August 8, 2014. The number of hostels available in Yekaterinburg is expected to double by 2018, the city council’s press service reports. There are currently 42 hostels (180 rooms, or over 1,000 beds all in all) in the city altogether. ‘The city council believes this hotel segment could prove useful for accommodating visitors who will arrive to take part in the large-scale national and international events, including the World Cup 2018, when some of the matches will be played in Yekaterinburg,’ the city council says. ‘During their inspection of the local hostels, Vladimir Bolikov and hotel

August 8, 2014. Around 10% of all the hydraulic facilities in Sverdlovsk Region remain abandoned, Head of the Ministry of Emergencies Ural division, internal service major-general Sergey Miroshnichenko announced during a press conference in Yekaterinburg today. ‘The amount of abandoned waterworks in Sverdlovsk Region has gone down to a minimum level over the last three to four years and now comes to less than 10%,’ Miroshnichenko said. According to Sverdlovsk Region Ministry for Natural Resources & the Environment, there were 540 dams in Sverdlovsk Region as of early 2014. 399 hydraulic

August 8, 2014. Russian Railways expect its shipment volumes to decrease by 1.4% to 1.7% compared with a year earlier, Prime refers to the company Vice President Anatoly Krasnoshchek as saying. The company is planning to handle 3,350m tons of shipments this August, which is 3.4% less than last August. At the moment, the target figure for so far has already been exceeded by 2%. According to Krasnoshchek, the coal and liquid cargo shipments are quite stable, while a certain decline is noticeable in the metal and chemical fertilizers shipments. Russian Railways feel, however, that this mainly

August 7, 2014. Sverdlovsk Region Construction & Infrastructure Ministry is planning to commission 2m sq m worth of housing in 2014, of which 1.1m sq m will be commissioned in Yekaterinburg, minister Viktor Kisselev said at a press conference. The construction ministry came up with this optimistic forecast after carrying a semiannual report for the first half of the year: over 770,000 sq m worth of housing were commissioned in Sverdlovsk Region over this period, including 354,000 sq m in the Urals’ capital. This figure is twice as big as the one for the first half of 2013, Kisselev said.

August 7, 2014. The German almanac Construction Yearbook 2014 is going to publish an article on ChTZ-Uraltrac (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation). According to the corporation’s press service, the article was written by Ian Hoffman, an excavator and bulldozer operator from Saxony who reconstructed his two T100 tractors made at ChTZ. ‘Ian Hoffman said in a letter he wrote to the tractor plant’s workers that he had prepared a forty-page article which dwells on the story of the T100 and on the plant’s history from the day the enterprise was launched to

August 7, 2014. Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation got a compliance certificate from the Federal Railway Transport Certification Register (RS FGT); the certificate was issued for the pilot batch of 1,000 hopper carriages 19-5153 meant for mineral fertilizers; the hoppers are mounted on 18-100 bogies, the corporation’s press service reports. The capacity of the new hopper comes to 70,0000 kg, the body volume comes to 83 m3. The model’s advantage lies in the fact that the cover lid can be removed. Mineral fertilizers are classed as chemically aggressive substances, which

August 7, 2014. Only 4% of Russian citizens got debts refinanced. Only 21% actually know this option exists, and 35% more heard something about this possibility. This means that the share of respondents who heard this term for the first time during the survey came to 44%. Such were the findings of a survey conducted by the National Agency for Financial Investigation (NAFI) in July 2014. Debt refinancing means you take out a new bank loan on more appealing terms in order to partially or fully pay off an already existing loan. It turns out people who are temporarily unemployed are the largest

August 7, 2014. SKB-Bank proved one of the country’s top five most reliable banks according to Forbes, the bank’s press service reports. The magazine drew up a rating of Russia’s fifty largest banks based on the difference between their assets and liabilities to be redeemed within a year. ‘The bigger the negative liquidity gap is, the more a bank needs some money. Such banks typically finance their long-term investments through short-term money, which is extremely risky, since the bank might not have enough funds to pay back its depositors and investors who come for their money within a year.

August 7, 2014. MMK Mill 5000 mastered the production of highly durable S700 flat stock (8-10mm thick, the Russian counterpart of S700MC based on EN 10149-2 standard) for its key customer, KAMAZ. The product is meant for cold-pressing of car parts, Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) reports. The experimental batch of rolled products was tested successfully by KAMAZ – the spare parts were subject to laser cutting, bending, and welding. The feedback on the rolled products was positive. MMK’s production and sales policy is bent on meeting the customers’ needs to the fullest, mastering the

August 6, 2014. The Moscow branch of MMK Trading House set a new record with its latest metal product sales, Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) reports. For the first time in the separate division of MMK Trading House in Moscow’s history, their stock sales of metal goods exceeded 18,000,000 kg. On Metallurgist’s Day (July 18), the Moscow office sold over 1,000,0000 kg a day. MMK Trading House was set up by Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works in November 2008 and is now MMK Group’s authorized supplier in all parts of Russia. The company’s mission is to make MMK Group’s produce more

August 6, 2014. Kometa, a plasma arc cutting machine made in Tver, is now being set up at the extrusion department of Uralvagonzavod, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s head plant. The company decided to buy a machine made in Russia because Uralvagonzavod has been using this kind of equipment since 2008, and the machine proved quite efficient, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service reports. ‘During the six years of operation, the machine almost never failed despite heavy use in a three-shift mode; most importantly, we get very high quality parts,’ the company reports. Thermal cutting is the

August 6, 2014. Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation is now the general sponsor of the World Tank Biathlon Championship that took off at a shooting range in Alabino on August 4. Just like last year, every member of the strongest team that wins in the end will receive a car – high-line UAZ Patriot – as a prize from Uralvagonzavod, the corporation’s press service reports. Teams from twelve different countries, including Russia, Angola, Armenia, Byelorussia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Venezuela, and others, are taking part in the event. Delegates from over twenty countries

August 6, 2014. The securities issued by the Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development (UBRD) were promoted to MICEX first-level quotation list, the bank’s press service reports. On August 6, 2014, the bank’s BO 1, BO 05, and BO 08 bonds will be transferred from the second- to the first-level MICEX Quotation List. The fact that the bonds were promoted in this way proves the company’s great reliability, financial stability, and managerial transparency. It’s worth noting that the UBRD’s bonds will also be features in the stock exchange’s updated list that was compiled in accordance with the

August 6, 2014. Yekaterinburg Library Center and Ural-Siberian Federation of UNESCO Associations, Clubs & Centers are embarking upon a new international project, UNESCO Information Club, with help from the city council’s Culture Department, Yekaterinburg Council’s press officer reports. UNESCO Information Center will inform the public about what the organization does, about its goals and its various educational programs and projects, will promote the establishment of more stable ties between the participants of Russian projects, and will improve information exchange and its mutual use.

August 6, 2014. A team of FIFA TV camera people arrived in Yekaterinburg in order to create an introductory clip on the Mid-Urals’ capital, the city council’s press officer reports. ‘There are two specialists on the team: Ashley Davis from the South African Republic and Andrew Jung from Ireland. While here, the FIFA TV workers have already filmed the old town and the city’s cultural landmarks. Tomorrow, they are planning on going to Bazhovskiye Mesta Park in Sysert and to Verknyaya Pyshma,’ the press officer says. The FIFA video engineers have already managed to travel to Samara, Saransk,

August 5, 2014. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development (UBRD) got a $30m syndicated loan; the deal was coordinated by Alfa-Bank, the bank’s press service reports. The contract under English law was signed by the Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development and Alfa-Bank on June 17, 2014. Alfa-Bank acts as the original creditor, the deal-maker, and the paying agent. Bayerische Landesbank Munich acts as the agent bank. The credit line has been opened for two years since the date the loan agreement was signed. The borrowing party is allowed to take out sums for three, six, nine, and

August 5, 2014. The Central Bank of Russia’s Ural division will start operating in Yekaterinburg on September 17, the new division’s head Irina Petrova said during her meeting with Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Evgeniy Kuivashev. The Governor’s Information Policies Department reports the division will comprise respective departments of Tyumen Region, Chelyabinsk Region, Orenburg Region, Sverdlovsk Region, Perm Territory, and the Republic of Bashkortostan. ‘We are now shaping our team and taking on people,’ Irina Petrova said. Ms Petrova actually used to work as the head of the Central Bank’s

August 5, 2014. Seven specialists from LEPSE (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation based in Kirov) attended a training course on working with AltiumDesigner, a multi-faceted system for computer-aided design of radio-electronic equipment. According to the corporation’s press service, the company will now design its printed circuits in 3D, with bidirectional data transfer onto mechanical CAD systems (including the SolidWorks the company has been using). ‘The basic forty-hour course gave the engineers an idea of how the system works. This necessary crash course baggage will help

August 5, 2014. Advanced technological developments will be used to prepare training pitches in Yekaterinburg in time for the world football championship of 2018. The city council’s press service reports the use of innovative technologies has to do with the high FIFA standards the football pitches must meet. For one, the authorities are planning to introduce a warm-up system at the training pitch of Kalininets Sports Club; the system will include a heating unit, some collectors, and polyethylene pipes that will be fitted under the lawn. Builders are considering a water-based solution of

August 5, 2014. Starting August 27, Ural Airlines are launching a new, scheduled flight from Moscow to Harbin, the company’s press service reports. Flights will be operated every Wednesday (the return flights will be operated on Thursdays). There is a stopover in Yekaterinburg; tickets are already available for booking. All of Ural Airlines’ flights are operated on the comfortable Airbus 320 liners that have both an economy and a business class section. ‘Harbin is known both at home and abroad as a uniquely beautiful place with amazing architecture and the atmosphere that could only be felt