UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 15, 2018. Beloyarskaya Nuclear Power Station produced 10,201.87 million kilowatt-hours of electric power in 2017, which was its peak output throughout the station’s entire history, Beloyarskaya’s press service reports. The station’s Power Generating Unit 3 with BN 600 Reactor produced 4,633.77 million kilowatt-hours and its Power Generating Unit 4 with BN 800 Reactor produced 5,568.1 million kilowatt-hours. ‘This was possible due to our new BN 800 Reactor’s power generating unit reaching its projected capacity; the unit got commissioned for use on a commercial

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 15, 2018. BankInformServis came up with its usual annual rating of Sverdlovsk Oblast’s most proactive and popular banks. SKB-Bank was declared The Best Bank, as its products were among the most popular and best-selling ones last year, the bank’s press service reports. Besides, it is reported the bank proved a very active participant of BankInformServis’s projects. This is actually the second time SKB-Bank comes first in the website’s rating. SKB-Bank was also among the top three Best Deposit Market Players and New Loan Formula Banks. Throughout the year, the bank

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 15, 2018. ChTPZ Group’s Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (PNTZ) had its environmental monitoring license upgraded by Rosgidromet (the federal environmental monitoring service) to include more parameters, the Group’s press service reports. The company is now in control of monitoring the quality of surface water in the Chusovaya River and the Bolshaya Shaytanka River. The lifetime license to control the quality of local air was granted the plant in 2015. To get the license upgrade, PNTZ had to be audited by Rosgidromet; the agency’s experts commented on the great quality

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 15, 2018. Ural Airlines are going to have a weekend sale on January 12-15, 2018, the air carrier’s press service reports. ‘You can use the first post-New Year break weekend to book tickets at a discount using Ural Airlines’ mobile services. On January 12-15, reduced-price tickets are available through Ural Airlines mobile app, and on January 13-14 they are also available on the company website www.uralairlines.com,’ the press service says. Reduced-price tickets are offered for the following flights: Moscow-Irkutsk/Irkutsk-Moscow (prices start from RUR 10,000);

UrBC, Moscow, January 15, 2018. The Russian Government is considering adopting a bill to control the price of airplane tickets for the time of the World Football Championship that Russia is to host this year, TASS refers to Russia’s Transport Minister Maxim Sokolov as saying. ‘The Government is working on a decree similar to that which was adopted for the Sochi Olympics, when there was a price limit (slightly higher than the average price) on airplane tickets,’ the minister said. He added the government was also considering allowing a number of foreign air carriers to operate domestic flights

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 12, 2018. EVRAZ Holding’s Nizhniy Tagil Integrated Metallurgical Works (NTMK) directed RUR 2m to new interactive robotics appliances for Nizhniy Tagil’s kindergartens. EVRAZ Holding Ural’s Corporate Relations Center reports. ‘135 equipment sets got distributed among the thirty-four kindergartens EVRAZ NTMK supports. The equipment is meant to help with the plant’s early-on job counseling program (A Schoolchild Today, A Metallurgist Tomorrow) and ignite the young children’s interest in information technologies and engineering jobs,’ the Center says. The interactive

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 12, 2018. Ural Airlines introduced their new Rostov-on-Don-Tel Aviv flight this January; the flight will be operated every Wednesday, the air carrier’s press service reports. Starting from March 28, 2018, you can fly to Tel Aviv for as little as $210 (one way) and $445 (round trip, all fees included). Tickets are already on offer. ‘When planning your trip to the picturesque Tel Aviv, doing a bit of sightseeing is a must. The old city of Jaffa with its curiosity shops, Rothschild Boulevard with its shady alleys, Azrieli Center, the ancient city of Jerusalem, the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 12, 2018. The company’s former Deputy DG for Service Oleg Zaitsev was recently appointed Director-General of Sinara Group’s Sinara Transport Machine’s STM-Servis. The decision was taken by the company BOD, Sinara Group’s press service reports. Alexander Izmailov, who ran the company since April 2011, will go on to work as STM-Servis’s Deputy DG for Finance & Economic Issues; he will also be in charge of business process automatization at loco depots and service centers. Oleg Zaitsev was born in 1970. He graduated from Saint Petersburg State Railway University

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, January 12, 2018. A new, up-to-date training simulator was recently launched at Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK), the company’s Information, PR & Advertising Department reports. MMK Director-General Pavel Shilyayev says the simulator is meant to enhance production safety. ‘However intelligent and disciplined a worker may be, due to certain psychological factors they might underestimate the actual risks related to their everyday performance. Getting used to a routine and, consequently, feeling relaxed about safety rules are the key factors behind most

UrBC, Moscow, January 12, 2018. The Deposit Insurance Agency had to lay off some 12,000 banking sector employees last year as banks’ licenses got annulled and liquidation proceedings were in progress; a year earlier, the figure was 13,500 people, RIA Novosti refers to the agency as stating. The Bank of Russia slowed down the clear-up process last year, as only fifty banks left the market in 2017 against nearly a hundred banks in 2016. The need to remove dubious lending institutions from the market will still be relevant for a while, most likely for two years or so, the Bank of Russia’s Head

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 11, 2018. SKB-Bank collected some RUR 24m for charity in last year’s Everyday Charity, an event the bank coordinated in order to support 26 children, the bank’s press service reports. Last year proved the most successful one in the history of Everyday Charity Program, with donations at RUR 17,147,006. SKB-Bank has been involved in charity programs for many years now, helping the foundations which coordinate socially important projects in the healthcare, education, culture, and sports sectors and which also support specific children with health issues. ‘It is easy

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, January 11, 2018. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) had its environmental management system certified successfully for compliance with the latest version of the ISO 14001 standard, MMK’s Information & PR Department reports. ‘Based on their checks, auditors from the Germany-based international certification body TÜV NORD CERT confirmed that the plant’s environmental management system fully complied with the said standard’s requirements and did help reduce the plant’s environmental impact,’ the Department says. 13 divisions, including the plant’s ore processing

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 11, 2018. MegaFon Ural’s customers used more than 300,000 Gb of traffic to send season’s greetings through messengers and social networks in December and January, which exceeded the figures for last season by 2.5 times and equals to roughly 60 million e-cards, the telecommunications provider’s press service reports. MegaFon Ural’s users mostly made calls on Viber, sent texts on WhatsApp, and used their 4G connection. ‘The fourth-generation network was definitely the preferred online greetings channel. The amount of 4G traffic within our network rose by as much as

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 11, 2018. Alcohol grew 6.8% more expensive in Sverdlovsk Oblast in the course of 2017, Sverdlovskstat’s press service reports. All in all, the price of commodities rose by 3.9%, that of services by 3% last year. Food items (excluding alcohol) grew 3.2% more expensive, non-food items grew 4.3% more expensive. In December 2017, the price of commodities rose by 2.5% on Sverdlovsk Oblast markets compared with one year earlier, that of services rose by 1.7%. Food items (excluding alcohol) grew 2.2% more expensive, non-food items grew 2.7% more expensive than one year

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 11, 2018. The number of existing homes currently on offer at Ural Chamber of Real Estate’s database dropped by 7.4% (600 apartments/rooms) in the last four weeks, the Chamber’s research findings indicate. There are currently 8,800 apartments and 1,700 rooms in communal apartments on sale in Yekaterinburg. ‘Even though the market has stayed a bit inert, the drop in market supply resulted in new price dynamics. The increase was not very significant, however, and only noticeable in certain market segments, whereas the average per-square-meter price throughout the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 10, 2018. UBRD Capital Designated Activity Company made all the payments on the 9th coupon (out of eleven all in all) to the Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development’s subordinate Euro bonds. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) acts as the bond issue guarantor, while Ireland-based UBRD Capital Designated Activity Company acts as the issuer; BCP Securities, BNP Paribas, and Sberbank CIB act together as the backers for the entire affair. ‘The bonds were issued in June 2013, with a 5.5-year circulation period. The redemption date is set at

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 10, 2018. Ural Airlines introduced their new, Moscow-Warsaw flight on December 28, 2017, when flight U 819 departed from Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport, the air carrier’s press service reports. The plane landed in Warsaw at 12:35 PM (local time). Flights to Warsaw were operated five times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, and Sundays between December 28, 2017 and January 10, 2018. Starting from February 12, 2018, the flights will be available thrice a week on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. The in-flight time is estimated at 2 hours and 10 minutes.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 10, 2018. Sinara Group’s Sinara Development completed all the basics assembly jobs at Yekaterinburg Arena, one of the stadiums soon to host the World Cup 2018, the Group’s PR Center reports. Rostechnadzor certified the building for compliance with all the technical requirements and design documentation on December 29, 2017. The new stadium is fit for 35,000 visitors. The building relies on the most up-to-date engineering solutions and technologies. The project is unique in that the reconstruction kept all the cultural heritage objects intact. Moreover, over 4,000

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 10, 2018. The number of mortgages issued to Yekaterinburg-based borrowers went up by 29% in the ten months of 2017 compared with January-October 2016, RIA Nedvizhimost refers to United Credit Bureau’s Deputy Director-General Nikolay Myasnikov as saying. According to Myasnikov, the number of new loans issued in Moscow and Moscow Oblast in January-October 2017 rose by 25% compared with one year previously, whereas the number of new mortgages rose by 36%. In Saint Petersburg, the number of new mortgages increased by 23% against one year earlier, while the overall

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 10, 2018. Between August 6, 2015 and January 9, 2018, Rosselkhoznadzor officers confiscated 19,400,000 kg of embargoed food items that got imported from countries Russia imposed an import ban on. 19,100,000 kg of confiscated foods were destroyed, the agricultural watchdog reports. The overall confiscated amount included 18,655,000 kg of items of vegetable origin and 723,700 kg of those of animal origin. The food embargo was introduced in Russia on August 7, 2014 and currently applies to foods imported from the U.S., Australia, Norway, and Canada. Starting from