The first stage of the launch of a multi-faceted product design and lifecycle management system (based on Windchill platform) took off at ChTZ-Uraltrac, the Chelyabinsk-based production site of Uralvagonzavod Scientific Production Corporation. ChTZ-Uraltrac’s current strategic purposes are focused on entering the new segments of Russian and foreign markets through speedy product updates and the introduction of new technologies. For these ambitious plans to come true, the company needs not only to reconstruct its production premises, upgrade machinery, and design new products, but also to

The project for setting up Russian Magnesium in Sverdlovsk Region might be picked up by a new investor if the current proprietor decides to stop any further financing, RIA Novosti-Ural refers to Deputy Head of Sverdlovsk Region Government Alexander Petrov as saying. The plant Russian Magnesium that will produce magnesium metal and precipitated silica with a nanodimensional structure is now under construction. The company management announced earlier the construction would be completed in 2014. The project requires a total of 16bn RUR worth of investments; the first extension costs 6bn RUR.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 2, 2012. Sverdlovsk Region budget revenues rose by 7.8bn RUR due to non-payable receipts in the first half of 2012, the regional Finance Ministry’s press service reports. The regional budget revenues came to 77.3bn RUR, which is 7.8bn RUR more than in the first half of 2011. These data were reported during Sverdlovsk Region Finance Ministry’s meeting on August 1. The meeting was dedicated to getting budget revenues in the first half of 2012, ways of enhancing the efficiency of using these revenues, and the goals the Russian Federation Finance Ministry set for the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 2, 2012. Mayors of towns must be personally responsible for the performance of administrative committees, Head of the Governor Administration Yakov Silin said at a coordination meeting aimed at supporting law and order in Sverdlovsk Region. ‘We have some complaints to make to the local mayors in terms of how they comply with the administrative legislation. At the moment, 28 municipalities virtually gave up on the administrative committee’s performance. I feel the local authorities need to understand that if towns want to get financial incentives from us they need

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 2, 2012. Ural Airlines announces the launch of a new destination: Yekaterinburg-Budapest. The first flight to the Hungarian capital will be operated on October 2; flights will be offered every week using A 320 aircraft fitted with both a business and an economy class sections. Tickets are already available for sale for ?590 (round trip).

The net debt of Enel OGK-5 came to 25,635m RUR as of June 30, 2012, the company’s press service reports. In the first half of the year, the company produced 22,095 gigawatt-hours worth of electric power, which is 1,427 gigawatt-hours, or 7%, more than in the first half of 2011. Electric power sales reached 24,890 gigawatt-hours in the first half of 2012, which was 7% better than a year earlier, while the share of free market sales amounted to 84%. Revenues resulting from the company’s core business activity reached 31,238m RUR, exceeding the figures for the first half of 2011 by 5%. EBITDA

VUZ-Bank is now offering its business customers unique loan terms. Now it only takes one day an a very concise set of documents to get the decision on a loan when a company with good accounting records is involved, the bank’s press service reports. The bank gave up on its credit committee system that used to make the decision-making process so long. When it comes to customers with good financial records, it is the Business Customers Director Rustam Dautov himself who makes the decision on granting up to 10m RUR in the format of a working capital financing loan, an overdraft, or a guarantee

Starting August 1, 2012, Uralsevergaz stops supplying natural gas to YekaterinburgEnergo’s boilers. The reason behind this decision is that the latter failed to meet the payment schedule for the debts (for the natural gas shipments) and that the natural gas delivery agreement expired on July 31, 2012, Uralsevergaz’s press service reports. This means that YekaterinburgEnergo is to blame for the fact that a great part of Yekaterinburg residents will have no hot water supply. However, the supply of natural gas to socially important buildings will not stop. By the time the heating season was over

A work team was set up to cope with the problems of timber transportation in Sverdlovsk Region, Sverdlovsk Railways’ press service reports. A day earlier, on July 26, Head of Sverdlovsk Region Government Denis Pasler’s meeting with Head of Sverdlovsk Region Railways Alexei Mironov resulted in the decision to elaborate a set of measures aimed at supporting the region’s timber industry. 303 companies use timber shipments via Sverdlovsk Railways (148 of whom are based in Sverdlovsk Region). Yet just three enterprises (Bogdanovitch Treating Plant, ZAO Fancom, and Sagra Forestry) are responsible

Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) sustained the petition placed by Territorial Generating Company 9 (TGK-9, part of IES Holding) regarding the purchase of a 100% holding of voting shares in Territorial Generating Comapny 6 (TGK-6), FAS reprots. The agency provided a special decree for TGK-9 (valid for five years) in case the deal goes through. For one, FAS made it obligatory for TGK-9 to inform them of the transaction coming into effect within a ten-day period and to sell the power generating facilities at Novokuibyshevskaya Power Station 1 and Novokuibyshevskaya Power Station 2 to

The second extension to the cold-roll facility was launched at Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK); the launching ceremony was attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The facility, which has the capacity of 2m tons of goods a year, is mainly intended for the production of high quality cold-rolled and zinc-coated rolled products for the external and internal car parts in accordance with the latest technologies; what is more, these goods can also be used for making white goods as well as in the building industry. The project required a total of 44.5bn RUR worth of investments

A tension-leveling machine was launched in the test mode at Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) coatings shop. The machine was installed within the tin plating line. The unit is mainly meant for improving the final flat surface accuracy of tin plate. MMK is now Russia’s only producer of this kind of produce. Tin plate is mostly used for food packaging, for example, tinned food. The Russian market’s capacity is estimated at about 300,000 tons a year, of which at least 50% is produced by MMK. Over the last few years, some new, highly productive tin lines capable of making up to 1,200 tins

The Supervisory Board of the Association of Russia’s Mining & Metallurgical Union and the executive committee of Russia’s Mining & Metallurgical Trade Union’s Central Council came up with the results of the Mining & Metallurgical Enterprise with Great Social Efficiency Contest on the eve of Metallurgist’s Day. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) was declared the winner in the Conservation Activity & Resource Saving category and was awarded the diploma of the Russian Federation Industry & Energy Ministry, the Association of Russia’s Mining & Metallurgical Union,

Concern Kalina started reorganizing from an open joint stock company into a limited liability one. The decision to start the reorganization of Concern Kalina JSC into Concern Kalina LLC was supported by 5.24m votes against 1.19m of those who abstained, the company reports. The voting meeting also included the agreement on the procedure of exchanging Concern Kalina JSC’s shares for Concern Kalina LLC’s participant contributions: it was decided that Concern Kalina’s 6,438,348 shares (face value 70 RUR each) should be exchanged for a share in Concern Kalina LLC’s authorized capital. Concern

Yekaterinburg Leninsky District Court keeps looking into the criminal case involving the founder of the financial pyramid schemes Livingston Investment, Global Gaming Expo, and UTG Alexei Kalinichenko; the court heard three complainants today; the accused himself was not present at the hearing. Kalinichenko set up Livingston Investment, Global Gaming Expo, and UTG in 2003; the companies lured the gullible private investors in by promising an impressive weekly interest (allegedly the money was used for trading on Forex). According to the investigative team, the man used Meta Trader to upload