UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 22, 2018. A group of AvtoVAZ delegates, headed by the company president Yves Karakatzanis, paid a visit to Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK). The parties had a chance to talk over their current cooperation projects and potential manufacture of new steels for the car-making industry, MMK press service reports. This is the first time Yves Karakatzanis, who got appointed head of Russia’s largest carmaker in early June, has visited the plant. AvtoVAZ is one of MMK’s key partners, with more than 293,000,000 kg of metal goods supplied to the former in 2017 (overall

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 22, 2018. Ural Airlines won the Loyalty Awards Russia 2018 Prize for its efficient use of CRM within customer loyalty programs. ‘Integrating CRM with the airline’s Wings Club Loyalty Scheme signifies yet another stage in the program’s simplification and improvement. CRM allows for faster processing of a customer’s order structure and entire flight information online through emails, texts, and messenger services,’ the airline’s press service reports. Ural Airlines’ Wings Club offers its members bonus points that can be used to partially or fully cover the cost of any

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 22, 2018. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) paid its customers more than RUR 87.8m in cash back options in the first five months of 2018, which exceeds the figures for one year earlier by 46%, the bank’s press service reports. A UBRD customer got some RUR 600 back a month on average throughout January-May, which was 23% more than one year previously. The largest one-off repayment amounted to RUR 73,000; the bonus stemmed from paying for some construction stuffs. According to the bank’s data, their cardholders mostly use their cards to pay at

UrBC, Moscow, June 22, 2018. Russia’s Finance Ministry suggests bringing the duty-free limit on online shopping at international stores down to €100, TASS refers to the ministry’s Tax & Customs Policy Director Alexei Sazanov as saying. ‘We are looking into different schemes, the most likely scenario being a €500 limit starting July 1 and a €200 limit starting either January 1, 2019 or July 1, 2019. A €100 limit per parcel is also a possibility,’ the official said. According to Sazanov, a duty will get imposed on goods worth over €500 on July 1, 2018; starting from January 1, 2019, the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 22, 2018. EVRAZ Holding’s Nizhniy Tagil Integrated Metallurgical Works (NTMK) is about to launch its fifth full-cycle railway wheel treatment line. All the appliances have been assembled, with four new automated mills set up in the wheel department. The holding has invested RUR 800m into the project, the company press service reports. ‘Our workers are now busy assembling the equipment meant for robotized transportation, loading, and unloading of wheel ingots, the metal chip crushing/cleaning units, and the coolant treatment station. They are also working on cables