Sverdlovsk Region’s division of Federal Antimonopoly Service filed a complaint against Bank24.ru, charging the business with violating the federal law on advertising, the Service’s press officer reports. The bank’s express loan ad is reported to be missing some information essential to determining the actual cost of a loan to a borrower and to provide inaccurate data as to the price of the product, the terms of payment, the discount rates, and other terms of purchase. Similar problems were detected in the bank’s Universal loan ad. The case is to be considered by Sverdlovsk Region’s division

‘On June 15, 2008, it will become illegal for bulky cargo trucks to enter Yekaterinburg’s roads. This is based on the existing environmental legislation, and all the perpetrators will be fined heavily. One company has recently had to pay a 450,000-ruble fine, for example,’ head of Sverdlovsk Region’s road police department Yuri Demin announced at a press conference. ‘Bulky vehicles must steer clear of the city’s highways. All the logistics terminals must be located outside its boundaries,’ he added.

Kate Moss’s biography by a Ms Alena Alpenshtal is now available in bookstores all over Russia, including some copies found by a Politsovet reporter in one of Yekaterinburg’s largest stores. In terms of quality, the book is not much better than a bundle of photocopies; one half of the 128-page book almost fully consists of the supermodel’s photographs, printed without any reference to either the possessors of rights or the photographers, which might mean that the photographs were used illegitimately. Moreover, the book features Vogue and People magazine covers that are protected by copyright,

Moscow, 16 April 2008 - UC RUSAL, the world’s largest aluminium and alumina producer, is pleased to announce the appointment of Peter Finnimore as Director of Sales and Marketing. Peter Finnimore will be responsible for the overall commercial activities relating to sales of aluminium, alumina and silicon, as well as exports of foil - strengthening UC RUSAL’s presence in the markets of Asia, America, and Europe, as well as seeking new sales opportunities and building long-term relationships with end-user customers in Russia and worldwide. љ Prior to this appointment Peter served as the

Q1 2008 Results under Russian Accounting Standards Key Financial Highlights — Revenue increased by 21% to RUR 52,3 bln (RUR 43,1 bln in 1Q2007) — Operating income on the level of RUR 11,6 bln (RUR 11,7 bln in 1Q2007) — Net income (net of the effect of financial investments revaluation) grew by 2% to RUR 8,5 bln (RUR 8,4 bln in 1Q2007) Key Operational Highlights — Crude steel production up 14% to 3.6m tons compared to 1Q07 — Commercial steel products output increased 12% to 3.3 m tons (1Q2008 to 1Q2007) — A rise in product prices across the board compared to the end of 2007, including 22% for

Mayak Corporation’s overdue debt to Uralsevergaz for the natural gas the former had used amounted to 1,795,524 RUR on April 1, 2008, Uralsevergaz reports.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Perviy Respublikanskiy Bank to sole traders for over 3 years went down by 35.52% (from 9.585 million RUR to 6.18 million RUR) in January-March 2008.

MegaFon Ural came up with new offers on multimedia messages on April 15, 2008. This company’s subscribers can now exchange multimedia messages with more providers: the list includes AKOS (Maritime Territory), BiMoCom Ltd, and Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan), MegaFon Ural’s press officer reports.

The overdue debt of Patrushi, an agricultural firm, to Uralsevergaz for the natural gas the former had used amounted to 2,135,960 RUR on April 1, 2008, Uralsevergaz reports.

Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) published its financial results and operating data (based on the Russian accounting standards) in the first quarter of 2008. The company’s revenues went up by 21% compared to a year earlier and reached 52.3 billion RUR, while the trading profit remained at 11.6 billion RUR (only a slight decrease from 11.7 billion RUR in January-March 2007). MMK’s net profit (excluding the reassessment of financial investment) grew by 2% and came to 8.5 billion RUR. The enterprise raised its steel output by 14% in January-March 2008 against the first quarter of 2007;

Ural Airlines came up with a special Veterans’ Tariff offer on April 9, 2008. The Great Patriotic War veterans (including people with disabilities) and people accompanying them can take one domestic flight from their home town and back free of charge between May 5, 2008 and May 25, 2008. This is seen as an opportunity for the war veterans to visit their children, relatives, and wartime friends. ‘Sadly, we’ve got very few war veterans left. They often have difficulty getting about, so a plane trip is a real chance to see their loved ones who live far away. This isn’t the first time Ural

Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant and Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (ChTPZ Group’s largest tube and pipe manufacturers) supplied their consumers with 415,900 tons of tubular goods in the first three months of 2008, which falls short of the figures for a year earlier (that is, 467,300 tons) by 11%. ChTPZ Group sold 219,200 tons of tubes and pipes in the three months of the year, which falls short of the figures for a year earlier (that is, 255,300 tons) by 14%. These figures include a 25% drop in the amount of large-diameter pipes: this came to 108,600 tons compared with 145,000 tons of LDPs in

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Ural Innovational Commercial Bank to natural persons for 1 to 3 years went down by 23.06% (from 6.48 million RUR to 4.986 million RUR) in January-March 2008.

SKB-Bank is to start handling an issue of registered ordinary uncertificated shares on April 21, 2008. This additional share issue was registered on March 20, 2008 by the Central Bank’s Licensing Department (the state registration number is 10600705В012D). Each of the issue’s 471,630,000 shares has a face value of 1 RUR, while the selling price will come to 3.7 RUR apiece, even for shareholders with preemption rights; the shares are most likely to be acquired by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Sinara Group; the stock cannot be classed as the issuer’s bonds or options.

The midnight shift started again in Kalyinskaya, Novo-Kalyinskaya, Chermukhovskaya, and Shakhta-16 mines (all parts of Severuralsk Bauxite Mine, aka SUBR) on April 15, 2008. Following the mine workers’ numerous requests, a number of bauxite mines in Severouralsk were ordered to resume working. The night shift workers completed their jobs and were succeeded by the next shift of miners, so things appear to get back on track quite smoothly. ‘I support the miners’ decision to stop striking and start working. Life is getting back to normal,’ SUBR CEO Viktor Radko said to UrBC.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by UralTransBank to state-run for-profit organizations for 1 to 3 years dropped by 30.61% (from 103.306 million RUR to 71.68 million RUR) in January-March 2008.

SKB-Bank introduced a new ATM in Krasnoturinsk, Sverdlovsk Region. This has become the bank’s northernmost automatic teller machine in the region so far. Besides, the new ATM, located at 68 Lenin St. in the bank’s Krasnoturinskiy outlet is the city’s first and the Mid-Urals’ 193d machine. The town dwellers can now get some cash, check their account balance, and pay their mobile phone bills 24/7 using the new ATM. SKB-Bank has got over 250 ATMs in nine Russian regions at the moment. The machines can normally be found in big cities’ business quarters and residential areas as well as on premises

‘More Lexus cars are being sold in Sverdlovsk Region this year compared with 2007; RX series and AS250 makes appear to enjoy the greatest demand at the moment,’ Autoplus’s marketing expert Tatiana Shmakova said to UrBC. At the same time, the country’s average sales figures for expensive premium class foreign cars have shown less impressive growth dynamics this year against the year 2007. The sales figures for Land Rover, Infiniti, Cadillac, and Jaguar, however, rose by over 50%, while Porsche, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, and Volvo sales figures increased by less than 50%. Lexus sales went down

Sberbank of Russia, Visa International, and Aeroflot came up with a special offer known as Your Way to Beijing with Sberbank’s Visa Aeroflot; the offer is valid through May 31, 2008 and is dedicated to this year’s most memorable sports event: the Olympics to be held in China this summer. All of Sberbank’s cardholders who own Visa Classic Aeroflot and Visa Gold Aeroflot can take part in the prize-winning lottery provided they use these cards at least once to pay for their shopping. Prizes include two trips for two to the Olympics in Beijing. In addition, for every 30 RUR, $1, or ?1 you spend

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by SberInvestBank to nongovernmental financial institutions for 181 days to 1 year went down by 20.5% (from 19.635 million RUR to 15.61 million RUR) in January-March 2008.