October 22, 2014. According to Rosstat, the official unemployment rate in Sverdlovsk Region stood at 6.1% in the second week of September. 69% of the local population (2,268,700 people) are economically active and 64.8% (2,130,000 people) are currently employed. 138,700 people are unemployed at the moment.

October 22, 2014. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) and Klyuchevsk Ferrous Alloys Works (a member enterprise of MidUralGroup) signed a $5m loan contract, which means the total amount of funds available through credit lines now reaches $20m. The money will be directed to financing of the company’s working capital, the bank’s press service reports. The UBRD has been doing business with the MidUralGroup member enterprises since 2010. The group relies on the bank’s credit lines, leasing options, and guarantees to the accounts of fiscal authorities, the Federal Customs

October 21, 2014. Czech Airlines might reduce the number of Prague-Yekaterinburg flights planned for this winter, Kommersant refers to the airline’s press service as saying. Fewer flights will be operated to Samara, Saint Petersburg, Rostov, and Ufa as well, while Perm-Prague flights will be cancelled even before the New Year recess. According to the Czech media, low demand for Europe-bound flights is behind the air carrier’s decision. Koltsovo Airport’s press service reports no information regarding a reduction in the number of Czech Airlines’ flights has been provided yet.

October 21, 2014. Ural Mining & Metallurgical Company (UMMC) is planning to get one third of its $5bn debt refinanced in 2015, Prime refers to the company’s Director-General Andrei Kozitsin as saying. Kozitsin explained the company’s primary creditors are Sberbank, Gazprombank, and VTB. ‘We have no intention of borrowing through public offerings. Our debts to the three banks amount to around $5bn, including $1bn owed by Kuzbassrazrezugol. We keep working on our refinancing schemes and the long- and short- term money options. Next year, slightly less than a third of the sum total will be

October 21, 2014. The all-pervading snow and cold temperatures in Sverdlovsk Region are making harvesting very difficult to complete, Sverdlovsk Region Food & Agriculture Ministry reports. ‘The fields are full of snow, and our vehicles can’t operate there. We do hope the snow melts and we’ll be able to gather some of the remaining crops and vegetables off the frozen ground,’ says Sverdlovsk Region Food & Agriculture Minister Mikhail Kopytov. According to Kopytov, things look the glummest in terms of crop harvesting: 15% of the total yield, or 55,000 hectares, are still out there in

October 21, 2014. Some offenses were detected in 89.8% of cases cash-register equipment was used in Sverdlovsk Region in the three quarters of 2014. A year earlier, the figure stood at 78.8%, Sverdlovsk Region division of the Federal Tax Service says. As of October 1, 2014, 84,778 till equipment units have been registered with Sverdlovsk Region’s fiscal bodies. In the nine months of 2014, the local fiscal authorities coordinated 2,827 inspections (15.2%, or 373 inspections more than a year earlier), including 2,220 checks of how the equipment is applied, 455 checks of completeness of the

October 21, 2014. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development is complying with its obligations to bondholders in accordance with all the statutory documentation, the bank’s press service reports. The bank proceeded with the third coupon payments on its BO 05 bonds: investors were paid a total of 117.18m RUR (58.59 RUR per share). There 2m BO 05 bonds (total face value 2bn RUR) currently in circulation. The third and fourth coupon rate was set at 11.75% a year (58.59 RUR per 1,000-ruble bond); the next coupon payment on BO 05 bonds is scheduled for April, upon which a buy-out offer

October 20, 2014. ChTZ Uraltrac (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) shipped its DET 250 bulldozer to one of Kazakhstan’s energy sector enterprises, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service reports. ‘This is actually the third DET that has been delivered to this neighboring country this year. Diesel electric tractors get bought not only by Kazakh energy sector companies but also by ore mining and processing enterprises. Shipments have been handled with the help of Spets Avto from Shimkent. The same dealer actually shipped four B10M bulldozers with elastic couplings to

October 20, 2014. Kaspersky Lab carried a list of the Urals’ most cyber-unsafe cities, the company’s press service says. 38% of Ural Federal District-based Internet users were faced with an Internet security threat at least once in the third quarter of the year; this figure, in fact, is the year’s all-time low. In the previous quarter, the figure actually stood at 41%, while in the Q3’14, the number of malicious objects per user dropped dramatically. In Nizhniy Tagil and Chelyabinsk, for example, the number of such objects was almost halved. At the same time, Nizhniy Tagil still turned out to

October 20, 2014. A new power-generating unit is expected to be put up at Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s head plant in the course of thermal power station reconstruction. The project has been elaborated by Saint Petersburg-based Transmashproyekt, the plant’s reliable partner of many years, the corporation’s press service reports. As soon as the construction permit has been granted, an auction will be held for the contractors. The main criterion is whether the contractor is willing to both put up the unit and remain in charge of its operation and maintenance in the future. The construction is

October 20, 2014. The Urban Planning Council under the Governor of Sverdlovsk Region adopted a new reconstruction concept for Yekaterinburg Central Stadium; this was done in preparation for the World Cup 2018. The FIFA adjusted their site requirements recently: the stadium now must be big enough for 35,000 spectators (rather than the 45,000 required earlier). This is why the Russian Federation Government asked the parties in charge to come up with the new design solutions and make changes to the project design documentation. According to Governor of Sverdlovsk Region’s Information Policies

October 18, 2014. MMK Group’s consolidated steel output went up by 10.3% in the three quarters of 2014 compared with the nine months of 2013 and amounted to 9,959,000,000 kg, the Group reports. The company shipped 9,277,000,000 kg of ready goods to its customers, which exceeded the figures for a year earlier by 11.4%. The output of high value-added (HVA) produce rose by 2.9% in the nine months of 2014 and came to 4,134,000,000 kg.

October 17, 2014. Omsktransmash (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) employed graduates of the Urals- and Siberia-based colleges, the company’s HR Director Ekaterina Vetchinkina announced in the course of a round table discussion dubbed Hunting for Pros: How Can Education and Business Face the Government’s Key Task? According to Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service, Vetchinkina said in her report that the recently hired young graduates majored in Machine-Building Technology, Electric Engineering & Electric Equipment, Thermal Engineering, Radio Equipment, Production

October 17, 2014. Court officers made the subsidiary of Ural Federal University in Sredneuralsk stop operating for sixty days, says Sverdlovsk Region division of the Federal Service of Court Officers. The decision to impose a temporary operating ban on the subsidiary followed an inspection by Rospotrebnadzor (the state consumer rights watchdog). The agency’s inspectors determined that the college building’s material resources and equipment did not meet the federal state educational requirements for vocational secondary education establishments. The UFU subsidiary does not possess an outdoor

October 17, 2014. 1,398,400 sq m worth of new housing got commissioned in Sverdlovsk Region in January-September 2014, which exceeded the figures for January-September 2013 by 1.9 times, Sverdlovskstat reports. 16,023 apartments were built (compared with 8,175 apartments a year earlier); there was an average of 324 sq m worth of new housing per 1,000 residents (compared with 169 sq m in January-September 2013). In the nine months of 2014, the new housing output was higher than a year earlier in 55 cities and towns in Sverdlovsk Region. As for Yekaterinburg, 633,900 sq m of new housing were

October 17, 2014. 1,694 new business owners registered with Sverdlovsk Region division of Rospotrebnadzor in the nine months of 2014. 500 applications were turned down, the division’s press service reports. According to Rospotrebnadzor, 948 applications have been submitted for the first time, 248 applicants are registering additional information and changes in the agency’s register of enterprises. Out of the total number of applications submitted, 36 were placed through the United Government Services Portal and 38 were placed through multi-purpose centers. Sverdlovsk Region division of

October 17, 2014. Budget Carrier, a 100% low-cost subsidiary of Aeroflot, is now clear about its destinations network, Interfax refers to sources within Aeroflot as saying. In 2014, the new low-cost airline will operate flights to Surgut, Perm, Yekaterinburg, Ufa, Samara, Kazan, Volgograd, Belgorod, and Tyumen. The new airline applied to Rosaviation for the Air Operator’s Certificate on Tuesday. Aeroflot set up Budget Carrier on September 16 to replace the sanctioned low-cost airline Dobrolyot. Sheremetyevo International Airport provided the company with its facilities to operate flights from

October 16, 2014. Uralvagonzavod Corporation presented the logo for the Russian Classic Supreme Hockey League’s open-air championship match in Nizhniy Tagil. According to the corporation’s press service, the city’s most large-scale event is going to take place at the corporation’s head plant’s stadium during the League’s Season 5. Sputnik, the local team, and Yuzhniy Ural from Orsk are to compete in the game. The event will be aired by the TV channel Russia 2. The first two Russian Classic games were hosted by Krasnoyarsk and Chelyabinsk. Five different cities aspired to host the Russian

October 16, 2014. During Sverdlovsk Region’s delegation’s visit to Minsk, an agreement of intent was signed by Sinara Transport Machines (a member enterprise of Sinara Group) and Byelorussian Car Factory, the managing company of BelAZ Holding; the agreement has to do with the use of DM 185 engines in BelAZ dump trucks, Governor of Sverdlovsk Region’s Information Policy Department reports. The agreement was signed by Director-General of Byelorussian Car Factory/BelAZ Petr Parkhomchik and Director-General of Sinara Transport Machines Evgeniy Gritsenko; Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Evgeniy

October 16, 2014. The new tram R1 (Russia One) designed by Uraltransmash (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) will be displayed at the ExpoCityTrans 2014 Exhibition at MosExpo International Exhibition Center in Moscow on October 29-November 1, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service reports. Now R1 is Russia’s first low-floor tram that is currently unique to this country. The tram can boast a lot of technological novelties and new options, including the wireless Internet access, GPS and GLONASS navigation, seven HD CCTV cameras, air conditioning, and antibacterial