United Company RUSAL coordinated unscheduled security checks at its enterprises in order to make sure all the water development facilities are safe, the company’s press service reports. These measures were taken after an accident occurred at Ajka Timfoldgyar plant in Hungary on October 4, 2010; over one million cubic meters of red mud oozed out of a leaking reservoir. The toxic waste flooded 40 sq m of the surrounding territory, including a few settlements in the west of Hungary. Nine people were killed in the accident, with fifty more still in hospital. ‘The facilities of Bogoslovskiy and

Motorola is closing down its Russian office and stops delivering its produce on the Russian market, Gazeta.ru reports. The mobile phone manufacturer’s distributors haven’t commented on the situation so far. Motorola’s decision to leave Russia is most likely related to the company’s wish to reduce its outgoings by giving up on some local markets. According to Mobile Research Group, Motorola is also closing its offices in Africa and Europe (the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Ukraine) this year.

The National Rating Agency halted YugraFinance Management Company’ individual reliability rating for the time being and placed the company on a waiting list with Indefinite rating outlook, as the management company’s rating will most likely be reconsidered soon. The Agency reports the need to reconsider the company’s rating arises from the uncertainty of its further business activity status. This uncertainty, in its turn, has to do with the results of an independent audit check of Khanty-Mansiysk Private Retirement Fund, the founder and key customer of YugraFinance. ‘We mean to watch over how

The customs points of Ural Customs Administration transferred 36.12 billion RUR worth of customs duties and payments to the federal budget in nine months of 2010, says the spokesperson for the Administration. This figure actually exceeds that for January-September 2009 by 2.42 billion RUR. Last year, the economic recession caused a 27% drop in the budget payments on the part of the Ural enterprises, especially the metallurgical, machine-building, and the energy-sector ones. The export-related payments plunged by 3.9 billion RUR in 2009 compared with 2008; the import-related payments went down

Criminal proceedings have been instituted against the management of ZAO YugraInvestStroyProyekt recently; the company’s top executives are suspected of abusing their authority. It has been detected that, regardless of failing to meet its contractual obligations (putting up an apartment block in Uray, Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Region, with the future apartment owners’ money), the developer in question violated the Russian Federation Urban Planning Code requirements and got an illegitimate permission to have the building commissioned. As a result, the private investors, who had directed a lot

The Plenipotentiary Representation of Russian Federation President in Ural Federal District is going to watch over the reorganization of OAO Uralsvyazinform, a telecommunications provider, Deputy Plenipotentiary Representative of Russian Federation President in Ural Federal District Sergey Smetanyuk announced at a meeting with Uralsvyazinform’s General Director Sergey Lukash. The meeting was dedicated to the latest changes in the company’s organization and personnel policy. In fact, Uralsvyazinform intends to lay off 1,740 employees at the end of 2010 and during the first half of 2011. The

Sverdlovsk Region Arbitration Court ruled on September 23, 2010 that OOO Glavsreduralstroy Management Company based in Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Region, must undergo bankruptcy proceedings, thus closing case А60-3933/2010-С11. Tatiana Shulyakova, a member of Delo Self-Regulatory Organization of Independent Trustees in Bankruptcy Non-Commercial Partnership was chosen as the company’s trustee in bankruptcy. Creditors can place their claims until November 9, 2010.

‘The Ural tour operators no longer view Egypt as one of the most affordable and popular tourist destinations. Not a lot of tours will be offered in the winter of 2010/2011, since all the major airlines will be operating fewer flights to this place. It has been announced that about fourteen flights a week will be available altogether, but no cheap trips are to be expected,’ says Director of Zima-Leto Group Olga Gulyar. ‘Egypt and Turkey have been extremely popular over the last two years because of the recession: these are the most affordable vacations abroad. Now things are different: plenty

‘Natural risks call for a reconsideration of our priorities: we now have to make a stake at livestock farming, so next year, we’ll double the state subsidies for this kind of farmers. They will receive 1 billion RUR,’ Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Mikhail Yurevitch said in his report at an inter-regional agro-industrial fair in Kurgan, Kurgan Region. The Governor explained 85 million RUR would be directed to stock development, 567 million RUR would be used to subsidize the milk and meat production, and 300 million RUR will compensate the expenses related to farm construction and upgrades and

UrBC, Moscow, October 14, 2010. The global gold prices have soared again and set yet another record of $1,370 per ounce at the close of business today; this has become the 16th record-setting figure in the last five weeks, the trading reports say. For one, December’s gold futures went up by 1.8% (namely, up to $1,370.5 per troy ounce) at Comex exchange in New York by the end of Wednesday, RIA Novosti reports.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 14, 2010. Sverdlovsk Region Legislative Assembly’s two chambers elected their representative in Russia’s Soviet of the Federation at a joint meeting today. As a matter of fact, the seat has been vacant for eighteen months now after former representative Yuri Osintsev left for the Russian Federation Ministry of Regional Development. Today, the Legislative Assembly deputies decided that Mayor of Yekaterinburg Arkadiy Chernetskiy should get the position. The results of the secret voting were the following: twenty-one Sverdlovsk Region Duma deputies voted in favor of

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 14, 2010. Yekaterinburg’s second hand shops are as popular as ever; since the start of the recession, the number of their customers has gone up by 30% to 45% and is not going down for the time being, Deputy Mayor of Yekaterinburg’s Viktor Konteev’s press officer Ilona Starodubtseva reports. A recent marketing research has shown that 67% of Yekaterinburg residents visited second hand shops at least once, and about 50% took their unwanted clothes there. Besides, over 55% out of 1,500 respondents commented on the need for the second hand trade to expand. Clothes and

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 14, 2010. The dispatcher of Severouralsk-based Krasnaya Shapochka mine reported at 2:40 PM on October 13, 2010 that a rock burst occurred at the mine. The rock outburst left one twenty-three-year-old mine worker injured; the victim of the accident, suffering from a brain concussion and a contusion of the right hip, was taken to Severouralsk municipal hospital and is now feeling better. The mine keeps operating as usual, Sverdlovsk Region division of Russia’s Ministry of Emergencies reports.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 13, 2010. The net profit of OAO Uralfinprombank decreased by 15.483 million RUR, or 77% in the third quarter of 2010, namely, from 20.046 million RUR in the second quarter of the year down to 4.563 million RUR in the third quarter. The bank explains this drop in profits had to do with the need to build up on the possible bad debt reserves.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 13, 2010. OAO Ural Airlines is still intent upon expanding its operation network and will soon introduce scheduled flights from Yekaterinburg to Sanya, Istanbul, Salzburg, Paris, Munich, and Vienna. All in all, the air carrier’s planes operated 1,680 flights in September 2010, which exceeded the number of flights operated in September 2009 by 115.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 13, 2010. Finninno, a Finnish concern, suggested delivering the sets of equipment needed to manufacture elevator shafts to Betfor concrete goods plant (the asset of LSR Group). The proposal was made by Jarmo Huotari, and independent consultant, to LSR Group Ural branch’s Managing Director Andrei Bibikov in the course of the recent talks in Yekaterinburg. The technological line in question will make it possible for the plant to produce a dozen shafts a day, which is two times more productive than the plant’s current capacity. ‘The production process is as automated

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 13, 2010. Alatyr and Gringo shopping malls based in Yekaterinburg won most of the votes in the interactive project dubbed Vote for Demolition. Alatyr is supposed to be pulled down since it makes the downtown look ugly, the coordinators of the First Ural Industrial Biennale of Contemporary Art say. Now the biennale closed up last weekend, and Vote for Demolition, devised and implemented by a Mexican artist Gustavo Artigas, was part of the program. Artigas was pleased with both the way the project went along in Yekaterinburg and with the public discussion that

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 13, 2010. Sverdlovsk Region Arbitration Court is about to consider the bankruptcy cases involving the enterprises belonging to OOO Avtoland Holding Group, the spokesperson for the court reports. It has been announced that the companies in question, City Motors, OOO Avtoland Sever, and OOO FTsU, applied for bankruptcy because of the money they owe to OAO Khanty-Mansiyskiy Bank. As far as City Motors and OOO FTsU are concerned, the court is to look into their cases on December 10, 2010.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 12, 2010. ‘The weather experts of Rosgidromet have become responsible for the accuracy of weather forecasts for Koltsovo Airport of Yekaterinburg since the end of May. OAO Koltsovo Airport is not dealing in any hydro-meteorological or related services now; moreover, the aeronautical weather station that used to be part of the airport’s facilities has been transferred to Rosgidromet Met Agency,’ the airport’s press service reports. In the meantime, a Turkish Airlines flight was delayed on October 11, 2010 and the air carrier claimed that Koltsovo Airport’s

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 12, 2010. A committee of Sverdlovsk Region division of Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service members met today to consider case 98 involving OOO Unicom Motors; the car dealer is suspected of violating Article 18 of the Advertising Act. It has been alleged that the company has been sending out text messages containing promotion information to mobile phone users without their preliminary consent, the spokesperson for the division reports. Now Unicom Motors is Honda’s official dealer in Yekaterinburg.