January 20, 2015. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) was issued a certificate by Russian Maritime Register of Shipping: the enterprise is now officially recognized as manufacturer of shipbuilding steels РСD500Arc30(Arc50), РСE500Arc30(Arc50), and РСF500Arc30(Arc50) that can be up to 60mm thick when/if thermally treated. MMK rolled steel was declared to comply with the rules for classification, construction, and equipment of floating drill rigs and stationary offshore platforms and with the rules for classification and construction of marine vessels under technical supervision of the

January 20, 2015. Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s hockey team players are now getting ready for the opening game of the Russian Classic championship that will take place at the corporation’s Sputnik Stadium in Nizhniy Tagil. ‘On February 13, Vostochny Front (the corporation’s team) will play Zapadny Front (the Supreme Hockey League’s manager team). The names of the teams (‘Eastern Front’ and ‘Western Front’) were chosen in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Great Patriotic War V-Day,’ the corporation’s press service reports. The team members now practice twice a week, with Sputnik Hockey

January 20, 2015. ChTZ Uraltrac (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) won a tender for the delivery of two PK 65 lift trucks to the Federal Agency for Special Construction (Spetsstroy). According to Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service, the first yellow-and-black-painted vehicle will be shipped to Saint Petersburg, to one of Spetsstroy divisions. ‘The other PK 65 will be going to Plesetsk space port. Its final destination point is in Mirny, Arkhangelsk Region. This truck will be painted in Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s colors,’ the press service says.

January 20, 2015. A design office will be set up in Sverdlovsk Region to calculate the costs of launching Lastochka high-speed electric trains (created by Ural Locomotives, a member enterprise of Sinara Group) to take its passengers from Koltsovo Airport to Yekaterinburg and then to Verkhoturye, Governor of Sverdlovsk Region’s Information Policy Department reports. The decision was made after Lastochka’s pilot ride to Verkhoturye. ‘Sverdlovsk Region Government, in cooperation with Sverdlovsk Railways and Sinara Group, decided to set up a design office as part of our commuter company in order

January 20, 2015. Yekaterinburg hotels have managed to get at least 55% of their rooms booked and used since 2009; in 2015, the demand is expected to rise to 60%, the city council’s press service reports. The scale of available accommodation in Yekaterinburg more than doubled in 2004-2014: there used to be as few as 48 hotels in the city back in 2004; in 2014, the figure reached 109 (with five more hotels expected to open next year). ‘The hotel industry keeps on developing and is now ready to provide its guests with everything one needs for a comfortable stay in the city. Yekaterinburg hosts

January 20, 2015. Ural Airlines launches a new Moscow Yekaterinburg flight on January 19, 2015: the new U6 273 flight takes off conveniently at 8:30 AM. According to the airline’s press service, flights will be operated four times a week, Monday through Thursday, on the comfortable Airbus liners that have both economy and business class sections. In addition, the company’s existing U6 270 flight (Yekaterinburg-Moscow) will be operated more often. The departure time is 20:15 PM, with flights offered four times a week, Tuesday through Friday. The flight only used to be available twice a week,

January 19, 2015. Uralvagonzavod Corporation received a compliance certificate for its new set of 1,000 19-5153-02 innovative hopper cars, mounted on 18-194-1 makes, with the capacity of 25,000 kg on January 13, 2015. According to the corporation’s press service, the hopper’s cargo capacity comes to 76,000 kg, which is 6,000 kg, or 9%, more than that of its existing counterparts mounted on regular 18-100 makes. ‘Besides, the new hopper’s other important competitive advantage is that it has removable metallic top, which makes maintenance much easier throughout the entire lifespan. By

January 19, 2015. Yekaterinburg is now Russia’s No.1 in terms of per capita shopping space, leaving behind Moscow and Saint Petersburg, the city council’s press service reports. By the end of 2014, there was an average of 1,322 sq m worth of shopping space per every 1,000 residents. Ten new malls were opened every year for the last five years. There are currently 34 shopping centers in the Mid-Urals’ capital, with the total area of 835,000 sq m. 44% of all the shopping facilities in the city are large malls. The total area of all the shopping spaces in the city comes to 1,901,000 sq m.

January 19, 2015. Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (PNTZ, a member enterprise of ChTPZ Group) now issues product certificates that come along with its small and medium-size gas cylinders. The Group’s press service explains this is the new requirement set forth in the Customs Union regulations relating to safety of pressurized equipment. PNTZ cylinders only used to have some stamping on them with data for trained workers who operated the equipment. Under the new legislation, customers are now entitled to detailed information on the goods they purchase that should be clear to a person with any sort

January 19, 2015. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) came up with the first performance reports for the year 2014. The bank’s equity capital rose from 17.4bn RUR to 24.8bn RUR (as of January 1, 2015), which stands for a +42.4% (7.4bn RUR) increase. The UBRD is now one of Russia’s top fifty banks in terms of equity capital volume, the bank’s press service reports. The bank’s assets increased by 17.5% and reached 236.7bn RUR by the end of 2014. Its H1.0 (one of a bank’s fundamental reliability and stability indicators) stood at 13.31 on January 1, 2015 (the minimum value

January 19, 2015. Ural Airlines are launching a sale on their most popular destinations, the company’s press service reports. ‘Those who wish to spend St Valentine’s Day in Europe can benefit from the attractive rates on our Munich- and Prague-bound flights. If you fly to Munich on February 6-16, 2015, tickets for the flight from Yekaterinburg to Munich and back will only cost €275, and tickets from Yekaterinburg to Prague and back are available for €190. For the offer to be valid, your stay must not exceed seven days. All the fees and charges are included; the tickets are already available

January 16, 2015. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) was given the second place among all of Russia’s flat steel producers and zinc- and paint-coated rolled products by Metallosnabzheniye I Sbyt magazine for the second half of 2014. The magazine carries a biannual rating of the leading ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgical enterprises. MMK has always remained at the top of the list due to consistent implementation of its production development strategy which focuses on manufacture of highly profitable goods with high added value, MMK reports. In addition to this primary rating, MMK was

January 16, 2015. Transaero Airlines stopped operating flights from Yekaterinburg to Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport in January, Koltsovo Airport’s press service informed UrBC. It remains unclear for the time being when the flights will be resumed. Now Koltsovo Airport was warned of the stoppage at the end of December. At the same time, Transaero will keep on operating flights from Yekaterinburg to Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport. In fact, UTair Airlines also stopped operating its Moscow-Yekaterinburg-Moscow flights until the end of March 2015.

January 16, 2015. Russian travelers spent 40% less money abroad during the winter break (January 1-11, 2015), while their spending at home rose by nearly the same 40%, Bank VTB24 says based on its customers’ transaction statistics. The bank’s customers spent 1.6bn RUR abroad during the holidays, which was 40% less than in the first half of January 2014 and 17% less than in January 2013. The top five countries where Russians spent most were Italy, France, the United Arab Emirates, Austria, and the USA. This list looks almost the same as the previous year’s one, except for the fact that Finland

January 16, 2015. Vladislav Zhukov was appointed CEO of EVRAZ KGOK, Kachkanar Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise, and Vyacheslav Sarayev was appointed CEO of EVRAZ NMTP, Nakhodka Trade Sea Port. Both executives will assume office on January 16, 2015, the Group’s press service reports. Zhukov, who used to work as CEO EVRAZ Nakhodka Trade Sea Port, will now be in charge of EVRAZ KGOK’s long-term development, enhancing the efficiency of fixed asset investment, and working towards greater profitability. He is going to succeed Vladimir Bobrov. Sarayev, former Project Manager at Mezhegeyskoye

January 16, 2015. Kamensk Uralsky Foundry Plant (KULZ, a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) is going to start implementing its three-year national special-purpose import replacement program on friction materials in 2015. According to the corporation’s press service, this means all the building and assembly jobs need to be completed, up-to-date equipment needs to be bought and installed, the already existing products need to be improved, and new product types need to be mastered. ‘Last year proved a good starting point for this project: the plant met all of its targets, fulfilled

January 16, 2015. ChTPZ Group directed some 30m RUR to employee training at its pipe-manufacturing enterprises last year. 11,000 employees of Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant and of Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant were on professional development programs paid for by the Group. According to the Group’s press service, around 7,000 blue-collar workers got their first-ever qualifications, received additional job qualifications, or underwent re-training programs. Most of the employees got additional qualifications as welders, sling operators, repairmen, and quality technicians for the ferrous metals

January 15, 2015. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) delivered 20% more goods (+100,000,000 kg) to Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant (ChTPZ) in 2014, ChTPZ Group’s press service reports. Last year was a fruitful and record-setting one for MMK and ChTPZ. For one, MMK delivered over 570,000,000 kg of rolled stock to ChTPZ, including over 460,000,000 kg produced at Mill 5000; this has become the largest shipment in the two companies’ cooperation history. In 2013, Chelyabinsk customers received 477,000,000 kg of MMK’s rolled products. The increase in metal goods shipments primarily has to do

January 15, 2015. Danone, the transnational dairy foods giant, might close down its Russia-based plants in the long term in case the country’s economy keeps on deteriorating, TASS refers to Bernard Ducros, CEO and Vice President of Fresh Dairy Products Division in Russia and CIS countries, as saying. ‘We are not planning to close down the plants for the time being, but, naturally, it will all depend on the market situation, which could get very difficult,’ M. Ducros said. According to his estimates, all of Danone’s Russia-based plants should still be operating for at least another one or two

January 15, 2015. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) delivered 20% more goods (+100,000,000 kg) to Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant (ChTPZ) in 2014, ChTPZ Group’s press service reports. Last year was a fruitful and record-setting one for MMK and ChTPZ. For one, MMK delivered over 570,000,000 kg of rolled stock to ChTPZ, including over 460,000,000 kg produced at Mill 5000; this has become the largest shipment in the two companies’ cooperation history. In 2013, Chelyabinsk customers received 477,000,000 kg of MMK’s rolled products. The increase in metal goods shipments primarily has to do