‘We were last updated on the discontinuation of some goods by Mattel Inc., the American toy maker, about a couple of weeks ago. We removed the indicated products from our shelves immediately. I believe we’ll send these toys back to the producer at the end of September,’ Wonderland’s Volume Sales Manager Irina Tumanova said. ‘These negative reports have already led to Rostechnadzor (the state environmental, technological, and nuclear safety watchdog) inspecting all of our retail outlets. However, despite the recent events, our chain intends to keep doing business with Mattel Inc.,’ she added.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by UralTransBank to state-owned for-profit organizations for 1 to 3 years went down by 41.2% (from 912,000 RUR to 536,000 RUR) in January-August 2007.

‘Consumers tend to have less confidence in the new and unknown brands that have just broken into the market than in the well-known and reputed ones,’ Terranova’s CEO Vladimir Chebakov said to UrBC. He feels AVS Group will therefore have to endure considerable expenses and charge extra if the holding wants to turn its new chain store into a full-fledged market player. ‘I think a project like this can pay off in the course of six months, but this requires great extra charges and impressive turnover rates,’ Mr. Chebakov added. In the meantime, AVS Group, the financial and industrial holding,

The value of net assets of Energy – Mixed Investments (the unit investment trust) managed by Eurogreen Management Company Ltd. went down by 1.9% between August 3, 2007 and September 3, 2007. According to Eurogreen’s website, the company’s net assets decreased from 5,011,581.47 RUR on August 3, 2007 to 4,913,050.11 RUR on September 3, 2007.

According to the federal statistical agencies, Sverdlovsk Region’s industrial production index came to 108% in the first half of 2007; the figures for the entire country amount to 107.7%. Kaliningrad and Sakhalin Regions appear to have achieved the highest industrial production indices (namely, over 150%). At the same time, thirteen Russian Federation subjects experienced a certain rundown, with the coefficient of variation in this respect coming to 18.3%.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Sverdlovsk Gubernskiy Bank to state-owned for-profit organizations for 1 to 3 years went down by 29.16% (from 4.999 million RUR to 3.541 million RUR) in January-August 2007.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by SberInvestBank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for up to 30 days went down by 100% (from 30 million RUR to zero) in January-August 2007.

Ural Airlines’ Planning and Economic Department reports the carrier operated some 4,000 flights between June 1, 2007 and August 31, 2007, including 1,000 international flights, nearly 2,500 domestic flights, and 240 flights within the CIS. The company was able to fly 466,000 passengers. 140,000, 160,000, and more than 170,000 dwellers of Yekaterinburg used the airline in June 2007, July 2007, and August 2007, respectively, Ural Airlines’ press officer reports. The number of flights performed each month reached more than 1,200. Over 195,000 people arrived in Yekaterinburg from various health

The fourth Ural exhibition/fair featuring automobiles, railway and some special vehicles as well as road-building equipment (known as Mainline 2007) is to take place at Staratel range in the vicinity of Nizhniy Tagil on September 6, 2007. Some 256 enterprises from twenty-two Russian regions, the CIS, France, and Italy are expected to take part in the exhibition. The agenda of the fair includes making presentations on all the major types of Russian railway, motor, and air transport.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Tagilbank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for 31 to 90 days went down by 45.6% (from 26.25 million RUR to 14.28 million RUR) in January-August 2007.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Uralprivatbank to natural persons for 181 day to 1 year went down by 61.78% (from 35.041 million RUR to 13.391 million RUR) in January-August 2007.

According to Rosstat (the state statistical agency), the volume of natural persons’ deposits in Russian banks has already exceeded 4.3 billion RUR. The figure went up by 39.1% between July 1, 2006 and July 1, 2007. SKB-Bank’s Deposit Transactions Director Denis Belogurov says this impressive increase in the popularity of natural persons’ deposits largely has to do with two decisive factors: ‘Firstly, people’s incomes are growing, which means Russian citizens have more available cash that they need to invest somehow. Secondly, the banks’ potential customers are now much more aware of various

Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Petr Sumin will award gifted children and their tutors with fellowships on September 7, 2007. Since 1993, the Governor has been holding annual receptions for one hundred gifted children and their tutors from all the spots in the region. This time, the government house is to host winners of regional, All-Russian, and international academic contests and arts and sports competitions as well as their tutors and coaches. Last year the fellowship was raised from 3,000 RUR to 7,000 RUR for children and from 6,000 RUR to 20,000 RUR for their tutors, the spokesperson for

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Uralfinance Commercial Bank to natural persons for 91 to 180 days went down by 51.62% (from 10.37 million RUR to 5.17 million RUR) in January-August 2007.

‘The recent international liquidity crisis resulted in a major revaluation of the way things work in the international financial system. The crisis was largely brought about by problems some U.S. citizens kept experiencing with making their mortgage payments. Because many of them started making fewer (if any) payments, the bonds that were normally backed up by these mortgages were suddenly devaluated,’ SKB-Bank’s Trading Operations Director Evgeniy Batuyev said to UrBC. ‘As a matter of fact, the problem seems to be of local nature only and is therefore not supposed to affect other national

The value of net assets of Energy – Mixed Investments (the unit investment trust) managed by Eurogreen Management Company Ltd. went down by 6% between July 31, 2007 and August 31, 2007. According to Eurogreen’s website, the company’s net assets decreased from 5,209,096.02 RUR on July 31, 2007 to 4,895,007.9 RUR on August 31, 2007.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by UralTransBank to state-owned for-profit organizations for 181 days to 1 year went down by 42.07% (from 3.15 million RUR to 1.825 million RUR) in January-August 2007.

Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (part of ChTPZ Group) started the environmental monitoring project in Pervouralsk. The company’s press officer reports this local environmental monitoring is part of the company’s conservation program developed by both the plant’s experts and independent consultants such as the British Atkins. The project is targeted at evaluating the impact the plant and the future electric furnace steelmaking facility are going to make on the local environment and will take about two years to get accomplished. This monitoring is believed to provide reliable data on the state of

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by AGROPROMBANK Credit to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for up to 30 days went down by 20% (from 12.5 million RUR to 10 million RUR) in January-August 2007.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of call loans given by Tyumenenergobank to for-profit SROs went down by 56.16% (from 4.03 million RUR to 1.767 million RUR) in January-August 2007.