UrBC, Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk Region, October 25, 2016. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) won in the annual Competitive Purchases Leader Contest, the key professional competition for Russian customers and supplies, as Leader of Purchasing Innovations. ‘The company’s logistics and supply schemes are fully automated and rely on an ORACLE-based corporate IT system. We started using ORACLE in 2004 and launched our own ORACLE-based trading platform in 2007. So far, the platform has been used for over 20,000 purchasing transactions involving supplies or services worth more than 80bn RUR

UrBC, Moscow, October 25, 2016. 51% of urban-living Russians consider themselves middle class, according to Sberbank CIB’s this year’s survey of respondents living in cities with population of 100,000 or more, Kommersant reports. The number dropped by about 7.4m in the last two years, as actually about 60% of those surveyed said they were middle class in September 2014; on the national scale, the decrease stands at 14m. ‘A Russian’s average ‘middle-class’ income came to 37,000 RUR a month in September 2016 against 31,000 RUR two years previously. These days, you can only feel ‘middle-class’

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 25, 2016. Sverdlovsk Region division of Rospotrebnadzor (the state consumer rights watchdog) inspected 834 tobacco-selling outlets in the nine months of this year and identified cases of non-compliance with the law in 306 instances (36.7% of all inspected outlets), the agency’s press service reports. Rospotrebnadzor officers inspected 5,853 cigarette packs and found 501 packs defective, which comes to 8.6% of the entire amount. Mostly, the problem was that the packs lacked the necessary accompanying documentation. Inspections targeted at checking businesses’

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 25, 2016. Yet another apartment building at 9 Pavel Shamanov St was recently commissioned in Yekaterinburg’s Akademichesky District, RSG-Akademicheskoye’s press service reports. The building is situated in the district’s first quarter along Pavel Shamanov St and consists of four 12- to 18-story sections and underground parking lots. There is a sports and a children’s playground in the yard and a kindergarten, a pedestrian area, and a workout spot next to the building. A children’s clinic, two schools, and a stadium are located across the street. ‘Because of its

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 25, 2016. SKB-Bank and SME Corporation signed an agreement to offer small and medium enterprises loans at a reduced interest rate, the bank’s press service reports. The bank representatives explain the agreement was signed during a round table discussion on the development of SMEs in the Urals; the discussion was coordinated by the Expert-Ural magazine and Expert Analytical Center. ‘The bank’s customers from among medium enterprises can now apply for funding at 9.6% a year, and those from among small enterprises can apply for a loan at a 10.6% annual interest

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 25, 2016. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s head plant celebrated its 80th anniversary at I.V. Okunev Palace of Culture in Nizhniy Tagil, the company press service reports. Plenipotentiary Representative of Russian Federation President in Ural Federal District Igor Kholmanskikh, acting Sverdlovsk Region Prime Minister Alexei Orlov, Chair of All-Russian Defense Industry Workers’ Union Andrei Chekmenev, and directors of the corporation’s member enterprises all came to take part in the celebrations. Igor Kholmanskikh, acting on behalf of the Russian Federation

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 24, 2016. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s member enterprises in Nizhniy Tagil, Rubtsovsk, Chelyabinsk, and Volchansk were issued quality management system, environmental management system, and safety and healthcare management system certificates, the company press service reports. The SovAsk certificates were issued by Monolit-Cert and are valid for the next three years. This audit was one of the steps taken to improve the corporation’s management system. ‘A unified management system covers all the inter-connect systems and subsystems, including strategic,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 24, 2016. Ural Airlines is taking the rescued tigress Lola from Yekaterinburg to Simferopol on its U6 2931 flight today; the animal was supposed to have been put to sleep due to illness but was cured by Chelyabinsk animal rights activists, the air carrier’s press service reports. ‘The airline provided a special plane with a heated and ventilated luggage section to ensure a safe and comfortable flight. It took us several days to get all things in order, as the consignor had to make a new cage that could fit into the luggage section,’ the press service says. This

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 24, 2016. Rosatom’s Ural Electrochemical Works (UEKhK) in Novouralsk won the local Taxpayer of the Year Contest, the company press service reports. The awarding ceremony took place during the reading of the budget message at Sverdlovsk Region Legislative Assembly; Governor Evgeny Kuivashev presented the awards and a thank-you letter to the company Director-General Alexander Beloussov. Beloussov said the award was an acknowledgement of the plant’s noticeable contribution to Sverdlovsk Region’s socioeconomic development and of UEKhK’s financial stability. The

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 24, 2016. Federal SME Development Corporation and SKB-Bank signed an agreement to work together on lending programs for small and medium enterprises, the bank’s press service reports. The bank’s customers from among medium enterprises can now apply for funding at the interest rate of 9.6% a year; those from among small enterprises can apply for loans at a 10.6% annual interest rate. Businesses can spend this funding on fixed assets, production upgrades, new projects, and daily performance needs as long as the company operates in important sectors of economy such

UrBC, Moscow, October 24, 2016. Russians’ incomes dropped by 6.1% in the third quarter of the year compared with one year earlier; this is the lowest drop in the July-September period since 1999, lenta.ru refers to Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration’s research findings as indicating. ‘Even in the crisis year of 2009, people’s factual disposal incomes shrank somewhat less than this year,’ the Academy analysts say. Incomes declined by 3.3% against the year 2008 then. It is believed the ongoing downfall has to do with the pensions’ diminishing buying

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 21, 2016. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s representatives are taking part in the 3d National WorldSkills Championship in Yekaterinburg EXPO on October 30-November 3, the company press service reports. Workers from the holding’s member enterprises are to compete in two categories: Welding and NC Milling; they will also be involved as experts. ‘Our team comprises prize-winners and contestants from WorldSkills championships of all levels, from company contests to All-Russian ones; these are our best production experts,’ the press service says. Ural Vagon Zavod will

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 21, 2016. Starting today, Ural Airlines mobile app users can also enjoy the benefits of Apple Pay, the air carrier’s press service reports. ‘Apple Pay is an easy, safe, and personalized way of payment that completely changes mobile payment standards with its speed and convenience,’ the press service says. Apple Watch and iPhone 6 (or later versions) owners who have Ural Airlines app installed on their devices can now pay for their shopping in just one tap. The airline plans to introduce this technology at other online resources in the future. ‘Apple Pay makes app

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 21, 2016. EVRAZ Holding’s Nizhniy Tagil Integrated Metallurgical Works (NTMK) shipped a large batch of small-diameter locomotive wheel bands to Bangladesh, EVRAZ Holding Ural’s press office reports. The bands will be fitted onto bands of narrow-gauge railroad locos. 1,875 wheel bands got delivered to customer altogether. ‘Their internal diameter comes to 603mm; the plant had to master making B3, a new steel variety, at its converter shop specially for this order. Besides, our technicians developed a new calibration method and a new normalization technology for

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 21, 2016. Rosset’s Federal Grid Company United Energy Systems is going to get 8,800 up-to-date insulators installed at high-voltage mains to ensure an emergency- and accident-free fall and winter in Perm Territory, the company press service reports. Additionally, an overhaul is now being given to 220-kilowatt Kachkanar-Cement electric main which connects Sverdlovsk Region’s and Perm Territory’s power supply networks. This is expected to produce a more reliable power supply to Kachkanar Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise and the cement-making plant

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 21, 2016. The number of Sverdlovsk Region-based people who have an official second place of employment came to 67,800 in the third quarter of the year, Sverdlovskstat reports. In the previous quarter, this number was 49,900 (36% less than in the following quarter). Also, 222,800 Sverdlovsk Region residents are currently on the lookout for a side job.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 20, 2016. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s Yurginsky Machine-Building Plant is about to ship its overloader to Uvalnaya Mine; the equipment was made by order of Siberian Coal Company. The company press service reports they are also getting ready to deliver a conveyor to the same customer. ‘Both equipment units are meant to be used at Uvalnaya Mine’s new long-face. The customer chose Yurginsky Plant’s machines, including the overloader and the conveyor, since these have already proven efficient at other mines,’ the press service says. The plant designers introduced a

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 20, 2016. Twenty-seven employees of ChTPZ Group’s Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (PNTZ), including fourteen alumni of the Group’s Future of White Metallurgy Corporate Training Program, enrolled at Pipe Technologies & Equipment Department at Ural Federal University and are now studying for their Bachelor’s degrees. The off-campus department was set up on the plant’s premises. According to the Group’s PR Department, it will take the new students three years and two months to get qualifications in Power Engineering, Metallurgy, and Technological Equipment. This year,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 20, 2016. The telecommunications provider MegaFon improved the connection quality at Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s head plant’s departments and offices, the company press service reports. ‘The head plant was founded eighty years ago this month. MegaFon technicians introduced additional equipment upgrades and network settings in Nizhniy Tagil in time for the celebrations. As the plant buildings date back to the thirties and the forties, their thick walls turned out to be an obstacle. However, the country’s leading railcar and tank manufacturer’s facilities now

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 20, 2016. Sverdlovsk Region’s foreign trade turnover dropped by 14.5% (down to $6.1bn) in January-September 2016 compared with one year previously, Ural Customs inform UrBC. Exports declined by 10.9%, down to $4.9bn (including a 6.3% decrease in exports to countries outside the CIS and a 53.4% decrease in exports to CIS member states). Imports dropped by 26.7%, down to $1.1bn (including a 26.6% drop in imports from the countries outside the CIS and a 30.1% drop in imports from the CIS member states). In volume terms, Sverdlovsk Region’s foreign trade turnover went