UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 20, 2016. Russian Institute of Directors got Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s corporate governance practices re-evaluated based on an updated National Corporate Governance Rating methodology. According to the company press service, the corporation’s corporate governance rating went up to 5++ (Average Corporate Governance Practices) as a result. ‘Corporate governance improvements based on the best global practices are part of our roadmap to privatize federally owned shares of the business,’ the press service says. When re-evaluating Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s CG

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 19, 2016. Sverdlovsk Region’s annual industrial production index declined by 8.3% in June 2016 compared with one year earlier, Sverdlovskstat reports. At the same time, the IPI rose by 4.9% in the first half of 2016 against January-June 2015 and by 13.8% in June 2016 against May 2016.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 19, 2016. Ural Airlines had to cancel all of its Turkey-bound flights, the air carrier’s press service reports. ‘Given the challenging political situation in Turkey as well as based on Rosaviation’s instructions, Ural Airlines have to cancel all of its Turkey-bound flights,’ the press service says. Passengers with tickets for flights to Antalya or Bodrum will be reimbursed and get their money back. Refunds are available from where the tickets were originally booked. In the meantime, tickets for the south-bound flights to be operated in the early fall are now

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 19, 2016. ChTPZ Group, Pervouralsk Metallurgical School (PMK), and Pervouralsk Council signed a cooperation agreement at the Innoprom International Industrial Exhibition in Yekaterinburg. The agreement aims to help gauge industrial enterprises’ demand for vocational school-leavers, the company press service reports. The agreement was signed by ChTPZ Group Director-General Alexander Grubman, Mayor of Pervouralsk Alexei Dronov, and PMK acting Director Elena Yugfeld. The three parties agreed to draw up a list of blue-collar jobs that Pervouralsk enterprises are likely

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 19, 2016. EVRAZ Holding’s Nizhniy Tagil Integrated Metallurgical Works (NTMK) got its analytical center certified for atmospheric monitoring and re-certified for water control and dust-catching equipment monitoring, EVRAZ Holding Ural’s press office reports. According to the certification body’s auditors, EVRAZ NTMK’s analytical center meets all the requirements set out by the GOST ISO/MEK 17025 general standard for testing labs. In order to get certified, the plant’s three labs had to carry out a series of tests under the auditors’ supervision. They took air and

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 19, 2016. Students from Bauman Moscow State Technical University’s Track-Mounted Vehicle Department SM 9 went on a two-week internship at Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s Ural Transport Machine-Building Design Office, the company press service reports. Back in the Soviet times, this university’s graduates had to come to work at the plant within the framework of their tuition-funding contract with the government. Quite few of them are still employed with the company, so the design office is hoping to resume this kind of cooperation with the college and to ensure an

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, July 19, 2016. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works reports the investment loan taken out by the company to finance the construction of the metallurgical plant MMK Metalurji in Turkey has been paid out ahead of schedule. As a result, MMK Group’s overall debt is now down to $403m. ‘The decision to pay everything back was made within the framework of the Group’s overall debt reduction strategy. The loan payout improved our balance considerably (since this had been a secured loan) and reduced our interest payments for the future,’ MMK says. MMK Group embarked on the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 18, 2016. 6,250 people living in Sverdlovsk Region have been officially warned that their driver’s license might be taken away from them temporarily unless they pay their debts, the local division of Russia’s Federal Service of Court Officers reports. ‘This has already proven effective. Most of the people who have a driver’s license would like to keep it at all costs, so a warning usually suffices to make people try and find the money necessary to pay their debts,’ the division’s press officer says. 2,283 debtors had their driver’s licenses withdrawn by court

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 18, 2016. ChTPZ Group coordinated a conference on dual education and new standards of blue-collar job training at the Innoprom 2016 International Industrial Exhibition to ensure a platform for experience-sharing and discussion on vocational training. According to the company press service, representatives of local authorities, educational establishments, and business community talked about the ways to work together and about the implementation of the Regional Industrial Cadre Training Standard. The Standard was designed by the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 18, 2016. The telecommunications provider MegaFon is launching an updated version of its Crimea Package, which means subscribers traveling to Crimea can now spend less, the company press service reports. The main thing is the 50% decrease in the cost of mobile Internet access, which comes for 5 RUR per megabyte rather than the 9.9 RUR charged previously. Also, subscribing to this option is now free of charge. Any outgoing calls still cost 5 RUR per minute and incoming calls remain free of charge. A text message sent to any Russian mobile phone number costs 3 RUR,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 18, 2016. Experts from Shkola 2025 Directorate took a tour of School 23 in Yekaterinburg’s Akademichesky District on July 14 and said it was ready to welcome students on September 1, Sverdlovsk Region Government’s official website states. Shkola 2025 Directorate coordinates the national new school program and manages the funds meant to partially reimburse the developers for the construction of a new school in the area. ‘All the construction and finishing jobs in the primary building are now complete. The classrooms and labs are fitted with all the necessary learning

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 18, 2016. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation got its new railcar, a close-top loose cargo gondola type 12-5190, certified; the railcar is meant for coal, ore, and other loose goods, the company press service reports. The new gondola car was designed by the corporation’s Ural Railcar Building Design Office according to technical specifications provided by Russia’s largest coal company SUEK. The railcar is mounted on a 25,000-kg-strong base 18-194-1; this base has already been used successfully at Ural Vagon Zavod’s drop-bottom gondolas 12-196-01 for over six years now. The

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 15, 2016. Sinara Transport Machine Holding’s Ural Diesel Engine Plant launched an up-to-date production facility for making new-generation diesel engines. Sinara Group’s press service reports the opening ceremony was attended by Russia’s Industry & Trade Minister Denis Manturov, Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Evgeny Kuivashev, President of Russia’s Union of Industrialists & Entrepreneurs Alexander Shokhin, and Sinara Group Chair of the BOD Dmitry Pumpyansky. The plant designed a new family of diesel engines and diesel power generators and put up a production

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 15, 2016. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s Kamensk-Uralsky Foundry Plant (KULZ) launched a new hydrogen-hardening line for steel friction discs, the ompany press service reports. ‘We used to have to take the discs to Yekaterinburg nearly every day to get this done there. Now the discs can be treated thermally right on the site, and our technological chain is now much more flexible and convenient. Once the discs have been hardened, they need to get their mechanical properties stabilized within the next twelve hours. Now that we have our own thermal treatment facilities,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 15, 2016. EVRAZ Holding was chosen as the primary rolled metal goods supplier for the construction of Volgograd Arena Stadium in time for the World Cup 2018. According to the company press service, the holding is to supply some 10,000,000 kg of metal goods for the project. ‘Our A500C fittings have excellent mechanical, operational, and technological properties as well as great concrete bonding characteristics, which ensures the end structure’s sturdiness, strength, and seismic resistance,’ the press service says. Volgograd Arena Stadium is big enough for 45,000

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 15, 2016. Rosatom Corporation presented Russia’s first industrial 3D printer at the Innoprom 2016 International Industrial Exhibition, the company press service reports. Both the machine and its software were designed entirely in Russia: the pilot sample was created by Atomenergomash’s research center and AO Nauka I Innovatsii. The printer is fitted with a 1,000-watt laser and a three-axis optical scanning system. The device’s printing capacity is estimated at 15 to 70 m3 an hour, which is comparable with its foreign counterparts’ performance. ‘This project requires

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 15, 2016. EVRAZ Holding’s Nizhniy Tagil Integrated Metallurgical Works (NTMK) announced it was going to put up a new blast furnace. The foundation of the future unit, with a symbolic commemorative plaque, was laid in the course of a solemn ceremony on Metallurgist’s Day on July 14, the company press service reports. ‘We keep investing in the development of our metallurgical facilities in Nizhniy Tagil, despite the unfavorable situation on the market at the moment,’ says EVRAZ Holding Vice President Maxim Andriasov. ‘The construction of new Blast Furnace 7 is an

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 14, 2016. Russia’s Vice Premier DmitriRogozin and the Vice Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Wang Yang paid a visit to Ural Vagon Zavod COrporation’s stand at the Innoprom 2016 International Industrial Exhibition, the company press service reports. The corporation’s Director-General Oleg Sienko accompanied the two state officials during their visit. Rogozin and Yang paid special attention to a track-mounted excavator platform designed at the corporation’s Ural Transport Machine-Building Design Office; the excavator is fitted with a

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 14, 2016. Russia’s Vice Premier Dmitri Rogozin arrived in Yekaterinburg on July 13. He came to the Innoprom 2016 International Industrial Exhibition and paid a visit to the stand of Russian Copper Company, the exhibition’s silver partner for this year. According to the company press service, Rogozin came with a large group of Chinese officials headed by the Vice Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Wang Yang. Russian Copper Company Chair of the BOD Igor Altushkin presented the stand to the Vice Premier. Rogozin could learn about the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 14, 2016. EVRAZ Holding’s Kachkanar Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise (KGOK) and the Byelorussian haulage and earthmoving equipment manufacturer BELAZ signed a long-term cooperation agreement at the Innoprom 2016 International Industrial Exhibition. The Russian company’s press service reports the agreement is valid through July 2019. The paper was signed by EVRAZ KGOK Managing Director Vladislav Zhukov, BELAZ Director-General Petr Parkhomchik, and BelTransLogistic Director-General Sergey Dzyubenko. The parties agreed to work together on production, sale,