MOTIV, a large telecommunications group, completed the construction of their own long-distance/ international connection network and got all the necessary permits to operate it. The company’s application for access codes is already being considered by the Ministry for IT and Communication. MOTIV thus runs four international nodes in Yekaterinburg, Moscow, Rostov-on-Don, and Vladivostok, as well as seven long-distance nodes in Yekaterinburg, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Samara, Rostov-on-Don, Novosibirsk, and Vladivostok. In addition, there are eighty-six regional access nodes to support the

Ural Customs Administration directed 5.94 billion RUR to the federal budget in August 2008, which exceeds the initially planned figures by 11.1%, the spokesperson for the Administration reports. The Administration transferred 40.1 billion RUR (rather than the initially planned 33.5 billion RUR) into the federal budget in January-August 2008, thus exceeding the plan by 19.6%. Both import and export components of the customs duty payments have been collected in full.

‘The state of the market today proves that a serious downfall is always followed by recovery. The business closed at 1,469.15 points on Friday, which was over 1,000 points below mid-May’s figures. On Monday, however, the market soared thanks to the long-awaited good news regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s nationalization procedures,’ SKB-Bank’s Trading Operations Director Evgeniy Batuyev said to UrBC. ‘What is more, the market was further stimulated by the gradual reassessment of the North Caucasus conflict’s impact on Russian economic climate through both a number of official

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Uralprivatbank to sole traders for 31 to 90 days plummeted by 100% (from 600,000 RUR to zero) in January-August 2008.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by VUZ-Bank to for-profit non-state organizations for up to 30 days went down by 64.64% (from 20.15 million RUR to 7.125 million RUR) in January-August 2008.

A group of the Czech ALTA’s representatives arrived at Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) to discuss the issues related to financing the construction of Prioskolskiy Ore Mining and Processing Enterprise in Belgorod Region, Russia as well as a number of other cooperation options the two businesses could consider, MMK’s press officer reports. In fact, the meeting was a follow-up on the strategic partnership agreement and a memorandum MMK Chairman Viktor Rashnikov and ALTA’s President Vladimir Plasil signed in Prague on July 15, 2008. According to the memorandum, ALTA is going to become

Before leaving on vacation, Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Petr Sumin came up with a public security action plan for 2009-2011. The spokesperson for the Governor reports the plan consists of eleven points, including improvements on militia’s physical infrastructure, dog service development, preventive measures, the Best Precinct Inspector contest, and motivation program for best employees. The plan also provides for ongoing work in the field of socio-psychological rehabilitation for militiamen coming back from the North Caucasus. The ten-day rehabilitation programs have been available in the

Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Petr Sumin suggested that an interdepartmental water use committee should be set up in the region to ensure better water resource management. The committee is to be chaired by First Deputy Governor Vladimir Dyatlov. Among the committee members are Minister for Radiation and Environmental Safety Gennady Podtesov, Minister for Construction, Infrastructure, and Roads Valery Shopov, Minister for Industry and Natural Resources Evgeniy Teftelev, some representatives of the regional environmental monitoring center, and the area’s leading environmental scientists.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by SberInvestBank to nongovernmental financial organizations for 181 days to 1 year plummeted by 82.12% (from 19.635 million RUR to 3.510 million RUR) in January-August 2008.

‘The tour operators and travel agents are now preparing to start selling New Year trips to their customers. The air carriers haven’t come up with a fixed chartered flights schedule or price list yet because the fuel prices keep changing. As soon as the airlines have determined the price of the flights, the sales will simply soar. As for now, we are accepting the tour applications for the time being. A lot of people are already asking to book trips to ski resorts, India, Vietnam, and Malaysia,’ says director of Agentstvo Puteshestviy travel agency Sergey Stepanov. ‘It’s naturally better to buy

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by UralTransBank to state-run for-profit organizations for 181 days to 1 year fell by 96.04% (from 1.466 million RUR to 58,000 RUR) in January-August 2008.

‘Innovations like this one actually change one’s business philosophy. A business customer who uses our new product benefits in many substantial ways. First of all, business packages are convenient. Secondly, a customer can cut down on the transaction costs. Thirdly, a customer’s expenses can be now planned better and more effectively. Finally, using the packages means bringing a bit of innovation in one’s business,’ URSA Bank’s Deputy GD Daniil Sandler feels. URSA Bank’s four business packages (Acquaintance, Development, Leader, and Partner) all include basic services like opening and

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Bank24.ru to sole traders for 181 days to 1 year went down by 48.8% (from 30.750 million RUR to 15.744 million RUR) in January-August 2008.

Ural Airlines is going to introduce a new nonstop Moscow-Bratsk-Moscow flight on September 19, 2008. The flight will be operated three times a week, leaving Moscow at 8.15 PM on Fridays and Sundays and at 10.15 PM on Wednesdays, and arriving in Bratsk at 6.15 AM on Saturdays and Mondays and at 8.15 AM on Thursdays, respectively. The flight will take five hours. The plane then takes off in Bratsk at 10 AM and lands in Moscow at 10.40 AM on Thursdays and takes off and lands at 8 AM and 8.40 AM, respectively, on Mondays and Saturdays. The flight lasts 5 hours and forty minutes. The departure and

Ural public prosecution authorities for transportation made Koltsovo Airport of Yekaterinburg resume rendering their ground handling service to Krasnoyarsk Airlines, the spokesperson for the authorities reports. The public prosecution authorities for transportation found out that Koltsovo Airport informed Krasnoyarsk Airlines via a cablegram on August 26, 2008 that the airport was going to stop rendering the airline any ground handling services on September 15, 2008 due to the air carrier’s unpaid bills. The authorities then warned the airport’s acting General Director that the violation of

MegaFon Ural nearly halved the price of their MegaFon Modem packages, so the set of a USB modem and MegaFon Modem Plus 2, a special tariff designed to be advantageous for mobile web users, comes to 2,300 RUR now (all taxes included). What is more, if you buy the package, you get an additional 300-megabyte Mobile Internet GPRS package for only 100 RUR (all taxes included) and they only charge you 2.2 RUR per each megabyte of traffic after you’ve used up this package, MegaFon Ural’s press officer reports. In addition, customers who buy the MegaFon Modem package will only have to start paying

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Pervouralsk Joint Stock Commercial Bank to sole traders for 1 t o3 years dropped by 25.13% (from 29.424 million RUR to 22.029 million RUR) in January-August 2008.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, the volume of loans given by Bank Uralfinance to Russian Federation constituents’ financial bodies and local governments went down by 58.46% (from 5 million RUR to 2.077 million RUR) in January-August 2008.

Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) raises its domestic market output on a yearly basis, as this is the home market that the company’s top managers think of as their top priority and strategically important one. The home market sales (including the delivery of metal goods to Byelorussia) have been dealt with by the Domestic Sales Administration for over ten years now. The Administration now runs several projects, streamlined along regional sales, branch sales, sales to car factories and to natural monopolies, sales of metal goods with coatings and of tin plate, and short-term planning.

‘At this troubled moment, a bank deposit is the most suitable way of investing one’s money for no longer than a year. It is the only widely available instrument that guarantees you both the income and all of your money back. The deposits have a certain fixed interest; what is more, they are insured by the state, which is a very weighty advantage,’ says Rus-Bank-Ural’s Head of Treasury Grigory Stepanov. ‘As far as short-term investment is concerned, virtually nothing can beat a bank deposit’s risk/profitability ratio. Unless you engage in stock gambling, everything else either takes much