‘Auchan supermarkets with area of 10,000 to 15,000 square meters will be set up in seven districts of Yekaterinburg,’ says Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel. ‘The region has already agreed with the company’s management on this number of stores, with more supermarkets to be introduced in other large towns such as Serov, Krasnoturinsk, and Nizhniy Tagil,’ the Governor observed.

On March 29, 2007 Federal Antimonopoly Service in the Republic of Udmurtia decided, upon considering two reports on administrative violations by Euroset Nizhniy Novgorod Ltd., to impose on the company two fines worth 500,000 RUR each for inappropriate outdoor advertising in the city of Izhevsk. Euroset apparently used billboards with some obscene slogans, which backfired immediately: the city council and one local citizen placed their complaints with the Federal Antimonopoly Service. Euroset’s advertising campaign was seen by the Service as a grave violation of the Russian Federation

Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel announced at a press conference that he had accepted the resignation of the region’s Minister for Natural Resources Alexander Yastrebkov ‘Russian law prevents anyone over 65 from keeping this position, and this is the main reason why Mr. Yastrebkov has had to resign. I have, however, made a nice proposal regarding preparations for the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organization summit that might interest him,’ the Governor said.

Chairman of Russian Trade Union of Railway and Transport Workers Nikolai Nikiforov came on a two-day visit to Sverdlovsk Region Railways on March 30, 2007. According to the company’s press officer, Mr. Nikiforov is to meet a number of workers and members of the trade union as well as examine the premises of the company’s various departments, security service, and socially important facilities. Mr. Nikiforov is also expected to take part in the workers’ conference held in the headquarters of Sverdlovsk Region Railways in Yekaterinburg. The agenda of the conference includes new paying schemes,

The investigation conducted by Yekaterinburg division of Rospotrebnadzor (the state consumer rights watchdog) revealed some grave sanitary violations in the way the food was made and served in the school canteens. The most common violations include not storing the foods properly, offering food that is no longer fresh (31%), negligent cleaning of dishes and utensils (29%), and deviations from the two-week menu and assortment of foods recommended by Rospotrebnadzor. Lab tests showed that 1.8% of dishes were not safe enough to eat. Rospotrebnadzor imposed 81 fines worth 47,700 RUR on the schools

According to the Central Bank of Russia, the volume of loans given by GRAN Commercial Bank to profit-making NGOs despite overdraft went down 25.7% (from 168,081,000 RUR to 124,927,000 RUR) in May-December 2006.

MegaFon now offers GPRS roaming through Vodafone Albania Sh.A., which makes it Russia’s first mobile operator to offer its clients GPRS services all over Europe. MegaFon supports GPRS roaming through 145 operators based in 88 countries and providing communication services to 94 countries.

Metallurgical Plant of Nizhnyaya Salda (part of Metallurgical Industrial Complex of Nizhniy Tagil and of Evraz Group) is restoring the city’s only ski stadium. The stadium has remained unused for six years, despite being located next to a city block and a number of educational establishments. A lot of city dwellers, including 1,500 schoolchildren, sport-practicing adolescents, and vocational school students, used to visit the stadium regularly, so the Veteran Council of Metallurgical Plant of Nizhnyaya Salda and the company’s employees decided to restore the site in January 2007, reports the

The Russian Federation Government prohibited selling audio CDs, sound tracks, databases, or software in the open air – that is, from street stalls or tents through changes in the Goods Selling Regulations adopted on March 30, 2007, reports the Government’s press officer. Moreover, sellers must now provide their customers not only with data as to the producer’s name and address, license number, and the product’s technical characteristics, but also with information on the copyright holder and the software registration number (in case the CD contains computer programs) if this software has been

MegaFon Ural, the mobile operator, introduced new bonus schemes on April 1, 2007. The company’s customers can now get sets of 30, 60, 120, and 250 minutes of local conversations and a set of 30 multimedia messages free of charge for 50, 95,180, 340, and 45 points, respectively (The number of points you score depends on how much you actually talk). The earlier bonuses (free local conversations for a day, for a weekend, and for a month) will no longer be available beginning from May 1, 2007. Both the new and the old schemes will be valid throughout the month of April. The advantage of the new

‘Sverdlovsk Region has been trying to contribute to making Yekaterinburg a better place. We have already allotted 1 billion RUR for building road junctions this year, with another billion to be invested in 2008,’ says Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel. ‘The city is going to get environmental police responsible for a number of issues, including the state of the roads. The police will comprise 500 officers who will monitor the performance of local housing and maintenance companies. In case their cleanup efforts have little or no efficiency, these companies will be fined,’ the Governor

SKB-Bank has recently signed a number of payment transfer agreements with local companies and organizations. One can now make payments to Sverdlovsk Region Information and Tourism Center, GlavTour Ltd., Co-owners of 63 Furmanov St., Co-owners of 3/1 Rodonitovaya St., Co-owners of 62 Krasnoarmeyskaya St., Co-owners of 51 Slavyanskaya St., and Co-owners of 18 Mendeleyev St., as well as to most local colleges, mobile and landline operators, reports the bank’s press officer. One can also pay one’s housing bills, realtor’s and insurance fees, and rent. The service is available at any of SKB-bank’s

‘The Russian Federation law states that if dishonest builders fail to use their land allotments within three years, these allotments must be withdrawn; we intend to stick to the letter of the law,’ Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel announced at a press conference. ‘The thing is, when no building is put up on the land, people who invested in the future apartments are obviously suffering, which has inevitable social implications. So, in case a land allotment is obviously misused, the builder will have to part with it,’ Mr. Rossel explained. The Governor said earlier that the