UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 23, 2018. Rosatom’s Ural Electromechanical Plant/UEMZ in Yekaterinburg recently underwent civilian goods production audit by France’s Schneider Electric SAS and Russia’s Rusatom-Elektronika (RASU). According to RASU’s press service, the audit was necessary in order for the company’s electro-technical produce to enter the international market. It was determined that UEMZ is organizationally fit to make USG — Ural Switchgears low voltage electrical devices that meet all of the EU and the IEC requirements. The devices are used within electric power supply systems as

UrBC, Moscow, July 23, 2018. Russian travelers tend to prefer international vacations this summer and mostly head for countries where no entry visa is required, tutu.ru reports. Turkey remains the most popular destination as always: the share of Russians going there in the summer rose from 19.91% last year to 28.21% in 2018. Greece comes next on the list, even though its share dropped from 8.8% down to 7.54%. Cyprus is No. 3 this year; its share of travelers increased from 3.66% to 6.34%. Trips to Armenia grew 62% more expensive in the course of one year and now cost RUR 22,600 for the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 23, 2018. Ural Mining & Metallurgical Company’s Bogoslovsky Plant will have to pay RUR 420,000 in fines after an electrician got killed in their Severo-Peschanskaya Mine, Sverdlovsk Region division of the State Labor Inspectorate’s website states. The accident occurred on May 4, 2018. The worker fell down from a height and died of injuries. ‘It was determined that poor organization of labor was the main cause of the accident,’ the website says. The ensuing investigation revealed a number of violations of Article 5.27.1 of the Russian Federation Administrative

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 20, 2018. EVRAZ NTMK’s charity marathon moved on from the plant’s mechanics to the rail beam department’s workers this month; the symbolic ‘relay baton’ was handed over from one department to another at a meeting chaired by the Managing Director, EVRAZ Holding’s press service reports. The plant’s mechanics spent about two months doing their part of the project, with all the subdivisions of the Senior Mechanic’s Department taking part. ‘Schools and day cares in remote locations rarely get focused on, so we decided to support Kindergarten 34 in the village of

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, July 20, 2018. Chelyabinsk Region’s businessmen and women took part in a round table discussion on the best social entrepreneurship practices; the video conference got coordinated by Russia’s Chamber of Commerce & Industry, the press service of South Urals CCI reports. The event was organized by Russia’s Chamber of Commerce & Industry in cooperation with the Regional Social Program Foundation and a number of constituency-level CCIs. The Chamber’s Vice President Elena Dybova moderated the discussion. She said social entrepreneurship was rather a booming thing these

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 20, 2018. Sverdlovsk Region’s court officers issued 71,440 warrants this year so far that impose a temporary ban to leave the country on locals with unpaid debts. Their accumulated debt exceeds RUR 58bn, Sverdlovsk Region division of Russia’s Federal Service of Court Officers’ press service reports. Among the debtors are 9,541 people with unpaid child support (total amount: RUR 1.8bn). Over 2,700 people have unpaid housing bills (total amount: over RUR 99m). 3,937 people have unpaid traffic fines (total amount: RUR 120m). 1,814 people also owe RUR 234m in taxes and

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 20, 2018. 10,000 people are expected to come to the famous Usadba Jazz Open Air Festival in Yekaterinburg this Saturday. According to MegaFon’s press service, their customers will be given special treatment, with a musical show, a comfortable lounge area with smartphone chargers, autographs from the show’s headliners, great quality connection, and high-speed Internet. Russia’s largest open air event in the jazz, funk, world music, soul, indie, and electronic music sector is held in Yekaterinburg every summer. This time, Sansara, Secret Atelier, Daraa Tribes

UrBC, Moscow, July 20, 2018. The Russian State Duma approved of the pension reform bill after the first reading. Nearly all of the United Russia’s deputies voted in favor of raising the retirement age, while the rest of the deputies voted against the proposal. Under the terms of the reform proposed by the Russian Government, the retirement age will go up from 60 to 65 for men and from 55 to 63 for women. The second reading has been scheduled for the end of the year.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 19, 2018. 28 alumni of ChelPipe Group’s Future of White-Coated Metallurgy Corporate Training Program completed their army term at a regiment in Gorniy Shchit, Sverdlovsk Region. They have all been invited to work at the Group’s member enterprises, the Group’s press service reports. Their solemn welcome ceremony took place at ChelPipe Group’s Training Center, where their families, friends, school acquaintances, teachers on the Future of White-Coated Metallurgy Corporate Training Program, production mentors, and workers of the Group’s Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant all

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 19, 2018. Sverdlovsk Region’s hotels faced RUR 302,520 in fines for various consumer rights violations during the World Football Championship days, the local division of Rospotrebnadzor (the state consumer rights watchdog) reports. The authorities issued 124 administrative offense warrants during their World Cup checks. Mostly, the hotels were either overcharging their customers despite the Russian Government’s ad hoc decree on pricing policy for World Cup days) or they failed to obtain a star/classification certificate.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 19, 2018. Ural Airlines are offering extra flights for passengers wishing to get to Moscow from Novosibirsk and Tomsk. According to the airline’s press service, Novosibirsk-Moscow-Novosibirsk flights will be operated twice a day every Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday between July 13 and September 9, 2018. (Departure times: 8:30 AM (from Novosibirsk) and 11:30 PM (from Moscow). The extra flights offer the passengers the convenience of a flexible timetable and of the connecting flights to other destinations in Russia and abroad. You can book your tickets on the company

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 19, 2018. ChelPipe Group supplied its first 138,000 kg of weld-less, stainless pipes to Kudankulam Nuclear Power Station in India, the company press service reports. The pipes were made at ChelPipe Group’s Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant/PNTZ. The pipes (diameter: 16 mm; layer thickness: 1.5 mm) are meant of the station’s steam-generating unit. The pipes had to meet special customer requirements such as additional ultrasound testing and eddy current testing (supervised in person by a set of inspectors in India). Under the terms of the contract, the Group is to deliver

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 19, 2018. Yekaterinburg received visitors from every one in three countries of the world this summer; MegaFon’s engineers report that over 170,000 travelers from 103 different countries used their Internet connection, the company press service reports. Together, the international football fans downloaded more than 4,000 Gb of data via MegaFon, which is enough to watch a four-moth long video online, for example. Koltsovo Airport, Yekaterinburg Arena, Ploshchad 1905 Underground Station, and the intersection of Malyshev St and Vainer St proved the most popular log-in

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 18, 2018. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) will be offering lower interest rates on mortgages for existing homes and those currently under construction (by the bank’s trusted developers) starting July 17, the bank’s press service reports. You can apply for a mortgage at 7.9% a year (8.9% a year once the special offer no longer applies). You can find the list of the UBRD-authorized developers on the bank’s website, under Mortgage. The bank is also offering a greater discount for those who manage to go through with all the paperworks in under

UrBC, Moscow, July 18, 2018. The Russian Government might introduce a separate customs duty to be paid by the Russian national on goods they purchase from international shops online. The draft bill on Customs Regulations, with all the amendments made for the second reading, has been presented to the State Duma’s Budget Committee already. It is explained that the new version of the Customs Regulations Act is expected to bring the Russian law in compliance with the Eurasian Economic Union’s Customs Code (adopted in 2017). Under the new terms, the Russian Government will be able to impose a duty

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, July 18, 2018. The representatives of the Chinese business delegation proved quite impressed by the job the South Urals Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s interpreters did at the contracts exchange in Chelyabinsk on July 11-12, the CCI’s press service reports. More than a hundred Chinese companies and over three hundred Chelyabinsk-based businesses took part in these negotiations. Interpreters from a range of professional sectors, including those from the South Urals CCI, were engaged to ensure smooth communication. ‘We were helping our Chinese partners under the Far East

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 18, 2018. EVRAZ Holding supported the annual innovative ideas contest (known as A Minute of Tech Fame) for the seventh time this year; the contest is held at the Governor of Sverdlovsk Region and Sverdlovsk Region Government’s initiative, the company press service says. In the last seven years, the company has directed more than RUR 15.5m to support the constituency’s young scientists and researchers. This year, college undergraduates and grad students submitted over thirty-five different projects for the contest; the ten best proposals got selected in two

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 18, 2018. Rosatom-Atomenergomash’s Yekaterinburg-based asset SverdNIIkhimmash is going to supply a number of evaporation plants for the heat transfer fluid systems and drain systems at Power-Generating Units 3 and 4 of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in India, the company press service reports. Under the terms of the contract, SverdNIIkhimmash will have to deliver the equipment before the end of the year. The heat transfer fluid system’s evaporation plant is meant for extraction of boric acid from boron-containing water. The drain systems evaporation plant is meant

UrBC, Moscow, July 17, 2018. The 2% increase in the value-added tax (from 18% up to 20%) is going to affect 70% of consumer goods prices, the Bank of Russia’s Research & Forecast Department’s data analysis findings indicate. It is therefore believed that consumer prices will rise 0.8% to 1.25% once the VAT increase comes into effect. The overall inflation rate is expected to speed up over 4% as a result. The State Duma is currently considering rising the VAT to 20%. Under the terms of the draft bill under processing, the increase should come into force on January 1, 2019. The bill has

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 17, 2018. Yekaterinburg got fewer visitors during the World Cup 2018 days than any other championship-hosting city in Russia, Tourstat reports. The city stadiums got 31,359 supporters per game on average. 125,437 people bought tickets for the four games held in Yekaterinburg altogether. None of these games were above the group phase, however. Predictably, Moscow comes No.1 as the most-visited World Cup 2018 location (787,000 visitors all in all and 63,900 supporters per game on average). Next comes Saint Petersburg (448,600/64,100), followed by Sochi