Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Alexander Misharin’s resignation and appointed Plenipotentiary Representative of Russian Federation President in Ural Federal District Evgeny Kuivashev acting Governor for the time being, the Kremlin’s press service reports. Misharin was proposed by United Russia as a candidate for the position in August 2009. On November 10, 2009, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev offered his candidacy for approval by Sverdlovsk Region Duma. On November 17, 2009, the two chambers of Sverdlovsk Region Legislative Assembly vested Misharin

Yekaterinburg’s Central Stadium and the potential fan zone were presented to the FIFA officials during their first inspection of the city, which is aspires to host the World Cup 2018. Head of World Cups 2014, 2018, and 2022 Jurgen Muller and Russia 2018 Coordination Committee’s Director-General Alexei Sorokin had a chance to evaluate the city’s preparedness for the championship and to inspect the key sites in the company of Head of Sverdlovsk Region Government Vladimir Vlasov, Physical Education, Sports & Youth Policies Minister Leonid Rapoport, and acting Mayor of Yekaterinburg Sergey

Polevskoy Cryolite Plant (the asset of United Company RUSAL) managed to decrease its net loss (calculated in accordance with the Russian Accounting Standards) by 34% in January-March 2012 compared with the first quarter of 2011, the company’s report says. At the same time, the company’s revenues rose by 58% and reached 557.6m RUR, Interfax-Ural reports.

Inter RAO UES is no longer a shareholder of Enel OGK-5. The company used to have a 26.4348% stake in the business. Enel OGK-5 operates two Sverdlovsk Region-based enterprises: Sredneuralskaya and Reftinskaya power stations.

Ural Instrument Making Plant that has a clash with the Italian company Esaote S.p.A. refuses to accept the verdict pronounced by Stockholm Trade Chamber’s arbitration authority. So Esaote S.p.A. placed its claim with Sverdlovsk Region Arbitration Court, asking for the Stockholm ruling regarding case 046/2011 dated September 30, 2011 to be confirmed and enforced. Esaote S.p.A. wants to be paid the money and the interest it is owed. Ural Instrument Making Plant, however, feels that the arbitration agreement the two parties signed within two contracts captured in 2008 should not be seen as an

Russia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry’s Yekaterinburg representation suggested that Ukraine’s Consulate-General appeal to Ural Real Estate Chamber for assistance in finding quarters in the Urals’ capital, the Chamber’s press service reports. Now the Ukrainian consulate for Siberia and the Urals is relocating from Tyumen to Yekaterinburg. The move is hindered by the need to find offices and long-term living quarters for the Consulate’s staff. ‘As for our support in finding long-term rental options, we have the honor to report that the representation is not in the position to process real estate

Sberbank of Russia still has not managed to make its MasterCard and Maestro cards routinely available for online transactions, the bank told Interfax AFI. ‘The problem is not solved,’ the bank’s call center reports. Now on May 10 Sberbank announced that online purchases with the help of its MasterCard and Maestro cards were temporarily unavailable; so were SecureCode-based transactions, too. ‘The initial glitch resulted in the server getting overloaded, therefore the problem still hasn’t been solved,’ the bank explained. The server overload also leads to sporadic glitches when Visa

A presentation of Yekaterinburg as a candidate city for hosting the world computer programming championship of 2016 will be made in Warsaw on May 13. The presentation will be made by a delegation consisting of Sverdlovsk Region Government, Yekaterinburg Council, Ural Federal University, and Ural IT Cluster representatives. In February 2012, an official letter signed by Governor Alexander Misharin was sent to director of ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest William Poucher; the Governor said they were willing to present Sverdlovsk Region and Yekaterinburg as the hosts of the world

In order to keep the public informed and to assess the impact of putting up power generating unit 5 at Beloyarskaya nuclear power plant, Concern Rosenergoatom is coordinating public hearings in Zarechny, Sverdlovsk Region. The evaluation procedure is to begin on May 12, 2012. The concern has already appealed to Zarechny’s authorities in order to have the public hearings organized. Now the local government, with Concern Rosenergoatom’s support, is responsible for coordinating the event.

The tour operator Mouzenidis Travel, which specializes in offering trips to Greece, is now selling tickets for the flights operated by the Greek Astra Airlines from Yekaterinburg to Saloniki. About 30 flights are to be operated before the end of August 2012, and seven flights have already been fully sold out. However, Rosaviation reports that the air carrier has no permission to operate the said flights, Kommersant says. A Rosaviation representative told the newspaper that the Saloniki-Yekaterinburg route was not stated in the aviation agreement signed by Greece and Russia. ‘This set of

Ural Airlines is re-launching one of its services: a free airport transfer via Air Express for Wings Club gold and silver cards holders. A free ticket to or from Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport is available from May 1, 2012 and can be booked via the air carrier’s official website, the airline’s press service reports. The comfortable Air Express trains give one an opportunity to commute to any of the capital’s three international airports from downtown Moscow, with no delays and regardless of what the weather and the traffic look like. Trains from Domodedovo Airport arrive at Paveletsky Station

The FIFA and the World Cup 2018 coordination committee’s first monitoring visit to Yekaterinburg will take place on May 14, 2012. First Deputy Head of Yekaterinburg Council Sergey Shvindt says this is a very important visit for the Mid-Urals’ capital, as it will determine whether the World Cup will actually be held in Yekaterinburg. The officials expect to visit Central Stadium, Koltsovo Airport, and a number of prospective fan zones. As for the fan zones, Historic Square is currently being considered as the primary location. To ensure safety, the river will be covered with special frames.

Ural State University of Economics is planning to start working on a new study/lab facility as soon as this year. The decision is stated in the university’s Property Development Program approved of by the Learned Council, USUE’s Rector Mikhail Fedorov told UrBC. According to the Rector, the facility is needed in order to introduce new trends into the educational process, namely, biotechnologies and the communal housing services and utilities development center, as well as in order to support the Eurasian Youth Movement. ‘Three wells are about to be finished at the moment. If everything goes

Unilever Rus, which currently owns a 99.48% shareholding in the cosmetics manufacturer Concern Kalina, intends to buy out the remaining portion of the Yekaterinburg-based company’s shares. The company has already placed the proposal to this extent with the stockholders. The shares in question are ordinary registered uncertified ones, state serial number 1-05-30306-D. The suggested buy-out price comes to 4,260 RUR; the list of shareholders will be valid as of June 26, 2012, the 46th day after Concern Kalina has received the buy-out offer.

Ural Airlines keeps expanding the number of international flights taking off from Chelyabinsk. In addition to direct scheduled flights to Vienna, Harbin, and Dubai (launched in the fall of 2011), the company now operates a new Chelyabinsk-Burgas flight. Starting May 25, it will be operated every Friday using comfortable Airbus planes. The round trip tickets can be obtained for as little as 22,800 RUR (all fees included), the airline’s press service reports. ‘Burgas is Bulgaria’s second largest resort. This is a perfect place to spend a family holiday: warm sea, clean beaches, amazing nature.

Sverdlovsk Region division of Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service keeps questioning the legitimacy of an increase in OOO TZK-Aktiv’s authorized capital. The antimonopoly agency believes the business owner Koltsovo Airport failed to provide the natural monopolies regulating body with a petition for the agency to approve of the deal, namely, of an increase in TZK-Aktiv’s authorized capital through a 211.56m RUR investment; Koltsovo Airport obtained the money from the assets of Yekaterinburg-based International Koltsovo Airport’s fuel filling station. This is why the FAS ruled in October 2011

Ukraine’s Railway Transport State Administration’s interdepartmental acceptance meeting was attended by the representatives of the locomotives division administration and the company’s development and technological policies department as well as officials from Lvov Railways, Dnipropetrovs’k National University for Railway Transport, and representatives of the manufacturing plant. They looked into the results of Sinara (2ES6) and Granit (2ES10) freight locos operation tests. The tests were carried out at Lvov Railways. The testing took place between February 28 and March 28, 2012 in the

Ural Instrument-Making Plant is trying to avoid bankruptcy. The company submitted an application to Sverdlovsk Region Arbitration Court, asking for the court hearing to be postponed so that an out-of-court settlement could be reached. The court sustained the petition, and the hearing was put off till June 4, 2012. It was ZAO StroyService that placed an insolvency claim against Ural Instrument-Making Plant with the arbitration court. At the same time, a similar application placed by TyumenEnergoBank’s trustee in bankruptcy Deposit Insurance Agency State Corporation on behalf of the bank was

Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service approved of the petition placed by OOO KN Estate (based in Moscow and dealing in property rentals) for purchasing 31.3% of Khanty-Mansiysky Bank’s voting shares, which, combined with the voting shares the company had bought earlier, would result in a 51.29% shareholding in the bank, the FAS’s website reports. Incidentally, the decision as to on which terms Khanty-Mansiysky Bank (currently the property of Khanty-Mansiysky Autonomous Region Yugra) is to be privatized will be taken in the nearest future.

Bank Yekaterinburg and the tax authorities became parties to OOO Cardinal Technoplus’s bankruptcy proceedings. The Federal Tax Inspectorate in Yekaterinburg’s Verkh-Isetsky District applied for being included in the list of creditors (the sum in question comes to 88.22 RUR); so did the bank (the debt comes to 11.16m RUR). The application for declaring Cardinal Technoplus bankrupt was placed with the court by the company liquidator E. Tsyganova. The reason given for placing the application was that the creditors’ claims amounted to more than the debtor’s assets’ worth. The decision for the