for the town of Urai. The substation runs six modern high-voltage, RIP-insulated units. The new machinery is more dependable, convenient to use, environmentally safe, and very fire-resistant. The company intends to get fifty-five such units

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 27, 2016. EVRAZ Holding’s Kachkanar Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise/EVRAZ KGOK spent over 245m RUR on job and industrial safety improvements, the company press service reports. For one, two grab cranes used for loading iron-ore concentrate were fitted with new cabins. These have an anti-vibration control system and a seat reclining lever. ‘Besides, the cabins are fitted with tripe glazing to ensure nearly 100% noise insulation, and a smart heating/ventilation system for optimal temperature settings. The viewing angles are now much better thanks to the three

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 27, 2016. Yurga Machine-Building Plant (a member enterprise of Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation) purchased a new low-frequency vibration treatment unit, the company press service reports. ‘One of the things the plant does is making metal structures that require sophisticated mechanical treatment. Some of these structures weigh over 10,000 kg, which results in high residual welding stress figures after the welding is done. Also, it is very expensive to use thermal treatment furnaces that are big enough for these. This is why it was decided to introduce this low-frequency