An extraordinary meeting of Sverdlovsk Region division of the All-Russian NGO Russian Red Cross took place in Yekaterinburg. The organization’s press service reports the meeting resulted in the decision to improve the performance of this regional division, for one, to switch from handling citizens’ applications twice a week to doing so five days a week. Starting August 22, 2011, every person in need of help and support can apply to Russian Red Cross at 16 Komintern St (off 718) on any weekday. One can get professional legal advice and help here, inquire about migration issues, and the

The new Chinese Consul General started work in Yekaterinburg. The first official meeting of Consul Yuan Hengge and Head of Yekaterinburg and Chairman of Yekaterinburg Municipal Duma Evgeny Porunov took place yesterday, the Duma’s press service reports. The two parties started with greetings, and Evgeny Porunov said he was sure the traditions supported by the previous consul would be kept up. The official invited the consul to take part in the City Day celebrations at the coming weekend. A group of officials headed by Head of Yekaterinburg Administration Alexander Yakob is expected to visit

Ural Airlines keeps expanding its flights network and offers flights departing from increasingly more cities. Starting October 4, 2011, the air carrier will operate scheduled flights from Nizhniy Novgorod to Dubai, the East’s most popular city, the airline’s press service reports. The Nizhniy Novgorod-Dubai flight will be offered every Tuesday. The cheapest tickets are available for ?476, with both economy and business class tickets offered for sale.

Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) proved its readiness to produce highly durable cold-resistant rolled products for the Russian pipeline manufacturers. Following the hydraulic and field pneumatic testing of some pilot batches of pipes in Chelyabinsk and Kopeisk, experts from Gazrpom, Gazprom VNIIGAZ, and other enterprises representing the certification committee declared that the pipes made by MMK of rolled sheets with strength class K65 meet the technical requirements set for the main pipeline Bovanenko-Ukhta. This means that MMK is currently the exclusive supplier of К65(Х80) rolled

The customer of Fenster AG Trading House managed to get his 60,000 RUR back through a court hearing, the press office of Sverdlovsk Region division of Rospotrebnadzor (the state environmental watchdog) reports. Fenster AG and a Yekaterinburg dweller signed an agreement on September 30, 2010 for the manufacturing and assembling of wooden window frames with two double panes, worth over 90,000 RUR. Under the terms of the agreement, the customer had to pre-pay 70% of the total sum two weeks prior to the installation, which the customer complied with. 60,000 RUR was paid to Fenster AG. However,

Central Military District’s military brass band will perform in the course of the solemn opening ceremony at Yekaterinburg Central Stadium on August 19, 2011. For the first time in history this arena will witness the singing of the FIFA’s anthem by the record-breaking number of people for Russia’s Book of Records, Sinara Group’s PR Department reports. Representatives of fifty-one orchestras will take part in the show, and the number of musicians playing in Central Military District’s military brass band will come to 700. In addition, orchestras from forty-six Russian cities, including Samara,

Tyumen Region Arbitration Court declared a non-profit organization called Strategic Research & Investment Support Fund bankrupt, the court’s proceedings state. The company placed its insolvency application with the court of its own accord, asking for a simplified procedure for a liquidated debtor. The application stated that the total amount of debts to creditors that the debtor agreed with came to 18.18m RUR, whereas the organization’s assets and monetary funds were insufficient: the fund only had 242,370 RUR altogether. Now in 2006, Strategic Research & Investment Support Fund was

A recent meeting dedicated to Yekaterinburg’s application campaign for hosting the World Exhibition EXPO 2020 resulted in the decision to set up an ad hoc committee that will deal with the application. The application has to be presented to the International Exhibitions Bureau by November 2, 2011. According to First Deputy Head of Sverdlovsk Region Government and Minister for Investment & Development Mikhail Maksimov, if Yekaterinburg wins the privilege of hosting the exhibition, EXPO 2020 will not necessarily be housed in EXPO Yekaterinburg exhibition center where the recent Innoprom

The net profit of Russian Railways decreased by 17.1% in the first half of 2011 compared with the first half of 2010, and amounted to 48.5bn RUR, the company’s quarterly report states. On the other hand, the railway company’s revenues increased by 10.8% and came to 644.7bn RUR. Its pre-tax profit dropped by 10.1% and reached 74.13bn RUR.

Ural Federal District’s industrial production index kept going up in January-June 2011, and the increase in the industrial production growth rates came to 1.9% (against January-June 2010). This information is available from the report presented to Plenipotentiary Representative of Russian Federation President in Ural Federal District Nikolai Vinnichenko. The data will soon be discussed at the upcoming meeting of the district’s anti-recession committee. The fact that the production growth mainly results from the success of the processing industries is seen as a good trend. In January-June

Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation announced it performance results recently. The company’s revenues reached 30bn RUR in the first half of 2011, its gross profit amounted to 8.11bn RUR, while its net profit exceeded 3.66bn RUR. All these figures are better than those for the first half of 2010. The increase in revenues, the issuer reports, was brought about by great demand for the enterprise’s carriage-making division’s produce. At the same time, the profitability of the plant’s produce decreased down to 18.3%. Uralvagonzavod explains this stems from the growing prime cost.

An in camera meeting dedicated to the city’s World Exhibition EXPO 2020 application campaign will be held in Yekaterinburg today. Now Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has already announced his official decision that it is the Urals’ capital Yekaterinburg that will compete for the honor of hosting the exhibition in Russia. The meeting will be attended by Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Alexander Misharin, First Deputy Head of Sverdlovsk Region Government and Minister for Investments & Development Mikhail Maksimov, professor of the Academy of Architecture in Mendrisio (University of Lugano,

Starting October 1, 2011, the clothes chain Sela will only support its own loyalty scheme. The company left Svyaznoy-Club program and stopped adding and deducting bonus points for the program’s cardholders, Retailer.Ru reports. All Svyaznoy-Club cardholders are welcome to exchange their current cards for Sela’s club cards with a 5% discount with any purchase they make at the stores before October 1, 2011. The new club cards will be offered in Sela stores in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kazan, and Yekaterinburg. The company chose not to explain the reason for leaving Svyaznoy-Club program.

Gazpromneft-Tyumen (the selling division of Gazprom Neft) made 210.34m RUR worth of net profit in January-June 2011 (calculated in accordance with the Russian Accounting Standards) compared with 333.15m RUR in January-June 2010, the company’s report states. Therefore the company’s net profit slumped by 37%, or by 1.6 times. At the same time, the enterprise’s revenues coming from the sale of goods and services went up by 46%, Interfax-Ural reports.

The chemical and pharmaceutical plant based in Irbit, Sverdlovsk Region, made 28.02m RUR worth of net profit in January-June 2011 (calculated in accordance with the Russian Accounting Standards), which was 2.8 times less than in January-June 2010, the company reports. The plant’s revenues increased by 22.6%, whereas its sales revenues decreased by 25.6%, Interfax-Ural says.

Sverdlovsk Region Arbitration Court put off the hearing of the case involving the founder of Omega Group Holding Oleg Fleganov till August 26, 2011, the court’s press officer says. The court will have to consider Fleganov’s insolvency status. According to the data on this case available via the arbitration court’s website, the decision to put off the hearing had to do with a petition of the provisional trustee, who was unable to provide a report on his activity or the information on the debtor’s financial state. Now according to these files, Fleganov’s assets are worth 54m RUR, which is not

The net profit of Enel OGK-5 came to 2.73bn RUR in January-June 2011 (calculated in accordance with the Russian Accounting Standards), which was 26.8% less than in January-June 2010, the company reports. However, the enterprise’s revenues increased by 15.1% and came to 30.09bn RUR. Enel OGK-5 currently comprises, among its other assets, Sverdlovsk Region-based Sredneuralskaya and Reftinskaya power stations.

The net profit of the cosmetics manufacturer Concern Kalina rose by 20% in the first half of 2011 against the first half of 2010 and reached 365m RUR (calculated in accordance with the International Accounting Standards). Yet in the second quarter of 2011, the company’s net profit decreased by 16.7%, the concern reports. Concern Kalina’s revenues went up by 8.9% and amounted to 5.5bn RUR. The company’s gross profit increased by 4.9% in the second half of the year and came to 2.8bn RUR; its EBITDA rose by 12.6% and came to 802m RUR, and its operating profit went up by 27.4% and came to 719m

August 15, 2011. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) recently launched the first portion of the upgraded automated control system called ‘Operative Production Management’ that facilitates efficient organization of production processes. The system has been developed by MMK’s daughter enterprise MMK-Informservis and provides solutions for planning and executing the tasks of the entire portfolio of sheet-rolling shops 4, 3, 10, 5, 11, and 8 as well as of the coating department. This system is part of monitoring the completion of orders for the section comprising the oxygen converter shop

The net profit of Varyenganneft was reduced by 8.7% in the first half of 2011 compared with the first half of 2010, so the figure came to 229.62m RUR, the company’s report states. The oil company’s revenues rose by 36.8%, its gross profit went up by 62.6%, its pre-tax profit increased by 23.6%, and its sales revenues were multiplied by 2.3 times.