UrBC, Yekaterinburg. February 6, 2018. Governor of Sverdlovsk Oblast Evgeny Kuivashev decided to appoint former Dean of Sverdlovsk Oblast Clinical Hospital 1 Felix Badayev for the position of Counselor. The Governor’s new Counselor will be in charge of setting up a medical cluster in Yekaterinburg’s Akademicheskiy District, Mid-Urals Information Policy Department reports. ‘Thank you for the many years of hard work. The time has come to embark on a new, very important project that we are working on together with Renova Group: a medical cluster. You also stay responsible for another socially

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 6, 2018. Applications for the concept of EXPO Park in Yekaterinburg are now closed in Sverdlovsk Oblast. Applications have been submitted by architects from ten different countries, including Great Britain, Italy, the United States, France, Japan, Belarus, and Poland. ‘For one, architects who contributed to designing some parts of EXPO Park in Astana, the person who designed Europe’s second tallest building Akhmat Tower in Grozny, and the Architecture & Design Fund (a consortium of over forty Russian companies) all placed their applications with us,’ says

UrBC, Yekaterinburg. February 6, 2018. MMK Group’s trade union came up with a continuous professional development report for 2017. Last year, over 4,000 employees took part in various training courses, the company press service reports. ‘Leaders of all levels, from department chairs to members of production site shift meetings, all joined the trade union’s training programs. The training was given by professionals from Chelyabinsk Trade Union Teacher Resource Center and PERSONAL Corporate Personnel Training Center and by the local trade union experts,’ the press service says. A course on job

UrBC, Yekaterinburg. February 6, 2018. Pervouralsk recently held public hearings on prospective changes in the Federal Youth & Government’s Youth Policy in the Russian Federation Act. The hearings got attended by representatives of the city’s youth groups, youth self-government bodies, members of youth organizations, and deputies of Pervouralsk Duma and Sverdlovsk Oblast Legislative Assembly. At the end of the hearings, Head of Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (PNTZ) GR & PR Department Alexander Khanin said the bill in question would play a major role in achieving equality in the field of

UrBC, Yekaterinburg. February 6, 2018. Travel agents and tour operators all expect both domestic and international trips to grow more expensive this year, NTK Intourist Deputy DG and Sales Director Sergey Tolchin said at a press conference in Yekaterinburg. ‘Packaged tours grew slightly more expensive for trips around Russia. This mainly has to do with the increase in jet fuel prices last fall. Also, meal options at hotels grew 4% to 5% costlier. At the same time, tour operators working in Turkey report the price of their tours rose by as much as 10% to 15%,’ Tolchin said. Director of Ural

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 5, 2018. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) issued RUR 1bn worth of mortgages to its customers altogether, the bank’s press service reports. The majority of mortgage loans (over 50%) got issued in Sverdlovsk Oblast (namely, in Yekaterinburg and Nizhniy Tagil), with Chelyabinsk and Ufa second and third most portage-proactive locations. 70% of mortgages were meant for buying existing homes; 20% were part of a debt refinancing program; 5% were meant for buying new homes; and 5% were meant for buying a place with the help of a government

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 5, 2018. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) keeps expanding its SME-oriented branch network. The bank set up an outlet in Saratov (Samson Business Center at 145a Rabochaya St) at the end of January, as well as another one in Kemerovo (Mayak Plaza at 2b Oktyabrsky Ave). ‘These are ‘mini-versions’ of our full-service branches without a cash desk. We only offer our services to small and medium enterprises there. A business person can open a settlement account, sign an acquiring contract, put some money onto a deposit account, and apply for a

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 5, 2018. Ural Airlines are launching a summer flights sale for Wings Club members on February 3-11, 2018. Every day, tickets for a new destination will be available at a discount (up to 30%), the air carrier’s press service says. ‘On February 3-11, 2018, Wings Club members will take part in a summer flights sale. Reduced price tickets will be offered on a specific new destination every day. This could be Georgia or the Black Sea locations, China, or Europe’s tourist destinations,’ the press service says. You can get more updates on what flights will be offered on

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 5, 2018. Governor of Chelyabinsk Oblast Boris Dubrovsky held a meeting with M.I. Glinka Chelyabinsk State Opera & Ballet Theater’s Board of Trustees at the theater building. ChTPZ Group shareholders Andrei Komarov and Alexander Fedorov, who are both on the board, attended this meeting among other members, the Group’s press service reports. The meeting participants looked into the Board of Trustees’ performance in 2017, with a focus on facilities and supplies upgrades and investments (for one, the theater got new, up-to-date lighting and sound fixtures). It

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 5, 2018. Sverdlovsk Oblast-based companies active in all the basic economic sectors brought in 84.2% of tax revenues the federal constituency transferred to the national budget, Russia’s Federal Tax Service’s Sverdlovsk Oblast division reports. RUR 262.8bn got paid in taxes in January-December 2017, which exceeded the figures for a year earlier by RUR 36.7bn, or 16.2%. Companies operating in the processing sector paid RUR 94.9bn in taxes, those operating in retail and wholesale trade paid RUR 56.7bn, those operating in the real estate sector, rental services, and

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 2, 2018. MegaFon is now launching a new digital service offer for its business customers: a solution to boost their sales and expand their customer base that is part of the telecommunications provider’s SME support program, the company press service reports. This is the first time a solution such as this hits the Russian market. ‘We are offering our partners new customer attraction channels and new sales management techniques. Thanks to our ‘smart texting’ option (aka MegaFon.Target), stores can text potential shoppers around public holidays such as February 23

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, February 2, 2018. The international rating agency Moody’s promoted Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) credit rating from Ba1 to Baa3, with Positive rating outlook, MMK Information, PR & Advertising Department reports. ‘The company is quite satisfied with the rating improvement, since this proves MMK chose the right strategic development priorities and relied on actually working solutions to implement its strategy. We are focussed on addressing our key markets, staying efficient, ensuring regular ROI for our shareholders, and being investor-attractive,’ says MMK

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 2, 2018. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) Visa Maximum holders can save money when buying sports appliances, beauty and skincare products, and pharmaceutical produce starting February 1, 2018. The bank season-adjusted the categories of goods that produce an increased cash-back bonus of 10%, the UBRD press service reports. Under the terms of their Visa Maximum debit card contract, customers get 1% off every purchase back and can get as much as 10% back when shopping for one of the seasonal categories. Starting February 1, 2018, the 10%

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, February 2, 2018. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) was founded eighty-six years ago today; the plant produced its first batch of pig iron on February 1, 1932, MMK Information, PR & Advertising Department reports. ‘MMK is one of Russia’s and the world’s largest metallurgical enterprises. The plant produced more than 12.8m tons of steel and over 11.3m tons of metal goods last year and 800,000,000,000 kg between 1932 and 2017, which is an absolute record for the entire national metallurgical sector,’ the Department says. Thanks to the plant’s large-scale

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 2, 2018. 80% of rooms Yekaterinburg hotels have to offer are already booked for the World Football Championship days this year. Most bookings have been made by customers from Mexico and France, the city council’s official website states. There are currently 119 hotels operating in Yekaterinburg, with the overall number of rooms at 5,500 (and 11,000 beds). There are also 68 hostels to choose from. Last year, for example, the average room use stood at 50% to 55% of the overall number of rooms.

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, February 1, 2018. A new Railcar Tippler 5 got launched at Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) Sintering Mix Processing Department 2, the company press service reports. ‘The raw materials will get loaded from the tippler directly onto Sintering Plant 5 (currently under construction), which means we won’t have to use an excavator to load/unload the stuffs into and out of a transfer railcar. This also means we’ll be able to handle much more raw stuffs than before,’ the press service says. The new railcar tippler’s capacity is estimated at 20 railcars per hour. The

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, February 1, 2018. A new naphthalenic particle distillation processing unit was launched at Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) Coke & By-Product Process Department’s Chemicals Trapping & Recycling Section recently, the company press service reports. The unit is expected to double the plant’s commercial naphthalene production output and to reduce its environmental impact significantly as well. ‘We used to make some 7,500,000 kg of commercial naphthalene a year, but now, thanks to the new unit and the new technology we are using, the output will rise to

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 1, 2018. V.A. Sorokin Koltsovo Customs at Yekaterinburg’s Koltsovo Airport came up with a performance report for 2017, their press service reports. Based on the cargo manifests processed by this customs point last year, their freight turnover rose by 94% compared with the year 2016 and thus amounted to 147,000,000 kg of goods. Countries of the far abroad proved Russian contractors’ primary partners in import/export transactions. France was responsible for 34% of the overall goods turnover, Germany for 21%, the United States of America for 16%, Israel for 4.5%,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 1, 2018. Yekaterinburg proved Russia’s third largest automobile market last year, preceded only by Moscow and Saint Petersburg, Avtostat reports. ‘The number of cars on the Russian roads rose by 50% in the last decade. There were 28m cars in the country in 2007 and as many as over 42m in 2017,’ the agency explains. The country’s two largest metropolises have the largest number of automobiles in them: 3.65m in Moscow and 1.68m in Saint Petersburg, according to Avtostat. Yekaterinburg (450,000 cars), Novosibirsk (434,000), Samara (391,000), Kazan (368,000), Nizhniy

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 1, 2018. Sverdlovsk Oblast-based micro-financing organizations issued 7.5% more loans to their customers in the last quarter of 2017 than in the third quarter, with the overall amount at RUR 4.098bn, National Credit History Bureau reports. In Russia on the whole, the amount of such loans went up by 12.6% (up to RUR 164.7bn altogether). ‘Micro-financing organizations’ loan books grew quite slowly in the third quarter of 2017 but quite noticeably in the last quarter of the year. The shortest-term (and therefore the costliest) loans were the fastest-growing category