Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Uralfinprombank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for 31 to 90 days went down by 63.06% (from 92.8 million RUR to 34.275 million RUR) in January-February 2008.

Olips, one of Yekaterinburg’s developers, has recently commissioned the first apartment block from Sozvezdiye complex in Belinskiy St.-Fuchik St.-Vosmoye Marta St. This eighteen-storey building with the total area of 9,842 square meters (94 apartments and 15 built-in compartments on the first, second, and third floors) is part of the total 80,000-suare-meter complex. All the apartments in the block have already been sold out; the company’s CFO Evgeniy Melnikov says this impressive demand can be explained by the nice location, developed infrastructure and proximity of a kindergarten, a school,

'METCOMBANK has always relied heavily on private investors’ money; our natural person deposit portfolio reached 4.9 billion RUR in 2007, which is 54.8% better than a year earlier. I thin this increase signifies people’s growing trust: after all, we’ve been inspected for compliance with the state deposit insurance system successfully,’ the bank’s Chairman Rustam Mamatov says. 'Besides, we’ve built up on our capital as well through a 1.5-billion-ruble additional share issue, which means we can now offer more loans,’ he notes. 'The global liquidity crisis that made it more

Ural Customs Administration handled $517.6m worth of imported goods in January 2008, with 55.5% of goods coming from the far abroad and 44.5% of goods coming from the CIS. In terms of weight, the total import volume came to 3.6 million tons, with 2.8% coming from the far abroad (100,800 tons) and 97.2% coming from the CIS (3.5 million tons). This is 65.7% and 20.4% better than in January 2007, respectively. Most goods arrived from Kazakhstan (37.1%), China (17.3%), Germany (9.7%), Ukraine (5.5%), Italy (5.3%), and the U.S. (3.3%), the spokesperson for Ural Customs Administration reports.

Ural Airlines looked into the results of its activity in February 2008. Last month, the carrier’s airplanes operated 714 flights, which is 19% better than in February 2007. The increase was most noticeable with the international flights, as their number rose by 45% compared to a year earlier and reached 126 flights all in all, the airline’s press officer reports. Apart from that, the number of domestic flights and flights bound for the CIS members grew as well: last months, Ural Airlines’ planes operated 532 domestic flights and 56 flights bound for the CIS members, which exceeds the figures

Rosgosstrakh, the insurance company, admitted that they never compensated a car crash victim. 'The law says that a car accident victim who wants to be compensated must personally provide the insurer with a number of papers from the local militia. These papers are necessary so that the company can decide the extent to which the victim might be guilty, which is essential in awarding damages. In case some harm was done to the victim’s health, he or she must supply an additional set of documents from a doctor and one’s employer. These rules apply to all the Russian insurers, and, given all

RusRating confirmed forty-three Russian banks’ credit ratings using the data available as of March 1, 2008. SKB-Bank’s credit rating was confirmed at BB-, which is better than the rating of many large Moscow-based banks. SKB-Bank’s rating was originally confirmed by the agency at B+ in August 2006 and was promoted to BB- in July 2007. The agency’s analysts say SKB Bank’s rating is based on the fact that SKB-Bank is a medium-sized provincial bank (one of the largest in Sverdlovsk Region, though) that has been cooperating intensely with the region’s authorities for a long time. In addition, it

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by UralTransBank to state-run for-profit organizations despite overdraft dropped by 100% (from 5.967 million RUR to zero) in January-February 2008.

Yekaterinburg customs kept trying to detect cases of trademark abuse as well as prevent it in January-February 2008. As a result, two instances of transferring pirated goods across the state border were revealed, the spokesperson for Ural Customs Administration says. The goods in question (20,000 pieces of toys and sports gear) had Pepsi and Walt Disney logos and trademarks on them, with the total cost of the products coming to over $15,000. The trademark owner has already confirmed the fact that the logos were used illegally, which means the offenders will have to face administrative

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Bank24.ru to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for up to 30 days plummeted by 100% (from 30 million RUR to zero) in January-February 2008.

URSA Bank signed a thirty-six-million-dollar agreement with BSTDB of Greece for a term of seven years, as URSA Bank needed a loan to finance its mortgage lending operations. 'The financial sector is one of BSTDB's top priorities, and the bank is interested in promoting a competitive private segment on the Russian market. Our partner is one of Russia’s leading provincial banks, and the deal we’ve made will make it possible for URSA Bank to meet the Russian citizens’ growing needs for mortgages,’ says BSTDB's Vice President Andrei Kondakov. 'This transaction is part of our

The experts from Yekaterinburg Department of Sverdlovsk Region division of Rospotrebnadzor (the state consumer rights watchdog) inspected fourteen cosmetics manufacturers and sellers based in the central districts of Yekaterinburg last year, the Department’s press officer reports. It was revealed that a number of companies sold bottles of Taft hairspray (produced by Krasnaya Liniya based in Odintsovo, Moscow Region), Drakosha pineapple-scented kids’ shampoo and Lesnoy Balsam toothpaste/Fitovital TM (all produced by Yekaterinburg-based Concern Kalina), President whitening toothpaste (made in

'This year, the global liquidity crisis will keep affecting the banking community. Banks will focus on getting resources from both businesses and private individuals, as getting them on the international markets grew much more complicated. Therefore some increase in the interest rates might be expected,’ METCOMBANK’s Chairman Rustam Mamatov said to UrBC. 'At the same time, banks will grow stricter in terms of offering loans; the mortgage lending market will probably get rid of some minor players incapable of large-scale financing, while financial organizations without any resource

The analysts of the Delovoy Kvartal magazine’s Top Lists Book declared SKB-Bank Yekaterinburg’s Number One. Based on the results of Top List Book 2007/2008, SKB-Bank was awarded the banking market leader’s diploma, as it was Yekaterinburg’s most successful bank in terms of - volume of loans given to private individuals in the first half of 2007; - volume of loans given to legal entities in the first half of 2007; - volume of legal entities’ deposits; - the total number of subsidiaries and offices within Russia; - the total number of ATMs. The analysts report that, unlike the usual ratings

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Universal Bank to sole traders for 91 to 180 days dropped by 100% (from 3 million RUR to zero) in January-February 2008.

According to the spokesperson for Ural Customs Administration, the customs officers of Yekaterinburg-based Koltsovo airport detected a passenger on a Yekaterinburg-Frankfurt flight who never declared ?8,550 of cash he had on him, which is a violation of the current legislation as well as much more than the official limit of 250,000 RUR one is allowed to transfer. The currency was confiscated, and the offender, who happens to be a Russian citizen, will now have to face a criminal suit. All in all, there have been three attempts to smuggle foreign currency across the state border in Koltsovo

The value of net assets of Energy – Mixed Investments (the unit investment trust) managed by Eurogreen Management Company Ltd. went down by 1.07% between February 27, 2008 and February 28, 2008. According to Eurogreen’s website, the company’s net assets decreased from 3,013,037.22 RUR on February 27, 2008 to 2,980,340.59 RUR on February 28, 2008.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Sverdlovsk Gubernskiy Bank to state-run for-profit organizations for 1 to 3 years went down by 14.24% (from 2.5 million RUR to 2.915 million RUR) in January-February 2008.

Sverdlovsk Region Court of Arbitration considered case А60-1107/08 (Koltsovo airport vs. Aviaprad) on March 3, 2008. The airport laid a claim against the carrier, demanding that Aviaprad pay them back 517 million RUR. The airport’s claim was fully sustained, so according to the court’s ruling, Aviaprad now must pay Koltsovo airport 517,879,895.1 RUR. 'All the papers related to the court’s decision will be ready in five days’ time, whereupon the deadline for paying back the debt will be determined for Aviaprad,’ the spokesperson for the court Yulia Kolyasnikova said to UrBC. All in all,

According to the National Managers’ League’s profitability ranking of unit investment trusts as of February 28, 2008, the share price of Ostankino-Rossiyskaya Svyaz (Bank of Moscow Management Company) has gone down by 22.85% since the beginning of the year.