UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 25, 2017. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) is introducing new, increased cashback options for its Visa Maximum cardholders; the cashback is available for a number of new seasonal items, the bank’s press service reports. Under the terms of the cardholders’ debit card agreement, 1% off the money you spend shopping goes back to your account; the amount goes up to 10% if you buy the seasonal items. Between November 1, 2017 and January 31, 2018, you can get 10% in cashback options when you use your card to pay at cafes and restaurants, for

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, October 25, 2017. Magnitogorsk City Council's Education Department carried a report on the recent A Thousand Trees for Children Project coordinated by Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK), the company's Information, PR & Advertising Department reports. 'We mostly selected schools and kindergartens where a lot of old, dead trees got cut down last year. These were quite a few establishments: new trees got planted next to 43 kindergartens and 34 schools, some 500 ash trees and over 500 young maple trees got planted there,' the Department says. MMK

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, October 25, 2017. New residents keep coming to Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) Industrial Park, MMK Information, PR & Advertising Department reports. 'MMK Industrial Park was set up upon the company management's initiative last September. Once the plant's calibrated goods production got transferred to MMK METIZ production site, MMK got some available industrial space to let. These sites can now get used by small and medium enterprises that can also make good use of all the infrastructure already in place,' says MMK METIZ Senior Manager for

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 25, 2017. Sverdlovsk Region came 14th in the new energy efficiency rating among federal constituencies with balanced budgets; the rating for the year 2016 was created by Russia's Energy Ministry, Energosovet reports. The rating breaks all the federal constituencies into three different categories based on their budget balance. The constituencies based in the Mid-Urals currently have some of the best-balanced budgets in the country. Sverdlovsk Region came last in this category (30.9 points), whereas Saint Petersburg (65.3 points), Khanty-Mansiysky Autonomous

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 25, 2017. More than 36,000 kg of sanctioned foods got confiscated in Sverdlovsk Region in the nine months of 2017,. Head of Sverdlovsk Region's division of Rospotrebnadzor Svetlana Terekhova announced at a recent press conference in Yekaterinburg. 'Most of these are apples (some 27,000 kg), as well as pears, tomatoes, strawberries, various kinds of lettuce, mushrooms, peppers, and celery. We also detected 172 kg of meat of unknown origin. The sanctioned foods that people try to import to Sverdlovsk Region most often come from Poland, Spain, Turkey, and

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 24, 2017. EVRAZ Holding’s Kachkanar Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise (KGOK) launched a special loco unit repair site at its Repair Depot 2, EVRAZ Holding Ural reports. EVRAZ’s new business system now makes it possible to cut back on the time and money needed for vehicle repair. ‘The depot now has several assembly sites, each designed for a certain type of locomotive units. Repairs are all done on a case-by-case basis and take place in several sections of the depot at a time. This ensures more efficient staff performance, better working conditions, and faster

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 24, 2017. SKB-Bank’s Board of Directors ruled that the bank’s Deposit Transaction & Commission-Based Services Director Anna Samuilova is going to be on the bank’s Board starting October 18, 2017, the bank’s press service reports. Ms Samuilova came to work at the bank’s Audit Department as a settlement operations expert in 1998. Three years later, she was appointed Head of the Internal Control Administration’s Audit Department. In 2002, she was transferred to the position of Due Diligence Director and then appointed Mortgage Lending Director in 2003. Samuilova

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, October 24, 2017. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) won the local round of the national Russian Socially Responsible Company Contest, MMK Information, PR & Advertising Department reports. The contest results were announced at the Chelyabinsk Region Trilateral Social & Labor Relations Committee meeting. MMK won in the Promotion of A Healthier Lifestyle in Production category. A set of documents has been forwarded to Russia’s Transport Ministry that is needed to make sure MMK can apply for the national round of the contest, in the same category. ‘MMK Group

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 24, 2017. EVRAZ Holding’s West Siberian Integrated Metallurgical Works (ZSMK) now makes B500B fittings (diameter: 12 mm to 40 mm) for customers in Poland and the Netherlands, EVRAZ Holding Siberia’s press office reports. The fittings with the all-purpose strength grade 500 MPA enjoys good demand on the European rolled goods market. ‘We carried out a number of all-round tests and trials to check the fittings’ operational parameters. The produce got tested by the two certification bodies Zetom (Poland) and KIWA (the Netherlands). The fittings proved highly efficient

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 24, 2017. A used car cost RUR 487,000 RUR on average on Sverdlovsk Region’s car market in the third quarter of the year. This is 8% less than one year earlier and 16% less than the country’s average (RUR 577,000), avto.ru reports. Used cars grew a bit older, from 9 years and 5 months to 10 years and 5 months on average. In the country on the whole, used cars for sale are now 10 years and 2 months old on average. Lada makes are still No.1 in terms of both demand and supply (19.1% of all cars customers look for and 21.6% of all cars for sale). In the country on the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 23, 2017. The telecommunications provider MegaFon is now opening a new, digital economy world to its government-run customers, the company press service reports. MegaFon launched a new Government-Run Business & Special Projects Development Department. Evgeny Ivanov is now head of the Department for MegaFon Ural. He will be in charge of developing and introducing MegaFon’s integrated services at government-run organizations and businesses in today’s digital world. ‘These are the government structures that act as trend-setters on the digital technologies market,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 23, 2017. Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK) is going to supply 18,400,000 kg of casing pipes with TMK UP premium threaded joints to LUKOIL’s daughter companies, TMK press service reports. ‘Under the terms of a recent tender, TMK is to deliver 12,000,000 kg of pipes to LUKOIL Western Siberia and 6,400,000 kg to LUKOIL Komi. These are casing pipes with the diameter of 114 to 339 mm and TMK UP PF, ТМК UP PF ET, TMK UP FMC, TMK UP GF, and TMK UP Centum premium threaded joints. Some of the joints are made from unique corrosion-resistant chrome/nickel alloy TMK C and

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 23, 2017. Ural Airlines are now offering their customers a weekly scheduled flight to Switzerland from Moscow Region’s Zhukovsky International Airport, the air carrier’s press service reports. Zhukovsky-Geneva-Zhukovsky flight will be operated every Friday between December 29, 2017 and March 23, 2018. Prices start from €100 (one way) and from €220 (round trip), all fees and luggage included. The tickets are already available for purchase. ‘Ski resorts in the Swiss Alps, chocolate or cheese fondue, the large hadron collider, and the super-precise Swiss watches are

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 23, 2017. Aide to the President of Russian Federation Igor Levitin paid a visit to Yekaterinburg-Arena’s construction site; the stadium is being reconstructed by Sinara Development in time for the World Cup 2018, Sinara Group’s press service reports. The Group’s Director-General Mikhail Khodorovsky told the official about the reconstruction process. ‘The most labor-intensive and technologically challenging stages of the project have by now been completed; we are currently finishing the interior of the rooms under the spectator stands, cleaning up the surrounding

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 23, 2017. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) now offers its customers private retirement plans, the bank’s press service reports. According to the Federal State Statistics Service, the average state pension amounted to RUR 12,391 a month on average, which is several times below the average monthly pay. There are currently a number of investment options on the market that allow for a long-term profit. A personal retirement plan is one of them. The idea is to make monthly payments that will be both protected against inflation and bring you

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 20, 2017. The 3d Urals’ Steel Cup Men’s Volleyball Championship closed in Nizhniy Tagil yesterday. The championship was set up in the memory of Ivan Romazan, a well-known metallurgical engineer, EVRAZ Holding Ural’s PR Department reports. ‘In the final round of the championship, EVRAZ Nizhniy Tagil Integrated Metallurgical Works (NTMK) team played against Chelyabinsk Integrated Metallurgical Works’ Mechel. NTMK’s team won 3:1. EVRAZ Holding’s Uralvagonzavod’s team also won the fourth prize,’ the Department says. EVRAZ NTMK’s team comprises workers from the plant’s

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 20, 2017. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) bought back 25,024 BO 05 Series bonds (SIN RU000A0JTVE3) at 100% of their face value on October 18, 2017, the bank’s press service reports. The bond owners were also paid all the accumulated coupon yield. The bank currently owns over 99% of the bond issue. The bonds buy-out was part of the bank’s liabilities spending optimization program. According to UBRD Financial Markets Director Vladimir Zotov, bonds grew too expensive once the Central Bank adopted a policy of gradually brining its key rate

UrBC, Mangitogorsk, October 20, 2017. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) Culture Palace will host an interregional conference on working conditions on October 19-20, 2017, MMK Information, PR & Advertising Department reports. The event is coordinated by Chelyabinsk Region Government, Chelyabinsk Region Trade Union Federation, Ural Federal District’s Trade Union Association, Chelyabinsk Region division of the Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, and MMK. Representatives of local authorities responsible for compliance with the labor safety requirements will present their

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 20, 2017. The average price of a used car is now 9% higher on Yekaterinburg car market than one year earlier and can be had for 533,000 RUR, Avito’s research findings indicate. AvtoVAZ makes are still among the bestsellers, and the most popular items tend to be over seven years old. ‘In the third quarter of the year, Yekaterinburg-based customers were mostly interested in automobiles that were produced more than seven years ago (price: 333,000 RUR on average; share of online search queries: 67%). Around 14% of Avito users based in Yekaterinburg wanted to get a car

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 19, 2017. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) keeps expanding its mortgage lending offers and has recently reduced the interest rate on its mortgage down to 9.3% a year (in case you buy a new home), the bank’s press service reports. The offer holds for new homes offered by a number of developers in Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Ufa, and Perm. The UBRD does business with major housing developers such as Forum Group, Premier, StroyPanelKomplekt, SK Legion, YuU KZhSI, Gosstroy, and others. The bank cooperates with thirty partners to offer