UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 16, 2019. Experts from Rosatom’s R&D division and Ural Federal University (UFU) met in Yekaterinburg on July 12 to look into a clean energy technology proposal presented by Roman Yagovitin, who is now in his fourth year at UFU, Rosatom’s press service reports. Yagovitin suggested a technology for producing complex oxides for nuclear fuel cells that will result in environmentally safe energy and eliminate the need for hydrocarbons as a fuel source. ‘The idea is to develop new, active materials that get used to make stoneware. The stoneware, in its turn, is the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 16, 2019. Starting July 12, all of the Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development’s customers will be able to apply for a credit card with the longest grace period currently available in Russia (up to 240 days), the bank’s press service reports. According to the UBRD Marketing Director Alexei Merzlyakov, this is the first time a Russian bank has introduced such a long interest-free period on credit cards. ‘Two years ago, we proved the country’s first bank to introduce a 120-day grace period. The market is changing fast however, with something new happening every

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 16, 2019. The average retail price of potatoes rose by 41.2% between early June and early July 2019, Sverdlovsk Region Agriculture Ministry’s report indicates. According to Sverdlovskstat, potato prices averaged at RUB 26.97 per kg on June 3, 2019 and at RUB 38.09 per kg by July 1, 2019. The day potatoes could be bought the cheapest was April 29, 2019 (RUB 20.48 per kg on average). ‘The price dynamics of field vegetables gets affected by seasonal factors more than ever during the year, as farmers are switching from selling their harvested potatoes directly from the

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, July 16, 2019. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) introduced sixteen different robotic software applications at the plant that can all perform the functions of actual employees. By the end of the year, the robotic process automation (RPA) will cover thirty-two production processes all in all, the company’s press service reports. Head of MMK InformService Project Office Valeriy Rybolovlev gave a talk on the results of the plant’s RPA efforts at the Digital Transformation in Metallurgy Conference during Innoprom 2019 Exhibition in Yekaterinburg. It is reported that

UrBC, Moscow, July 16, 2019. 611,800 new foreign cars (including LCVs) got sold in Russia in the first half of 2019, which was 4% less than in January-June 2018, Autostat reports. This means the share of new foreign cars now comes to 73.8% of the Russian market, compared with 74.7% one year earlier (January-June 2018). It is also reported that, as far as the ten best-selling foreign makes are concerned, the sales of Ford and Nissan dropped substantially (-18% and -15%, respectively).