UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 27, 2015. In Sverdlovsk Region, the price of commodity goods rose by 8.6% in June 2015 against December 2014, Sverdlovskstat reports. Besides, fossil fuels grew 33.1% more expensive, the prices of factory goods went up by 9.7%, and the prices in the distribution and production of electric power, natural gas, and water sector actually declined by 3.8%.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 27, 2015. Sverdlovsk Region’s tour operators are no longer going to deal in local travel: this is the decision Kommersant reports has been made at a recent round table discussion dedicated to local tourism development. Director of Samotsvetnoye Koltso Urala Association Artem Islentyev and Director of SME & Tourism Department Alexander Porodnov pointed out that even new travel routes and special offers can’t get the tour operators interested in organization of travel/tourism in the Urals. ‘The main reason for this distaste for local travel is that these trips

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 27, 2015. Seversky Pipe Plant/STZ (a member enterprise of Pipe Metallurgical Company) launched a special production shop to make punches for its continuous Fine Quality Mill, the company press service reports. The new shop opened on the eve of Metallurgist’s Day. The opening ceremony was attended by Sverdlovsk Region’s Vice Premier Yakov Silin, Pipe Metallurgical Company’s First Deputy DG Alexander Lyalkov, and STZ Managing Director Mikhail Zuyev. The company says the new shop will deal in both making and repairing the FQM punches. The place is fitted with two

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 27, 2015. Seversky Pipe Plant/STZ (a member enterprise of Pipe Metallurgical Company) got a memorial cross, made from section pipes, erected in Polevskoy-Yekaterinburg tract, the company press service reports. It is reported an Orthodox cross in one of the most dangerous sections of the highway was the company workers’ idea, supported by Polevskoy Council. The thing is made of section pipes that were welded together into the Eight-pointed Cross mounted on a cylinder-shaped foundation that reads, ‘Remember, Lord, the city in which we live, and the faithful who dwell

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 27, 2015. The interior jobs at Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s head plant’s new clinic, located in Dzerzhinsky District of Nizhniy Tagil, are nearly complete. The company press service reports medical equipment is currently being assembled at the exam and operation rooms. A Turkish contractor is in charge of buying office and special-purpose furniture. The façade of the building and the surroundings are also being completed. ‘An X-ray imaging unit, a CT machine, an MRI scanner, a mammography unit, and other pieces of equipment will be installed in large and well-lit

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 24, 2015. Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s head plant is going to make and present to the city of Nizhniy Tagil two full-size models of the first Russian steam train which was designed by Cherepanovs (father and son), local inventors and industrial engineers, in the 19th century. The company press service reports a copy of the locomotive will be mounted on the embankment of Tagilsky Pond by the Park Inn by Radisson Hotel. Incidentally, the hotel is being put up by one of the corporation’s member enterprises. The other one will be displayed at the plant’s open air railway

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July24, 2015. Kamensk Uralsky Foundry Plant/KULZ (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) paid some 440m RUR in taxes last year, which exceeded the figures for the year 2013 by 63m RUR. The corporation’s press service reports 162m RUR were directed to the town treasury and 27bn RUR were directed to Sverdlovsk Region’s budget. ‘The average monthly pay rose by 10% compared with a year earlier, with money premiums paid out to workers every quarter. The plant invested 84bn RUR in production upgrades and introduction of energy-saving and innovative technologies and

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 24, 2015. SKB-Bank now has one of the country’s five fastest-growing loan books, the bank’s press service refers to RBC research findings as indicating. The research focused on the retail lending dynamics of Russia’s fifty largest banks in the first half of 2015. Based on the research findings, most banks’ loan books shrank, with only ten banks (including SKB-Bank) managing to actually increase their lending volumes. ‘SKB-Bank is reported to have increased its loan book by 6.1%, or 3.6bn RUR, in the first half of the year. This secured the bank a place on the list of

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 24, 2015. Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant/PNTZ (a member enterprise of ChTPZ Group) designed new packaging for the delivery of its pipe products onto the white goods market, the company press service reports. A pilot batch of new boxing with 420,000 meters of welded small-diameter refrigerator pipes will be shipped to Minsk-based ATLANT and Lipetsk-based Indesit International. ‘The new packaging was designed from corrugated cardboard by PNTZ in cooperation with Tangsima. This packaging weighs 2.5 times less than the earlier variety, which means the plant could reduce the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 24, 2015. One of SKB-Bank’s consumer loans made it to the list of the ten cheapest cash loans in the country; the loan was assigned the 6th position in Sravni.ru’s rating, the bank’s press service reports. According to the bank’s representatives, because of an appealing interest rate, suitable repayment period, and uncomplicated requirements a borrower needs to meet, the offer (dubbed ‘All-Purpose Loan’) is the most popular product with SKB-Bank’s customers.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 23, 2015. Bank Koltso Urala had its plastic cards redesigned, with semi-precious and gemstones endemic to the Urals for the theme, the bank’s press service reports. The bank’s Marketing, Advertising, & PR Director Ivan Serebrennikov says the new cards reached the bank branches in mid-July. ‘We are now offering our customers Visa cards in special colors for each card type; the overall theme is that of the Ural gemstones’ shades and tints. For example, our most popular Visa Classic type presents a play of green and yellow hues and is dedicated to the famous Ural

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 23, 2015. The average asking price of studio apartments dropped by 5.3% on Yekaterinburg existing homes market compared with February 2015; that of one-bedroom homes declined by 4.4%, and that of two-bedroom ones by 4.3%, Ural Real Estate Chamber reports. The average asking price per square meter stood at 73,749 RUR on July 20, 2015, which was 3.2% less than in January and 3.8% less than in February. Prices went down in most of the city’s districts, with the exception of downtown Yekaterinburg, where the asking price actually went up by 1.4% over the last few weeks

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 23, 2015. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development now offers its express bank warranty in more Russian cities, including Yekaterinburg. It only takes a business two days to get their application for a state procurement tender backed up by the bank, their press service reports. ‘How quickly the bid is completed and the warranty to back it is obtained is a key factor in winning in the auction. A business that has just joined the system or only takes part in such tenders occasionally is the one which our simple mechanism of express security is aimed at. As

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 23, 2015. The rating agency Moody’s no longer carries SKB-Bank’s ratings, the bank’s press service reports. According to the bank representatives, the contract between SKB-Bank and Moody’s Investors Service recently expired, so the absence of rating information in the future has nothing to do with the bank’s performance. SKB-Bank is currently liaising with Russian rating agencies such as Rus-Rating and Expert RA and also with Fitch Ratings. The bank’s profits amounted to over 47m RUR in the first half of the year; SKB-Bank fully complies with all of the Bank of

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 23, 2015. Public hearings on Russian Copper Company’s Tominsky Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise took place in Dolgoderevenskoye, Chelyabinsk Region, on July 21, 2015, with 477 people (including regulatory bodies’ representatives) attending, the company press service reports. The hearings were dedicated to the environmental impact the development and processing of porphyry copper ore at Tominsky Deposit as well as the waste disposal facilities will make on the surroundings. The deposit’s potential is estimated at 28m tons of ore a year. Russian Copper Company’s

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 23, 2015. Seversky Pipe Plant/STZ (a member enterprise of Pipe Metallurgical Company) selected the year’s best mentors. This is the eighth time a competition to single out the most successful mentors has been conducted at the plant, the company press service reports. Seventeen nominees competed for the plant’s Mentor Of The Year Award. In the first round of the competition, a panel of judges assessed their professional achievements, their performance in skills contests, and their innovations and improvement proposals. Then, the selected contestants had to take a test

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, July22, 2015. MMK Trading House Kazakhstan and Russian branches delivered 97,500,000 kg of goods to customers in June 2015. This was 1.7 times better than a year earlier. This is the second time in the company’s history that MMK Trading House has shipped over 90,000,000 kg of metal goods to its customers in one month’s time. This June’s figures broke the previous record of October 2014. The company’s domestic market turnover came to 3bn RUR last month, which was a record-setting figure as well. The house’s Moscow branch also set a new loading record: 1,360,000 kg of goods

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 22, 2015. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development reduced the commission it charges on money orders on July 20, 2015, the bank’s press service reports. The minimum commission for a ruble money order now comes to 30 RUR and that for a foreign currency money order to $15. ‘To complete the transaction, the customer needs to produce their passport and the addressee’s bank’s details. Customers who transfer money directly from their UBRD bank accounts are offered the best terms,’ the press service says. For example, if you book a trip to a health resort for

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 22, 2015. The electric power supplier Oblkommunenergo directed 89.228m RUR to power recovery repairs this year. The company press service explains the funds are to be used on repairing Sverdlovsk Region-based power supply facilities such as transformer substations and electric mains. Money will be invested most heavily in the grids and stations of Polevskoy, Kushva, Kamyshlov, Pervouralsk, and Artemovsky. ‘We have tremendous plans for this year. In terms of money, the funding allocated for the purpose is many times greater than last year’s one. 14m RUR were directed

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 22, 2015. Ural Airlines introduced their new, Saint Petersburg-Tbilisi flight on July 20, 2015, the airline’s press service reports. There were sixty-five passengers on this first-time flight. The scheduled flights to Tbilisi will be operated every Monday, while the return ones to Saint Petersburg will be available on Tuesdays. As it happens, Ural Airlines also introduced the Moscow-Batumi flight as recently as July 10. This flight is operated on Mondays and Fridays.