‘We are not making anybody redundant and there are no layoffs,’ the spokesperson for Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) Elena Azovtseva said to an UrBC reporter. ‘It’s true that fewer people are needed when the production output is on the decrease, and a certain number of workers will not be involved in the technological process. But this is only a temporary thing brought about by our personnel optimization policies. We’ve got plenty of multi-skilled employees whose expertise is used for other jobs, like overhauls, for example,’ she explained.

‘We have already increased the prices of some of our buildings by 2%. When our new housing gets commissioned, the price of a square meter will rise by 15% to 30%. Exactly when this can happen will depend on the market situation, but if we don’t go for a price rise, there will simply be no point in starting the construction at all, even though increased prices might naturally lead to deferred demand,’ says LSR-Ural Management Company’s General Director Andrei Bibikov. ‘As far as the housing prices in buildings already under construction are concerned, they haven’t been raised much. The prime

The Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development offers its customers a new deposit type. The bank’s Convenient deposit provides for a 15% annual interest rate, while the lower money limit for opening a deposit comes to as little as 5,000 RUR. The deposit period comes to 100 days, and you can top up your deposit account any time you like. What is more, you can also withdraw a portion of the money without losing the interest. The interest is actually paid and capitalized on a daily basis. You can use the offer at any of the bank’s offices.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Sverdlovsk Gubernskiy Bank to non-state for-profit organizations for 31 to 90 days went down by 25.94% (from 495.91 million RUR to 367.254 million RUR) in January-September 2008.

The share price of Vympelcom’s ADRs went down by 3.659% and came to $12.9 per ADR at the close of business at New York Stock Exchange on October 7, 2008, Vedomosti reports.

Sberinvestbank will have to pay a 40,000-ruble fine for violating the federal advertising bill, the spokesperson for Sverdlovsk Region’s division of the Federal Antimonopoly Service reports. The Service’s regional division declared on May 21, 2008 that the bank’s car loan ad printed in Telesem newspaper was improper due to missing some essential information on the additional expenses the borrower would have to bear, namely, the expenses resulting from having to insure the automobile that would itself serve as a loan guarantee. On June 4, 2008, the Service filed a lawsuit against the bank,

Sverdlovsk Region Railways were not among the Russian Railways Public Company’s growing branches in January-September 2008, as its passenger turnover volume hadn’t gone up during these months compared with January-September 2007, the spokesperson for Russian Railways Public Company reports. In the meantime, Russian Railways’ official website features a list of the company’s branches that did quite well in terms of raising their passenger turnover volume, but Sverdlovsk Region Railways did not make it to the list. ‘Our list does not comprise any of our subsidiaries whose passenger turnover

Moscow,љ 10 October 2008 – UC RUSAL, which owns a 25% plus two shares stake in Norilsk Nickel, today requested an Extraordinary General Meeting of Norilsk Nickel’s shareholders to elect a new, expanded Board of Directors that will represent the interest of all shareholders. UC RUSAL believes the current board has demonstrated that it is incapable of acting in the interests of all shareholders, has abused corporate governance principles and presided over the destruction of significant shareholder value. Following consultations with Norilsk Nickel’s minority shareholders, UC RUSAL is proposing

SKB-Bank has recently set up offices in Tomsk, Yakutsk, and Belgorod. The bank’s Tomsk representation is located at 51a Kirov St. Building 15, its Yakutsk office is situated at 20 Ordzhonikidze St., and its Belgorod office can be found at 17 Svyato-Troitskiy Boulevard, the bank’s press officer reports. The bank’s representations render their services to small and medium enterprises from 8.30 AM to 5.30 PM on weekdays. The total number of people living in the three cities where the bank’s new offices started operating comes to 1.2 million dwellers.

A large Yekaterinburg-based bank controlled by European shareholders has recently been reported to consider entering the real estate market. A number of investment experts claim the global financial crisis has led to foreign investors looking for relatively stable investment targets. The bank in question might actually come up with a mortgage program that will offer better terms than those of their competitors. UrBC was informed that the bank is interested in long-term and large-scale housing projects like Academic multi-faceted area development project in Yekaterinburg.

Chelyabinsk International Airport announced several carriers’ actual debt figures. S7Airlines (Siberia Airlines) owes the airport 26.23 million RUR, while VIM AVIA, Aviaprad, Kogalymavia, Aeroflot Don, and IrAero owe it 4.2 million RUR, 3.78 million RUR, 967,000 RUR, 880,500 RUR, and 124,700 RUR, respectively. At the same time, the airport says Ural Airlines, Aeroflot Russian Airlines, Kuban Airlines, Orenburg Airlines, and Uzbekiston Khavo Iyullari keep paying their bills in time. ‘Chelyabinsk International Airport is planning to attract more new carriers in order to be able to introduce a

Uralfinprombank’s net profit dropped by 44.17% in the third quarter of 2008 and reached 20.3 million RUR against 36.37 million RUR in the previous quarter. The bank reports this has to do with having to provide for the reserves that will make up for the possible lending-related losses, unpropitious re-assessment of their securities, or expenses connected with setting up two new offices in the third quarter of the year.

Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant (part of ChTPZ Group) keeps working on a project that will allow the company to increase its ceramic flux output. The project provides for the construction of a new ceramic flux shop, the introduction of a wider range of flux-based products, and greater production output as well as improved quality. The project requires about ?18.8m altogether and is expected to be launched in the middle of 2009. All the machinery is to be supplied by a European manufacturer. Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant has already introduced the first section of the ceramic flux production

China’s State Administration for Industry and Commerce registered URSA Bank’s official representation in Beijing on September 22, 2008. The registration was made possible after China Banking Regulatory Commission allowed the bank to set up an office there at the end of August 2008. The office is now located in one of the East Twin Towers right in the heart of the city. ‘URSA Bank has been cooperating successfully with China’s four major banks, including the Bank of China and the Agricultural Bank of China. The main idea behind introducing the Beijing office is to strengthen our ties with the

RBC.Rating reports Mechel Bank was given the 47th position on the list of Russia’s top 100 banks with the greatest subsidiary network in 2008. In addition, the bank was rated 71st largest banks in terms of volume of consumer loans offered per office. Mechel Bank currently operates seven subsidiaries, forty-eight additional offices, and four separate cash departments in Russia. ‘The bank’s getting featured in the rating means the company keeps on developing actively and dynamically. We are running fifty-two additional offices at the moment altogether and are thinking of introducing even more

Over 5,000 people opened a settlement account in the Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development in January-August 2008, which exceeded the figures for a year earlier by 20%. ‘When choosing a financial partner, our customers first and foremost think of our bank’s size, dependability, and market experience. These are the key factors that affect the quality of service a bank offers, the range of additional options, and the flexibility of any one product,’ the bank’s press officer reports. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development has been working on the country’s financial market for

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Uralprivatbank to sole traders despite overdraft went down by 62.32% (from 8.391 million RUR to 3.161 million RUR) in January-September 2008.

Bank24.ru keeps clashing with a Nizhniy Tagil-based boiler and radiator-manufacturing plant. The media wrote about the plant’s failing to implement development strategy they had adopted. The strategy was actually aimed at building up the enterprise’s share of the market, but the plant admitted that it was unable to get the loan needed to finance the technical upgrades. The company claims their ongoing disagreements with Bank24.ru, one of their shareholders, are to blame for this. Bank24.ru controls about 30% of the plant’s shares at the moment. Bank24.ru is reported to be trying to get full

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by VUZ Bank to sole traders for 91 to 180 days went down by 94.52% (from 13.141 million RUR to 719,000 RUR) in January-September 2008.

Standard & Poor’s rating department has recently demoted Uralsvyazinform’s credit outlook from Stable to Negative due to the telecommunications provider’s low liquidity. The company’s long-term credit rating was confirmed at BB-, the spokesperson for Standard & Poor’s reports. The rating agency explains Uralsvyazinform’s credit rating has been affected by the company’s poor liquidity indicators and a dire need for short-term debt refinancing as well as having to control the growing expenses and keep up with the net operating margin. The fierce competition on the regional mobile