UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 12, 2018. A new-format post office will open in Yekaterinburg’s Akademicheskiy District on February 12, 2018, RSG-Akademicheskoye’s press service reports. Governor of Sverdlovsk Oblast Evgeny Kuivashev, Head of Yekaterinburg Council Alexander Yakob, Director of Russian Post Ural Dmitri Kisselev, and RSG-Akademicheskoye’s top managers will all attend the opening ceremony at 3 PM. ‘This is a post office that gets reopened in the city’s newest district, with Russian Post buying the place with its own funds. This is also the first new-format post office in town that

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 12, 2018. EVRAZ Holding’s Nizhniy Tagil Integrated Metallurgical Works (NTMK) is reopening the canteen at its Metallurgical Equipment Repair Department 3 after remodeling, EVRAZ Holding Ural’s Corporate Relations Center reports. EVRAZ NTMK and EVRAZ KGOK Managing Director Alexei Kushnarev, the plant’s Chair of Trade Union Vladimir Radayev, and representatives of the plant’s caterer CorpusGroup all attended the solemn opening ceremony. ‘All the rooms and engineering infrastructure at the canteen have been repaired. The dining area now has new furniture, the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 12, 2018. MegaFon is offering Sverdlovsk Oblast-based customers a great deal on Xiaomi Redmi Note 5A smartphones, the company press service reports. You can now buy two units for only RUR 9,990 at MegaFon stores if you also put a certain amount in your mobile phone account as well. ‘The special-offer purchase of the two smartphones will come cheaper than the options available through the popular Chinese online shops. The smartphones can prove a great St. Valentine’s Day gift, or a special treat for Defender of the Fatherland’s Day or International Women’s Day,’

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 12, 2018. 367 businesses were sold in Yekaterinburg last year, which exceeded the figures for one year earlier by 29.7%, Avito’s research findings indicate. The average selling price stood at RUR 725,300, which was 35.2% below the country’s average. ‘Yekaterinburg was the country’s No.5 among all cities with population over 1m people in terms of the number of companies sold, and No.6 in terms of a company’s average selling price. In 2017, the demand for ready businesses rose on the national scale, with 14.1% more companies sold through Avito in 2017 than in 2016

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 12, 2018. 120,266 people left Sverdlovsk Oblast last year and 120,480 people arrived in the constituency, Sverdlovskstat reports. This means the migration-caused increase in population was 214 people (compared with 326 people in 2016). 44,137 people left Sverdlovsk Oblast for Russia’s other federal constituencies, with 40,771 people arriving in Sverdlovsk Oblast from other parts of the country. This means the interregional migration-caused decrease in population was 3,366 people (compared with 5,490 people in 2016). 4,464 foreign nationals left Sverdlovsk Oblast

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 9, 2018. Matryoshka doll is going to be Yekaterinburg’s EXPO 2025 ambassador, Governor of Sverdlovsk Oblast Evgeny Kuivashev announced on his Instagram account. ‘#Matryoshkа4Expo and #МатрешкаЗаЭкспо hashtags will hit the social networks to support our application very soon,’ the Governor said. Yekaterinburg applied for the right to host the EXPO 2025 Exhibition and is now competing for the privilege with Baku and Osaka. This is the second time the Russian city is applying for this. This time, the theme runs as follows: Changing the World: Innovations and Better

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 9, 2018. Polymeric Composite Materials Center/CentroTech (a member of Rosatom’s TVEL) launched three new production sites for making various items from polymeric composite materials, TVEL’s press service reports. The new facilities will be used for spraying of seamless, abrasion-proof coatings (meant to protect the surface of an item from mechanical damage), spraying of gel coats (i.e. modified resins used in composite material coating), and multi-faceted processing of glass-carbon plastics (spraying, injection, and winding). CentroTech’s new produce is quite

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 9, 2018. KORTROS Group’s RSG-Akademicheskoye made a presentation of the development of Akademicheskiy District in Yekaterinburg to a group of Indian developers, the company press service reports. The two parties’ business meetings were part of Russia’s partner program in India coordinated by Senior Architect’s School. ‘Our Indian partners presented to us the country’s rich historic heritage created by the famous Le Corbusier as well as modern architectural pieces. For one, we looked at Supernova, a multi-function building in the sprawling Noida New Delhi,

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, February 9, 2018. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) won the Russian Business Leaders/Dynamics & Responsibility Contest; the event gets coordinated by the Russian Union of Industrialists & Entrepreneurs every year, MMK Information, PR & Advertising Department reports. The company won in the Cadre Potential Development category. The awarding ceremony took place in Moscow on February 7, 2018 as part of the Union’s Russian Business Week. This is not the first time MMK has won an award for its personnel policy. In the past, the company also won in High CSR

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 9, 2018. Ural Federal District’s locals spent 11.1% less money on consumer goods in January 2018 compared with one year earlier, Romir’s research findings indicate. On the other hand, Russians living in the south of the country actually spent 20.1% more than one year previously and those living in the Volga Region spent 10.6% more. The consumer spending of those based in North-Western Federal District, Siberia and the Far East, and Central Federal District declined by 2.3%, 4.7%, and 8%, respectively. The country’s average consumer spending declined by 1.2% in

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 8, 2018. Rosset’s Federal Grid Company United Energy Systems (FCG UES) had its 220-kilowatt Karkateevy Power Substation in Khanty-Mansiysky Autonomous Region upgraded, the company’s Western Siberia division reports. ‘The substation’s operating capacity is now up by 37.5% and comes to 187 MVA. The station now has a reinforced 6-kilowatt indoor switchgear and two new power transformer units. This means the electric power supply to Slavneft-Megionneftgaz facilities will rise by 8 MW; also, the power supply to TransNeft Siberia will grow more reliable as well,’ the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 8, 2018. EVRAZ Holding’s Nizhniy Tagil Integrated Metallurgical Works (NTMK) is currently doing the startup and commissioning jobs for its new converter steam recycling unit, EVRAZ Holding Ural’s Corporate Relations Department reports. The use of the new unit means the prime costs of steel-smelting will go down, as will the plant’s natural gas spending (estimated savings: 20m m3 a year). This is the first time a technical solution of this kind has been used in Russia. ‘The unit traps the steam resulting from steel-smelting at our converter shop; the steam then

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 8, 2018. Member of the Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) Group VUZ-Bank agreed to act as the joint arranger of a syndicated loan for Alfa Bank (Belarus). According to the bank’s press service, Alfa Bank is both the arranger and the agent bank for the loan. The news of the deal was announced on February 2, 2018. Ten different banks contributed to Alfa Bank (Belarus) getting $6m and €29m in the form of a syndicated loan. In addition to VUZ-Bank and Alfa Bank, these are Svyaz Bank, Bank Otkrytiye, Expobank, Gazprombank, Bank Uralsib, AK Bars,

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, February 8, 2018. Metallurg Charity Foundation (mostly sponsored by Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works/MMK) adopted their budget proposal for the year 2018, MMK Information, PR & Advertising Department reports. ‘As always, the fund will focus on social support for people in retirement, people with disabilities, multiple-children families, and children with disabilities. This year, we’ll keep all the charity programs such as Care, Ray of Hope, 21st Century for the Southern Urals’ Children, Magnitka’s Talented Children, Maternity Care, Close-Knit Family, and others. The

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, February 8, 2018. South Urals Chamber of Commerce & Industry recently coordinated a trial English language class for beginners. A special language course was designed for Chelyabinsk Oblast’s businessmen and women upon the CCI members’ request, the Chamber’s press service reports. According to Head of Translations Department Anastasia Kovaleva, part of the course will be delivered by a native English speaker teacher from Great Britain, who actually taught the first class. Students went over some basic Business English vocabulary and rules of business letter writing and

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 7, 2018. RSG Akademicheskoye is looking for bidders interested in doing the design and survey work for a tram line linking Akademicheskiy District to the rest of Yekaterinburg. The tram line is to go from Wilhelm de Gennin St to Serafima Deryabina St to Tokarey St to Akademik Sakharov St to Tatischev St. The lot’s starting price is set at RUR 40.1m. The project is seen as two-fold, with the first stage to be completed in May 2018 and the second one in February 2019. Companies can submit their applications and proposals by February 16, 2018.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 7, 2018. Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (PNTZ) invested over RUR 70m in environmental projects last year, the plant’s Managing Director Alexei Dronov said at a recent meeting of Sverdlovsk Oblast Union of Industrialists & Entrepreneurs. ‘I see this environmentally-oriented partnership between the city of Pervouralsk and the plant as a very positive one. We did more than RUR 70m worth of projects last year alone. For one, a new emission monitoring unit got installed in town; also, we purchased additional equipment to do soil and discharge tests. We know exactly if

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 7, 2018. U.S. Consulate-General in Yekaterinburg will have to cut down on the number of visas to be issued in 2018 due to staff shortage, Consul General Dr. Paul M. Carter, Jr. told RIA Novosti in his recent interview. According to the official, they had to limit the scope of their consular activity (including the processing of visa applications) following the Russian Government’s rather ungrounded decision to lay off some of the diplomatic mission’s staff. As a matter of fact, the consulate did keep working on visa proceedings, renewing applicants’ visas where

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 7, 2018. 967 people had to go through personal bankruptcy proceedings in 2017, which exceeded the figures for one year previously by 44%, United Federal Bankruptcy Register’s report states. The number of legal entities declared insolvent last year was 447, which was 8% less than in 2016. In Russia on the whole, 29,876 private individuals and 13,577 businesses were declared bankrupt. This was, respectively, 52% and 8% more than one year previously.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 7, 2018. Yekaterinburg Customs and Ural Customs officers and law-enforcement officials inspected a number of local stores to find out that a wholesale children’s products shop was selling pirated FIFA merchandise. According to Yekaterinburg Customs’ press service, the shop was offering two kinds of Football. World Cup board games featuring a football trophy cup. Switzerland-based FIFA is the owner of this registered and protected trademark. It is against the law to make and sell goods with the logo without the trademark owner’s permission. Police officers did the