May 20, 2015. Sverdlovsk Region’s industrial production index declined by 3% in January-April 2015 compared with a year earlier, Sverdlovskstat reports. The index is currently 4.2% lower than in April 2014 yet 2% higher than in March 2015. Compared with January-April 2014, the industrial production index in the oil and gas sector dropped by 14.1%, that in the processing industries – by 0.4%, that in the textile and clothing sector shrank most dramatically, that is, by 45.2%, that in the vehicle and equipment production sector decreased by 41.6%. At the same time, the industrial production

May 19, 2015. Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev is going to ask the Russian Industry & Trade Ministry to consider offering state guarantees and protection to Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation, the company’s press service reports. ‘I intend to ask the Industry Ministry and the government officials to consider providing your company with state guarantees to the extent that is necessary to make sure existing contracts are met, especially the contracts relating to production of civil-purpose railway carriages,’ the corporation quotes the Prime Minister as saying. The

May 19, 2015. Private individuals are expected to pay around 890m RUR worth of taxes to Sverdlovsk Region budget in 2015, which is 8% less than a year earlier, the Federal Tax Service’s regional division states preliminarily. As of May 1, 2015, over 171,000 tax declarations have been submitted by private individuals, which is 11% more than in 2014. Some 102,000 taxpayers applied for property-related tax deduction and 50,000 more applied for income tax relief. This means 4.7bn RUR are subject to being paid back to taxpayers, which figure exceeds that for 2014 by 16%.

May 19, 2015. Uralsib, a financial company, could be sold to the owner of Moscow Credit Bank Roman Avdeyev for a token price of 1 RUR, Vedomosti reports. The company owner Nikolai Tsvetskov intends to sell 75% plus 1 share of the company’s stakes because of its dramatically deteriorating financial performance. Since no customer has been in sight for a few years now, the businessman is going to sell the shareholding for a token amount. Uralsib currently comprises a bank, a leasing, insurance, and management company, and a non-state retirement fund.

May 19, 2015. The number of faulty food items with quality and safety problems offered for sale at Sverdlovsk Region retail stores rose by 1.2 times last year compared with a year earlier, Sverdlovsk Region division of Rospotrebnadzor (the state consumer rights watchdog) reports. 7,333 instances when poor quality foods were on sale at stores were detected in 2014. Most of the cases were related to violation of trade regulations (67%) and manufacturing defects (27%). The number of cases when foods were offered for sale that were past their sell-by date went up by 1.5 times. Rospotrebnadzor

May 19, 2015. The number of Russians who trust the national banking system has dropped from 74% down to 56% in the last year, the findings of a research conducted by the National Agency for Financial Studies (NAFI) indicate. This figure is a four-year low: in 2012, 64% of Russians trusted their banks, while in 2013 and 2014, the figures stood at 78% and 74%, respectively. Nevertheless, lending institutions are still at the top of trust ratings. Insurance companies are in the second place: 35% of respondents are confident about using their services (compared with 38% a year earlier). 19% of

May 18, 2015. Representative of Azerbajan government authorities and business community paid a visit to Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s pavilion at TransCaspian 2015, an international transport and logistics exhibition. According to the corporation’s press service, Azerbaijan Railways’ Dzhavid Gambar oglu Gurbanov said in the Q&A session that keeping on cooperating with the Russian company was their priority. ‘We want Azerbaijan to use Russian railway carriages. We know everything about them, they are easy to operate, and, finally, they are reliable. Besides, our two countries are close to

May 18, 2015. Uralvagonzavod Corporation joined SITDEF 2015, the 5th international defense technologies exhibition in Lima, Peru, on May 14-17, 2015. The event was hosted by the country’s Armed Forces Headquarters. According to the corporation’s press service, their stand was part of the general Russian Federation’s exhibition. On the first day of the event, their pavilion was visited by Peru’s Defense Minister Jakke Valakivi and Commanding General of the Peruvian Army Ronald Hurtado Jiménez. Visitors could take a look at the produce of the corporation member enterprises (Nizhniy Tagil-based

May 18, 2015. Students of Pervouralsk Metallurgical College on ChTPZ Group’s Future of White Metallurgy Program are going to represent their company in the final rounds of the 3d National WorldSkills Russia 2015 Championship, the Group’s press service reports. Nine ChTPZ Group students and alumni will compete in six skill categories: numerous WorldSkills Russia winners Alexander Pauls and Ilya Ivanov will compete in Mechatronics, Roman Barkhatov and Alexander Ilyinykh will represent their company in Mobile Robotics, and Nikolai Vinogradov and Anton Shalakhov will compete in Industrial

May 18, 2015. Sverdlovsk Region residents spend 42% of their income on repayment of loans, Izvestiya refers to the United Credit Bureau’s data as stating. On average, a borrower owns their bank 359,000 RUR, makes the average monthly payment comes to 12,300 RUR, and has 1.7 loans per capita. According to the Bureau, the average income/loan repayment ratio of a Russian citizen comes to 41%. Russians living in the Northern Caucasus have the greatest amount of loans, while those living in Moscow, Sakhalin, and Yamalo-Nenetsky Autonomous Region have the smallest loan burden. Sverdlovsk Region came

May 18, 2015. Yekaterinburg rental rates have dropped by an average of 6% since the beginning of 2015, Ural Chamber of Real Estate reports. ‘The average monthly rent for studio and one-bedroom apartments in Yekaterinburg decreased by 6% in the four months of 2015, while that for two-bedroom apartments went down by 3%. Compared with the year 2014, prices declined by 13% (studios), 11% (one-bedroom apartments), and 24% (two-bedroom ones),’ says head of the Chamber’s Analytical Department Mikhail Khorkov. According to Khorkov, these changes mostly affected the owners, whereas the tenants, who

May 15, 2015. MMK Group’s metal goods-making MMK-METIZ is mastering new and unique metal goods varieties with the help of innovative technologies, the company reports. For one, the company now makes LB-52MK welding electrodes meant for manual arc welding of root welds, cap welds, and filling welds of metal frames and main pipes in the oil and gas sector, where the metal the welds are made from must be particularly viscose and moldable at both normal and low temperatures. Additionally, MMK-METIZ mastered the production of OZL-6MK electrodes meant for manual arc welding of equipment that is

May 15, 2015. ChTZ Uraltrac (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) won a tender for the delivery of three PK 65 loading trucks to the Federal Special-Purpose Construction Agency (Spetsstroy) by July 2015, the corporation’s press service reports. ‘ChTZ already delivered two such loaders to the military construction company in December 2014. These were sent to Spetsstroy’s Saint Petersburg and Severodvinsk branches. The new set of PK 65 loaders will have an additional option: the machines will be fitted with heat-start fuel filters, which will ensure their unfailing performance in

May 15, 2015. 985,591 m2 of housing got commissioned in Sverdlovsk Region in January-April 2015, which was 2.2 times more than a year earlier, Sverdlovsk Region Government’s website states. According to Sverdlovskstat, most of the new buildings (nearly 373,000 m2 all in all) were put up in Yekaterinburg. Over 88,000 m2 worth of new homes appeared in Sysert, over 57,000 m2 – in Beloyarsky, over 55,000 m2 – in Verkhnyaya Pyshma, over 40,000 m2 – in Nizhniy Tagil, nearly 35,000 m2 – in Berezovsky, over 30,000 m2 – in Kamensk Uralsky, nearly 29,000 m2 – in Pervouralsk, and nearly 27,000 m2 – in

May 15, 2015. Over 20 tax crimes were detected in Sverdlovsk Region in the first quarter of 2015, Deputy Head of Sverdlovsk Region division of Russia’s Federal Tax Service’s Control Department Viktor Bachurin announced at a press conference. According to the data he provided, tax authorities submitted files for 237 tax inspections to investigative authorities last year; as a result, forty-four criminal lawsuits were instituted by the investigative committee. In the first quarter of 2015, forty-eight files were submitted, resulting in twenty-two criminal lawsuits. Six cases are related to tax

May 15, 2015. Based on the number of travel bookings for the summer of 2015, Yekaterinburg proved one of Russia’s top ten cities for travelers, Travel.ru refers to its research findings as indicating. Saint Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan, Kaliningrad, Vologda, Krasnodar, Sevastopol, Yaroslavl, and Nizhniy Novgorod are also on the list. Travelers are planning to come to Yekaterinburg for three days on average and to pay some 2,200 RUR a day for their hotel stay. This year, Sochi, Anapa, Yalta, Gelendzhik, Yeisk, Zelenogradsk (Kaliningrad Region), Kislovodsk (Stavropol Territory), Listvyanka (Lake

May 15, 2015. Sverdlovsk Region-based agricultural businesses seem to have no way of reaching national chain stores to get their produce sold in Yekaterinburg. Pervouralsk-based Bitimsky Cooperative only managed to land a contract on the delivery of its dairy produce to supermarkets in Academic District, Yekaterinburg. The company explains that the current situation makes it difficult for them to promote its foods outside Pervouralsk. ‘So far, we have managed to sell our goods through kiosks in Academic District. The national chain stores require that we offer them bonuses and take back

May 14, 2015. Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation has taken part in Transport, Transit & Logistics TransCaspian International Exhibition in Baku, Azerbaijan, for the first time this year. According to the corporation’s press service, visitors to the exhibition could see seven life-size railway vehicle samples on display both on the open-air site next to the corporation’s pavilion and at Baku-Passagirskaya Station. ‘We decided to present our produce because of our history of close cooperation with Azerbaijan’s government authorities. A contract for the delivery of

May 14, 2015. A solemn ceremony was held in Pervouralsk today to celebrate the 81st anniversary of Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant/PNTZ (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation). The ceremony took place next to the monument dedicated to the plant’s legendary director F.A. Danilov. The plant’s first sixty-four pipes were rolled at the pipe-drawing department on May 13, 1934. ‘Dear fellow workers, I congratulate you on the special day in the history of Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant! PNTZ stands for a highly professional team of purposeful and dedicated present and past workers. Thanks to this

May 14, 2015. The Bank of Russia annulled Yekaterinburg-based Plato-Bank’s license on May 13, 2015, the regulatory body’s official website states. The decision was taken since the bank failed to comply with the federal banking legislation and the Bank of Russia’s normative acts. Besides, Plato-Bank was unable to accumulate sufficient own funds by January 1, 2015 yet never applied for a status change in order to become a non-banking lending institution. Plato-Bank was a member of the deposit insurance system. As the annulment of a license is classed as an insured event (as set forth in Federal