UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 31, 2019. Ural Airlines will operate three special Christmas flights from Yekaterinburg to Barcelona on December 28, 2019, January 4, 2020, and January 11, 2020, the air carrier’s press service reports. The press service says both Economy and Business class tickets are currently available. Prices start from RUB 18,608/€260 (one way) and from RUB 31,603/€442 (there and back). ‘Winter is one of the best seasons to visit Barcelona. Gaudí’s enigmatic, fanciful works turn into spectacular objets d’art enveloped in hundreds of Christmas lights. You can go skating in the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 31, 2019. EVRAZ Holding’s West-Siberian Integrated Metallurgical Plant (EVRAZ ZSMK) reduced its pollution discharge in the Konobenikha River by 900,000 m2 in 2019 compared with one year earlier thanks to the plant’s water conservation program for 2017-2022. The plant’s PR Department reports one step they took was reduce sweet water spending at the rail and beam department’s pumping station. The station used to replace the warm manufacturing water from the rolling mills with cold water from the river. This is no longer necessary: following an assessment of the

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, October 31, 2019. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) Group’s MMK-UGOL was among the winners of 1C: Project of The Year Contest, MMK’s Information & PR Department reports. The company won as the Best Project in the Mining Industry category. The contest’s organizing committee spoke very highly of MMK-UGOL’s project on improvements in the system for planning and keeping track of a company’s production and financial performance indicators based on 1C: ERP Mining Industry and 1C: CORP Document Management. The company decided to introduce the 1C: ERP Mining Industry

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, October 31, 2019. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) keeps working to modernize its blast furnace facilities, MMK’s leading expert at the Blast Furnace Department’s Tech Group Vitaly Beginyuk said at the Best Available Blast Furnace Production Techniques Conference in Magnitogorsk. According to Beginyuk, MMK has reconstructed the casting beds of four blast furnaces in the last few years, which reduced the amount of harmful emissions in Magnitogorsk air considerably. ‘We started upgrading the casting beds of MMK’s blast furnaces in 2013; the first blast furnace to

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 31, 2019. Expert-Ural Analytical Center carried a rating of the Urals and Western Siberia’s 400 largest companies in 2018; OOO FORES came 160th in the rating, the company’s press service reports. ‘The rating is based on the businesses’ official statistical data on last year’s sales. According to these data, OOO FORES, with its RUB 13.7bn worth of industrial produce sales, was a little behind UralAsbest (RUB 13.9bn worth of sales, No. 159 in the rating) and ahead of Ural Pipe Plant (RUB 13bn worth of sales, No. 161 in the rating). At the same time, FORES’s net

UrBC, Moscow, October 30, 2019. According to Forbes magazine, Brusnika is among Russia’s top five most reliable housing developers. ‘The company was set up in Tyumen in 2004; in 2015, the HQ moved to Yekaterinburg. Brusnika operates in Tyumen, Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Surgut, and Moscow Region. The company’s Director-General Alexei Krukovsky is believed to be the business’s primary owner,’ Forbes says. The magazine’s rating of the most reliable housing developers is based on the United Developers’ Register’s list of the 100 leading developers with the largest amount of housing commissioned

UrBC, Moscow, October 30, 2019. Kortros Group came 13th in the Forbes magazine’s rating of Russia’s most reliable developers. The company’s sales revenues amounted to RUB 53.3bn in 2016-2018, with 684,400 m2 of new housing getting commissioned over the same period. ‘The company was set up by Viktor Vekselberg’s Renova Holding in 2005 and was known as Renova StroyGroup through 2013. Within the last fourteen years, the developer has commissioned over 2.5m m2 of new housing in eight different Russian federal constituencies. The company runs some 20+ projects, including Yekaterinburg’s District

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 30, 2019. ChelPipe Group supplied 170,000 kg of weld-less, hot-deformed pipes (diameter: 57 mm to 325 mm; wall thickness: 4 mm to 8 mm) to Titan Group of companies. Titan Group is based in Russia and deals in petrochemicals. According to ChelPipe Group’s press service, the pipes that have been manufactured at Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling Plant (ChelPipe) and Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (PNTZ) will be used for the reconstruction of the iso-propyl benzene production facility at Omsk Caoutchouc (Titan Group’s key enterprise). The new equipment will make the iso-propyl

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 30, 2019. The fourth and final round of OOO FORES’s autocross competition took place in Sukhoi Log this week, the company’s press service reports. The race participants (including several employees of FORES’s Sukhoi Log branch and contestants from Sverdlovsk Region, Kurgan Region, Perm Territory, and Moscow Region) drove UAZ, GAZ, and ZIL trucks. ‘Only seven UAZ drivers out of the thirteen that joined in the race actually made it to the finish line due to unexpected breakdowns. The only racer who managed to fix his vehicle and go on with the race was Alexander

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 30, 2019. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) came up with a new service that helps you complete the process of applying for a credit card online in just a few minutes and saves you time, the bank’s press service reports. According to the bank, all of the UBRD’s new and existing customers can sign in to the bank’s website menu using their Gosuslugi account. Once you have been authenticated, all the data (your name, passport number, and residence address) will get entered into the CC application automatically. You only have to check all the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 29, 2019. The average asking price on Yekaterinburg’s existing home market reached RUB 72,509 per m2 as of of October 21. This is 0.4% lower than one month previously, Ural Real Estate Chamber’s Analytical Department’s report states. Homes in Yekaterinburg’s second and fourth priciest locations grew 0.1% less expensive in the last four weeks; homes in the third priciest locations grew 0.4% less expensive. Apartments in centrally located buildings grew 0.3% more expensive, and those in the fifth priciest locations grew 0.5% more expensive. The price of studio

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, October 29, 2019. A group of delegates from Orenburg Region Trade Union Federation paid a visit to Magnitogorsk, Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) Information & PR Department reports. ‘The visit was primarily seen as an experience-sharing opportunity. Visitors to the plant learned about MMK trade union’s operation principles and gave talks on how they coordinate trade union member interaction. The delegates took a special interest in the information management mechanisms, organizational structure, and everything that makes a trade union efficient,’ the company

UrBC, Moscow, October 29, 2019. MegaFon is going to introduce a custom-designed flat rate package for the Wild Animals Rehabilitation Center based on the specifics of migratory birds’ seasonal travel, the telecom company’s press service says. The decision was made after a female eagle named Min unexpectedly ended up in Iran and started sending out text messages about its location (costly because of the international roaming fees) back to the Center. Now Russian ornithologists normally fit their eagles and falcons with trackers that can send a bird’s location information back to the center:

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 29, 2019. Ural Airlines will be operating flights on a winter schedule through March 28, 2019, the air carrier’s press service reports. New London flights are the upcoming season’s most special feature. The flights will get operated from Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport four times a week starting December 20. Thanks to a range of connecting flights to choose from, passengers traveling from other parts of Russia and cities in the CIS member states can get to London as well. The airline is also launching Zhukovsky-Amsterdam flights starting October 30. New

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 29, 2019. Over a hundred employees of EVRAZ Holding are going to compete in the blue-collar job championship WorldSkills Hi Tech at Yekaterinburg Expo on October 28-November 1, 2019, EVRAZ Holding Ural’s Corporate Communications Center reports. ‘This year, EVRAZ team will compete in twelve different categories: Mechatronics, Welding Technologies, Wiring, Industrial Automation, Lab Chemical Analysis, Sheet Metal Treatment, Nondestructive Testing, Engineering Design, Reverse Engineering, Mobile Robotics, CAD Engineering Design, and Job Safety. EVRAZ Ural+Siberia

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 28, 2019. Mayor of Yekaterinburg Alexander Vysokinsky joined the local coordination committee for the 32d World Summer Universiade 2023; the executive order to this effect was signed by Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Evgeny Kuivashev. According to Yekaterinburg Council’s website, Governor Kuivashev is the committee's, Chair, with Vice Governor Alexei Orlov, Mayor of Yekaterinburg Alexander Vysokinsky, and Rector of Ural Federal University Viktor Koksharov acting as Vice Chairs. The committee also comprises heads of Sverdlovsk Region’s government bodies, mayors

UrBC, Moscow, October 28, 2019. The Central Bank of Russia’s Board of Directors cut the key rate by 50 bp down to 6.5% p.a., the bank’s website states. ‘Inflation slowdown is overshooting the forecast. Inflation expectations continue to decrease. The Russian economy’s growth rate still remains subdued. Risks of a substantial global economic slowdown persist. Disinflationary risks exceed pro-inflationary risks over the short-term horizon. In these circumstances, the Bank of Russia has lowered its annual inflation forecast for 2019 from 4.0-4.5% to 3.2-3.7%. Given the monetary policy stance,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 28, 2019. Russia’s Construction Minister Vladimir Yakushev is going to take part in the UN-Habitat World Cities Day celebrations in Yekaterinburg. Yakushev will give a talk on comprehensive urban development and new quality of urban life, the town council’s website states. Plenipotentiary Representative of Russian Federation President in Ural Federal District Nikolai Tsukanov, China’s Deputy Minister for Housing and Urban-Rural Development, Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Evgeny Kuivashev, and Mayor of Yekaterinburg Alexander Vysokinsky will also attend the event.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 28, 2019. The price of motor fuel went up on Sverdlovsk Region’s market on October 14-20, 2019 against one week earlier. According to Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service’s Sverdlovsk Region division, the price of AI 92 (3) rose by RUB 0.1 (from RUB 41.94 to RUB 42.04 per liter), while the price of AI 95 rose by RUB 0.12 (from RUB 44.81 to RUB 44.93). The price of diesel fuel increased by RUB 0.7 (from RUB 45.96 to RUB 46.43 per liter). The price of liquefied natural gas went down by RUB 0.05 (from RUB 19.29 to RUB 19.24 per liter).

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 28, 2019. ChelPipe Group’s employees, students on the Group’s Future of White-Coated Metallurgy Corporate Training Program, and schoolchildren from the Training Center’s tech clubs will all take part in the 6th nationwide WorldSkills Hi Tech blue-collar job championship. According to ChelPipe Group’s press service, the company team comprises 23 contestants and 19 experts; the former will compete in thirteen different categories in both the primary section and the Future Skills section. For the first time this year, the championship participants will compete in