March 20, 2013. Ural Airlines is now offering special Lenten meals to passengers who observe the Lent. To get this meal plan, you just have to book in advance, the company’s press officer reports. The special menu needs to be booked at least 24 hours before the flight at the time of paying for the ticket at the booking office or when booking through the Passenger Support Service (+7 343 345 36 45 or (toll-free around Russia) + 7 8 800 2000 262). What is more, meals can be booked in advance when buying tickets online. No additional fees are charged for this special meal plan, the air carrier’s

March 20, 2013. Some changes to the region’s budget for 2013 and 2014-2015 were adopted in the third reading by Sverdlovsk Region Legislative Assembly’s deputies today. The total inflow figures were increased by 6.4bn RUR and came to 158bn RUR, while the spending figures were increased to 177.8bn RUR, the region’s Finance Minister Galina Kulachenko said in her report. Ms Kulachenko said that the amendments had to do with a rise in the tax and non-tax payments to the budget. For one, donations from the federal budget went up by 3.3bn RUR and amounted to 11.7bn RUR. Most of this money (2.4bn

March 19, 2013. The Secretary of Russian Security Council Nikolai Patrushev paid a visit to Omsk-based Transport Machine-Building Design Office/KBTM (a member of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation/UVZ), UVZ press service reports. The Secretary was accompanied by Plenipotentiary Representative of Russian Federation President in Siberian Federal District Viktor Tolokonsky, Governor of Omsk Region Viktor Nazarov, and Omsk Region Minister for Industrial Policies, Communications, & Innovational Technologies Alexei Gladenko. The top executives of Uralvagonzavod Scientific

March 19, 2013. The assembling of the 36ft SAG mill and of the 26ft grinding mill took off at Mikheyevsky Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise’s construction site. At the same time, the foundations are being prepared for the second set of mills (36ft and 26ft) as well as the foundations for the 22ft grinding mills, the press officer of Russian Copper Company (RMK) reports. ‘All the primary building jobs are being completed in accordance with the schedule,’ says head of the company’s production department Haibulla Davlebayev. In addition, the top assembly of nine out of twelve Outotec

March 19, 2013. Starting March 27, the Italian air carrier Alitalia will be operating direct flights from Yekaterinburg to Rome’s Fiumicino Airport and back. The flights will be operated on Airbus A320 planes and will be available three times a week; the tickets are already being offered for sale. Alitalia reports the cheapest round trip tickets can be obtained for as little as 15,756 RUR. The spokesperson for Yekaterinburg Council says Italy’s largest air carrier entered the Urals aviation market in February. Yekaterinburg is Russia’s third city from which Alitalia offers direct flights to

March 19, 2013. Ural Airlines came second in the monthly punctuality contest coordinated by Moscow-based Domodedovo Airport on a regular basis. In February 2013, Ural Airlines operated 430 flights with no delays, the air carrier’s press service reports. Domodedovo Airport is now one of the airline’s key airports. It is worth noting that Ural Airlines increased the number of flights operated from Domodedovo Airport by 22% in 2012 against 2011 and thus proved Russia’s third most intensive user of the said airport.

March 19, 2013. Chelyabinsk Tube-Rolling Plant and Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (members of ChTPZ Group) shipped 1,724,000 tons of pipes to their consumers in 2012, which was 4.1% less than in 2011 (-74,300 tons). The drop in shipping volumes has to do with the declining demand for LDPs in Russia, ChTPZ press service says. Last year, ChTPZ shipped 980,000 tons of weldless pipes, 744,000 tons of welded pipes, and 695,000 tons of LDPs to consumers. Remarkably, even though the Russian LDP market is going through a general downfall, ChTPZ’s share in the total shipments of LDPs by home manufacturers

March 18, 2013. A performance test for the Uran-3000C magnetic unit has been completed at pipe-rolling shop T-2 of Sinara Pipe Plant (SinTZ, a member of Pipe Metallurgical Company/TMK) recently. The unit was installed at two ultrasonic testing units: Mayak-8-SinTZ and Scaner 5.03, the company’s press service reports. The ultrasonic testing units were fitted with the new machinery within the framework of SinTZ’s investment program on launching new and upgrading old equipment. This is done in order to enhance the quality of the company’s OCTG product segment. The magnetic unit Uran-3000C was

March 18, 2013. Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK), one of the world’s largest OCTG manufacturers, shipped its first batch of heat-insulated tubing made of super-chrome 13CrS steel to the consumers who will use it at Gazprom’s Bovanenkovskoye oil and gas condensate deposit in Yamal Peninsula. The batch amounted to 500 running meters of tubing, TMK’s press officer reports. Heat-insulated tubing is characterized by enhanced heat-insulating properties and is meant for use as the first section of the oil well tubing at oil deposits located in the Polar North. The tubing is assembled out of two

March 18, 2013. The management of OAO Development Corporation is going to devise a long-term development strategy for the company, the corporation’s press service reports. Development Corporation’s Chairman of Supervisory Board Boris Kirillov says the corporations’ structure and the line of its activity are quite complete and clear at the moment. ‘The Supervisory Board’s task is to elaborate a strategy for the implementation of the corporation’s core projects in a way that benefits the shareholder constituencies. We are now completing a correspondent strategic document for 2013-2016. This

March 18, 2013. Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (PNTZ, a member of ChTPZ Group) successfully passed yet another certification audit procedure for the production of materials for the aviation industry. The certifying authority spoke very highly of PNTZ quality management system, the condition of its production facilities and equipment, and commented on the highly skilled personnel and their expertise in the field of jobs they do, the enterprise’s press service reports. The audit was carried out by MATERIAL Certification Center that is authorized by Interstate Aviation Committee’s Air Registration

March 18, 2013. On March 22, 2013, one of Omsk Region’s largest enterprises, Transport Machine-Building Design Office (KBTM) that is a member of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation, will celebrate its 55th anniversary, the corporation’s press service reports. KBTM was set up in 1924 and kept developing until 1940 at Plant 174 in Leningrad. In 1942, it had to be relocated to Omsk alongside Leningrad Tank Plant 174. The plant’s Chief Engineer’s Department was converted into a self-standing specialized Transport Machine-Building Design Office (KBTM) OKB-174 on March 21, 1958.

March 15, 2013. The British e-weekly Anna.aero (Airline Network News and Analysis) declared Ural Airlines the winning air carrier in terms of the number of long-haul flights (that is, flights over 5 hours long) that are operated to Asia, the airline’s press officer reports. Over the last 12 months, Ural Airlines has expanded its Chinese destinations network considerably. For one, in February 2012 a link between Yekaterinburg and Harbin was offered by the company, and then another flight was offered to the same destination. What is more, the air carrier operates flights from Krasnoyarsk to

March 15, 2013. Sverdlovsk Region division of the Federal Consumer Rights Protection Service (Rospotrebnadzor) came up with the results of last year’s measures taken to detect the manufacturers and sellers of low-quality strong drinks, the service’s press officer reports. According to Sverdlovsk Region division of Rospotrebnadzor, the produce of Znak Kachestva (its Ural Velikiy vodka), of VKK Rus (its three-year-old Russian Tri Zvezdochki cognac), of Sredneuralsky Winery (its red semi-sweet Kruti Frutti Red Grape wine and semi-sweet Port Wine 72), of VVZ Alliance (Port Wine 72 special wine),

March 15, 2013. By 2020, 85% of public places in Yekaterinburg will have a Wi Fi access point. 75% of users are expected to use their mobile devices to enter the web, and 91% of households are predicted to have an Internet connection by then, the city’s official web portal states. What is more, the number of IT and communications specialists leaving local colleges is also expected to go up from 2,751 to 38,100 people by 2020, Chairman of Yekaterinburg Council’s IT & Communications Committee Mark Markov said at a recent meeting. There are currently over 550 functional Wi Fi access points

March 15, 2013. A solemn public gathering dedicated to the 70th anniversary of Ural Voluntary Tank Corps was held in Glory Square in Nizhniy Tagil. The Eternal Fire was rekindled in the square’s memorial unit after a several years’ break to commemorate the volunteers who went to the front and worked hard in the rear, Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s press service reports. It is quite symbolic that the fire was rekindled from Uralvagonzavod’s open-hearth furnace, as it was actually this corporation that suggested setting the corps up. A torch with the fire from the

March 15, 2013. The buying activity on the local housing market is now 10% lower than a year earlier, and experts report the market is beginning to ‘cool’, Ural Real Estate Chamber’s press officer reports. At the same time, the sellers have grown more active: the supply keeps rising by 2% a week on average. The number of apartments added to the Chamber’s ‘for sale’ database is now 19% greater than in January 2013. In absolute terms, this means the supply has risen from 6,800 to 8,100 apartments, so the customers now have 1,300 more apartments to choose from. As a result, prices on the

March 14, 2013. 33,000 people migrated to Ural Federal District from the near abroad in January-March 2013. They were primarily looking for a job, says Deputy Head of Sverdlovsk Region division of Russia’s Federal Migration Service Yuri Bezborodov says. Last year, about 184,000 people arrived in Ural Federal District in order to make some money. ‘There are 1.5m migrants in Ural Federal District altogether, 920,000 of whom have been officially registered here. Most of the migrants come to Sverdlovsk Region, Khanty-Mansiysky Autonomous Region, and Chelyabinsk Region,’ Bezborodov explained. He

March 14, 2013. In order to reduce the damage to road surface, save money on repairs, and increase the lifespan of the roads, Sverdlovsk Region Government issued a decree that imposes a temporary limitation on using the local highways during the spring 2013 snow-thawing season, Sverdlovsk Region Government’s Press Service & Information Department reports. Sverdlovsk Region Government’s decree 207-PP on a temporary limitation on using the local highways in 2013 (valid for 30 days), dated February 21, 2013, is valid on April 20-May 19 and means that vehicles with or without cargo with more

March 14, 2013. A new Lithuanian visa center will open in Yekaterinburg soon, Interfax reports. On March 12, an opening ceremony for Lithuania’s visa center took place in Moscow. The Lithuanian Ambassador to Russia Renatas Norkus said that more visa centers would open in 14 Russian cities in late March and early April. ‘Following the opening of the visa centers, a Schengen visa will become more easily available for those who are planning to travel around the Schengen area,’ the Ambassador said.