UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 26, 2017. Sverdlovsk Region Government officials will now be using MegaFon numbers for work: the telecommunications provider reports the company won a tender to this effect. ‘In the end of the e-auction, MegaFon proved the winning bidder that will be the only carrier to provide government officials with good quality mobile connection and high-speed Internet connection everywhere, including business trips. All the phone numbers themselves will remain the same as before, as, under the terms of the contract, the government’s 110 officials retained their numbers

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 26, 2017. Koltsovo Airport Customs report the number of passengers on international flights went down by nearly 30%, down to 1,060,000 people, the Customs’ Deputy Head Vladimir Zyabko announced at a press conference. ‘At the same time, passenger traffic rose by 50% during New Year break compared with early January 2016. The number of flights operated in the first week of January also increased by 12%,’ he said. Around 80% of all international flights operated in Ural Federal District get operated through Koltsovo Airport, with over twenty air carriers involved.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 25, 2017. Last year, EVRAZ Holding supplied some 5,000,000 kg of metal goods for the construction of sports facilities for the upcoming Student Olympics 2019, the company press service reports. EVRAZ Nizhniy Tagil Integrated Metallurgical Works’ H-beams and EVRAZ West-Siberian Metallurgical Plant’s rolled section steel were shipped to the construction site of Raduga Sports Center in Krasnoyarsk in December. The former produced four types of H-beams for the purpose: 30B, 35B, 50B, and 40K. These beams are made from low-alloyed steel and are particularly durable and

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 25, 2017. Sinara Group’s Sinara Transport Machines Board of Directors appointed former First Deputy Director-General Viktor Lesh the company’s Director-General, the Group’s press service reports. Viktor Lesh graduated from Ural State Technical University (now Ural Federal University) with a degree in Engineering. He worked in managerial positions at Nasostechmash, United Machine-Building Plants, and Neftegazovye Systemy in 1997-2007. Lesh was Director-General of Electrotyazhmash-Privod and Baranchinsky Electromechanical Plant in 2007-2016. He transferred to Sinara

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 25, 2017. Sverdlovsk Region’s industrial production market shrank by 1.9% in December 2016 compared with one year earlier, Sverdlovskstat reports. On the other hand, the companies’ output figures rose by 7% in 2016 compared with the year 2015. For one, the output of companies operating in the processing industry sector rose by 7.8%, that of fossil developers rose by 1%, and that of housing services and utilities providers rose by 9.5%.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 25, 2017. Last year, Sverdlovsk Region-based businesses’ turnover rose by 2.7% on average compared with the year 2015, Sverdlovskstat reports. Hotels’ turnover rose by 8.3%, that of agricultural businesses by 7.4%, that of companies in the processing industries by 4.6%, and that of housing services and utilities providers by 4%. At the same time, retail and whole-trade sellers’ turnover dropped by 0.3% and that of construction companies by 2.7%.

UrBC, Moscow, January 25, 2017. Russia’s alcohol consumption dropped by 1.5 times compared with the year 2009, Rospotrebnadzor’s press service reports. ‘It has been estimated that per capita strong drinks consumption comes to over 10 liters a year (15 liters in 2015). According to the World Health Organization, anything above 8 liters per capita a year is detrimental to a given country’s overall population health,’ the press service says. The state-run consumer rights watchdog Rospotrebnadzor feels the positive changes have been brought about by additional limits set on the times of the day

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 24, 2017. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s Omsktransmash was recently issued the Federal Service for Environmental, Technological, and Nuclear Oversight’s license allowing it to design and make equipment for nuclear units, radiation sources, nuclear materials and radioactive substances storage facilities, and radioactive waste storage sites. The company press service reports the new license opens new cooperation opportunities for the plant and the Russian nuclear enterprises. ‘In order to run a full nuclear equipment production cycle, the plant gave major upgrades

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 24, 2017. Over 21,600 people visited Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s open-air museum last year; some 15,000 went to take a look at the legendary tanks at the company’s Armored Vehicles Museum and 2,000 went on guided tours to learn about the plant’s history. According to the company press service, visitors come from both Nizhniy Tagil and other Russian cities such as Yekaterinburg, Tyumen, Omsk, and Moscow, as well as from other countries such as Argentina, Germany, Bulgaria, and other locations. Five major exhibitions ran at the museum last year. Talent

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 24, 2017. Some 10,500 workers from ChTPZ Group’s Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant and Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant went on continuous professional development programs last year; the Group allocated 27.5m RUR for the purpose, the company’s PR Department reports. 7,100 employees completed industrial and job safety courses and improved their qualifications both at the Group’s Training Center and in Russia’s leading vocational schools. For most students on the program, these were their new, second blue-collar qualifications, mainly those of a pipe-cutter, repair

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 24, 2017. Foster + Partners’ Partner Jeremy Kim and Associated Partner Martin Kehoe arrived in Yekaterinburg to check on the construction of Russian Copper Company’s new headquarters, the company press service reports. Russian Copper Company’s new HQ is Russia’s first building designed by Foster + Partners. Urals-based Premier Group is acting as the general contractor for the project. The three-tier underground parking lot and the first and the second floors (11m and 5m high, respectively) are by now ready, as is the facade module mockup. Foster + Partners

UrBC, Moscow, January 24, 2017. The telecommunications provider MegaFon’s shareholders approved of purchasing a controlling shareholding in mail.ru Group during an extraordinary general meeting on January 20, the company press service reports. There were 209,293,635 votes for and 10,765,598 votes against the deal, with 176,600 voters abstaining from voting. MegaFon intends to buy 63.8% of mail.ru Group’s voting shares (15.2% of the company’s authorized capital) from its controlling shareholder, Alisher Usmanov and partners’ USM Group. The transaction is estimated at $740m, with $640m to be

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 23, 2017. 567 companies with HQs in Sverdlovsk Region left the constituency and went elsewhere; twenty-one businesses were on government contracts, kartoteka.ru’s research findings indicate. The Mid-Urals are currently Russia’s No.7 in terms of business migration; Moscow (6,159 companies), Moscow Region (1,050), and Saint Petersburg (833) are the top three.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 23, 2017. Based on their cell phone use data, 54% of small and medium enterprises prefer to settle all the important issues in the afternoon, whereas 46% tend to do it in the morning, MegaFon’s press service reports. Now the Public Opinion Fund reports 37% of Russians describe themselves as ‘early birds’ and 45% as ‘owls’. Also, research has shown ‘owls’ are actually 18% more efficient at work than ‘early birds.’ MegaFon’s research findings indicate the number of outgoing calls made by business representatives in the Urals doubles after 2PM compared with the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 23, 2017. Russia’s leading pipe manufacturer and integrated solutions supplier for O&G companies Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant (ChTPZ) reports its 2012 syndicated loans (80bn RUR all in all) were recently redeemed ahead of schedule, the plant’s press service says. The loans got refinanced through funds obtained from Bank VTB, Gazprombank, and Sberbank in December 2016. The new loans were issued to the plant on better terms, which meant ChTPZ was able to ease its financial burden and come up with a more convenient principal debt payout schedule. The guarantee

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 23, 2017. The popular science show Notafact filmed one of its episodes on the premises of EVRAZ Holding’s Nizhniy Tagil Integrated Metallurgical Works (NTMK); the episode dwells on the Russian metallurgical industry’s history and development and on the life of Efim and Miron Cherepanov, engineers and inventors, EVRAZ Holding Ural’s press office reports. The show host, actor Andrei Burkovsky, went to NTMK production site to look at how pig iron is made at the blast furnace department and to ask workers some questions about their job. He also got acquainted with the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 23, 2017. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation is holding Innovative Idea Contest for the first time this year, the company press service reports. Eligible to compete are workers who come up with a proposal that is innovative in technical, technological, process, or organizational terms. The first prize amounts to 300,000 RUR. ‘The goal is to stimulate and support our employees’ innovative activity in order to get new, greatly improved products and production technologies; to improve working conditions and management system; to make the company more competitive on the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 20, 2017. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s head plant came up with a performance report for last year and looked at production goals for the year 2017, the company press service reports. Ural Vagon Zavod’s Executive Director Vladimir Roschupkin said ‘the team met all the goals for the year, with the best outcome possible in the given circumstances.’ ‘Despite the current economic hardships caused by the stagnating railcar market and rising metal goods prices (+3% to 33.5%), the plant managed to perform as well as in the record-setting year 2012. We made over 101bn

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 20, 2017. Chelyabinsk Forging Skills Center was set up at Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ), the plant’s press service reports. The new joint venture was founded by Ural Vagon Zavod’s Traktorozavodsky Techno Park and KONAR Industrial Group under the aegis of Governor of Chelyabinsk Region. ‘KONAR Group supplies the operating funds, while Traktorozavodsky provides production sites and facilities. The new JV comprises all the four buildings of ChTZ forging division, with all their equipment, and now employs all the workers who performed

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 20, 2017. A project on the construction of a new bus terminal in Botanichesky District got approved in the course of recent public hearings in Yekaterinburg; Obschestvo Malysheva 73 will act as the developer for the project. The traffic hub will be put up in Krestinsky St-Schwarz St-Belinsky St (19,9 hectares altogether). The construction is expected to begin as soon as next year. The project was approved by Yekaterinburg Council Urban Planning Committee last summer. According to the project designers, the terminal building will be a three-story one, with