UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 23, 2018. Sverdlovsk Region-based boiler houses owe their suppliers RUR 1.3bn in unpaid heating bills for the winter of 2017/2018, which is RUR 452m more than before the start of the heating season, EnergosbyT Plus’s Sverdlovsk Region branch’s press service reports. 1,125 local boiler businesses have unpaid bills at the moment. For some of them, their debt doubled against the previous winter: Alapayevskaya TGK’s debt increased from RUR 17m to RUR 31m. A number of town council-run enterprises and housing management companies in Artemovsky, Kamyshlov, Asbest,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 23, 2018. Yekaterinburg’s Shopping Index Watcom (an online indicator of how many people come to shopping malls every week) went down by 8.7% during the May break, Watcom Group’s research indicates. ‘The traffic decrease is typical of many large cities this year. In Moscow, for one, the shopping index dropped by 9% against last May. The customer behavior patterns were mainly affected by good, sunny weather, primarily. Yekaterinburg’s locals all wanted to see a bit of the countryside after a long, cold winter,’ says Watcom Group’s President Roman Skorokhodov.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 23, 2018. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) renewed Ural Airlines’ IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) certificate through 2020, the air carrier’s press service reports. ‘Ural Airlines have been undergoing IOSA audit procedures since 2008 in order to enforce their high-level production and operation safety standards that are modeled on the existing intonational norms. Aviation Quality Services GmbH (Germany) conducted the audit procedures on the company site in December 2017. Six authorized international auditors from Czechia, Italy, Switzerland,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 23, 2018. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) is offering a 0.35% discount on its mortgage interest rates starting May 22, 2018, the bank’s press service reports. The offer is available to recent mortgage applicants (the ones who reached a deal within thirty days) whose loan amount comes to RUR 3m or more (for Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Kazan, Ufa, and Tyumen) or RUR 2m or more (for Kirov, Perm, Nizhniy Tagil, and Chelyabinsk). The offer holds through the end of the year. ‘You can use this discount on mortgages that you took out to buy an

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 23, 2018. ChelPipe Group is going to take part in Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum on May 24-26, 2018. The company’s primary shareholder Andrei Komarov, ChelPipe Group’s Director-General Boris Kovalenkov, and Finance & Budgeting Director Valeriy Borissov are all going to be representing the Group at the forum. ‘Andrei Komarov will contribute to a discussion on the education and human capital in the digital economy; the goal is to find new ways for businesses and the education sector to interact under current socioeconomic circumstances. The discussion

UrBC, Moscow, May 22, 2018. To ensure maximum air security for Russian cities hosting the World Football Championship 2018 games, as well as for the teams’ accommodation and training facilities, extra limits were set on air travel by Rosaviation for the period between June 1 and June 17, 2018, Rosaviation’s press service reports. ‘In case an air carrier does need to use the restricted-area air space on June 1-July 17, 2018, a permission needs to be obtained from the local interdepartmental operation headquarters in charge of security at the FIFA 2018 World Football Championship in Russia,’

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 22, 2018. Some 30,000 Sverdlovsk Region locals had to face a power cut due to a hurricane that raged in eleven Mid-Ural towns; the wind speed was as high as 22-27 m/sec at certain points, Sverdlovsk Region division of Russia’s Ministry of Emergencies reports. ‘The roof of a shopping mall was partially destroyed in Aramil, as was a secondary school in Sukhoi Log and Culture Palace in Sysert. Damage assessment committees are now at work on sites, with repairs being planned,’ the division says. 55 rescue teams, a hundred professionals, and 53 special-purpose vehicles are

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, May 22, 2018. The workers of MMK Group’s member enterprise United Service Company (OSK) signed their new three-year Collective Agreement, MMK Information, PR & Advertising Department reports. OSK Director Sergey Leskov also reported on how the terms and conditions of the Agreement 2015-2017 had been met. Within the last three years, the company’s sales (both in terms of goods and services) rose by 7.9% and amounted to over RUR 12.5bn in 2017. OSK’s sales profits were estimated at RUR 267 in 2017, which exceeded last year’s target figures by RUR 40m; this was also

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 22, 2018. Ural Airlines are launching a new flight from Rostov-on-Don to Tashkent and back. According to the air carrier, the flights will be operated every Wednesday starting July 4, 2018. Departure from Rostov-on-Don: 6:20 AM; arrival in Tashkent: 11:40; Departure from Tashkent: 1:20 PM; arrival in Rostov-on-Don: 3:10 PM. Prices start from RUR 10,000 (all fees and charges included). ‘The airline’s new flight will appeal both to business travelers and tourists who are interested in ancient cities. Tashkent is Uzbekistan’s capital, packed with places of religious

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 22, 2018. The corporate round of the blue-collar job championship WorldSkills Hi Tech rounded up in ChelPipe Group’s Training Center; thirty-four workers from the Group’s pipe-manufacturing and oilfield service divisions competed in the contest, the Group’s press service reports. ‘ChelPipe Group’s employees in the 18-28 age group competed in seven different categories on May 15-17, 2018. All the corporate round challenges met the international WorldSkills standards. Twenty-nine contestants came from the company’s pipe manufacturing department and five more - from the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 21, 2018. Ural Airlines are launching a weekend sale on May 19-20, 2018, the air carrier’s press service reports. You can book your flights on the company website www.uralairlines.com and through Ural Airlines app. ‘The offer holds for flights operated from Novosibirsk to Moscow and back (prices start from RUR 6,000); from Tomsk to Moscow and back (prices start from RUR 6,000); from Irkutsk to Moscow and back (prices start from RUR 6,000); from Omsk to Moscow and back (prices start from RUR 6,000); and from Moscow to Chita (prices start from RUR 10,000). The flights

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 21, 2018. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) set up a new branch in Tyumen that is specifically targeted at small businesses. According to the bank’s press service, the outlet can be found in Mendeleev House at 22 Nemtsov St (3d floor). This limited-range-of-services branch in Tyumen is the sixth one the bank has opened this year so far. According to the UBRD, these branches represent a symbiosis of an online bank and a brick-and-mortar one in a low-cost format. The new, small-businesses-only outlets can be used to set up a settlement account,

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, May 21, 2018. MMK Group is starting on a large-scale environmental project: the plant intends to switch to a new format of cooling off its blast-furnace slag that requires no water. The project’s cost is estimated at RUR 3bn, the company press service reports. The Waterless Cooling-Off Project is being worked on by MMK Group’s member enterprise OOO Shlakservis. The goal is to reduce as much as possible the harmful impact the plant’s slag-processing production facilities have on the environment. Once everything has been completed, the overall amount of air emissions will go

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 21, 2018. Oleg Ryabko was recently appointed Director-General of ChelPipe Group’s META, a scrap metal business. The decision was taken by META’s Board of Directors. ‘As META’s DG, Oleg Ryabko will be in charge of the Group’s scrap metal business operation, improving its efficiency, and ensuring the target financial and economic performance and production output figures get achieved. The company’s former DG Andrei Pavlov decided to leave the company once his contract has come to its end,’ ChelPipe Group’s press service says. META Group was set up in 2004 and is now one

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 21, 2018. Ural companies could supply up to 80% of all materials and equipment needed to put up Yekaterinburg-Chelyabinsk High-Speed Rail, Sverdlovsk Region’s Information Policy Department states. Development Corporation of Middle Ural/Sverdlovsk Region is going to hold a work meeting on how local companies (industrial groups, small and medium enterprises, and goods manufacturers) can contribute to the construction of the high-speed rail link and all the infrastructure that goes with it. ‘The prospective launch of the rail will bring hundreds of billions of rubles to

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 18, 2018. The National Association of Stock Market Traders (NAUFOR) announced the results of the local round of its Stock Market Elite Contest 2017. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) won in two different categories: Stock Market Company and Derivatives Market Company, the bank’s press service reports. ‘Stock Market Elite Contest is one of the most prestigious national competitions for professional stock traders. NAUFOR has been coordinating the contest since the year 2000, with the board of experts selecting the best companies in every relevant

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 18, 2018. Vladimir Myshenko joined the team of MegaFon Ural’s top managers to ensure the company’s corporate customers segment development in Sverdlovsk Region, the telecommunications provider’s press service reports. The new B2B executive will be in charge of introducing local businesses to complex digital solutions and improving corporate customer service. ‘The primary goal behind this new appointment is to ensure a more focused approach to our business customers. Our top priorities are: building up on MegaFon’s share of Sverdlovsk Region market through launch of

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 18, 2018. There were 440,500 people living on income below living wage in Sverdlovsk Region in 2017; one year earlier, the figure stood at 436,000 people, Sverdlovskstat reports. This means poverty rate rose from 10.1% to 10.2% of Sverdlovsk Region’s population in the course of one year.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 18, 2018. This year’s sowing campaign took off at Sverdlovsk Region’s farms and agribusinesses, Sverdlovsk Region’s Information Policy Department refers to the constituency’s Agriculture & Food Minister Dmitri Degryarev as stating. According to Degtyarev, 31,000 hectares of land have been used to plant crops and pulses (26,000 hectares), forage stuffs (2,000 hectares), industrial crops (2,000 hectares), and potatoes and vegetables (1,000 hectares). This means the sowing campaign is 6.4% complete at the moment. ‘We started in early May this year, which is much

UrBC, Moscow, May 18, 2018. Russian hotels will have to pay over RUR 8.7m in fines for overcharging their rooms for the World Football Championship days this year, Rospotrebnadzor’s website states. The agency registered 704 overcharging cases all in all. ‘We carried out 1,514 unscheduled hotel checks and issued 1,846 administrative offense reports as a result. 190 lawsuits have been filed in the interests of general consumers by our local division,’ the website says. The World Cup games will be held in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kazan, Yekaterinburg, Samara, Sarans, Sochi, Rostov-on-Don,