UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 22, 2017. A contest for the best design of EXPO Park on the shore of Verkh-Isetsky Pond will be held in Sverdlovsk Oblast soon, Governor of Sverdlovsk Oblast’s Information Policy Department reports. Governor Evgeniy Kuivashev invited the best local architects, designers, and developers to contribute to the selection procedure. According to Kuivashev, the necessary experts and the evaluation criteria have already been decided upon. The design concept is to be presented at the Bureau International des Expositions’ General Assembly’s next meeting in June 2018.

UrBC, Moscow, November 22, 2017. The amount of rice stored in Russia’s warehouses and processing facilities shrank by 45.8% in the course of one year, down to 32,000,000 kg as of November 1, 2017, Rosstat reports. At the same time, these November figures are 2.7 times better than those for October 2017. On the whole, the share of rice stock comes to 0.2% of all grain supplies in the country. The supply of corn also declined by 23.6%, down to 1,011,000,000 kg, that of millet by 19.1%, down to 27,000,000 kg. The share of corn and millet stock comes to 5.1% and 0.1% of all grain supplies in the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 21, 2017. RSG-Akademicheskoye is now among the largest developers operating in the Urals and Siberia, the company press service refers to Expert Center’s rating as indicating. The company came second in the rating of major Ural and Siberian developers. The company’s Deputy Director-General Pavel Petrichenko said the year 2016 proved one of growth for RSG-Akademicheskoye, as the developer both commissioned and sold nearly 20% more housing than in the year 2015. In 2017, the company offers its customers even more: you can now buy ready-to-move-in apartments as well

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 21, 2017. ChTPZ Group now makes a new type of longitudinal pipes made from stainless chrome/nickel steel (diameter: 20 mm; layer thickness: 2 mm; length: 18 to 20.3 meters). The pipes are made at the Group’s Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (PNTZ), and the first batch of pipes (total length: 24,000 meters) has already been delivered to customer. According to the Group’s press service, the plant was able to start making new pipe types after its pipe-drawing facilities got upgraded. Last year, PNTZ launched hi tech cold reducing mill 10-45 and a pipe finishing line. This

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, November 21, 2017. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) and G.I. Nosov Moscow State Technical University got a silver medal at Metall Expo 2017 Exhibition for their development and introduction of a new technology for delivery of charging material into blast furnaces. The technology is suitable for blast furnaces with tray-type, bell-less tops and for charging material with varying pellet content, MMK Information, PR & Advertising Department reports. ‘Our member enterprise MMK METIZ also won several awards this year. The company got diplomas for designing and

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 21, 2017. Miners from EVRAZ Holding’s Raspadskaya Coal Company’s Raspadskaya Mine have produced 5,528,000,000 kg of coal since the start of the year and thus already met this year’s target output figures, EVRAZ Holding Siberia’s corporate relations center reports. Raspadskaya Coal Company’s management congratulated the miners on their production success and said foremen Stanislav Kovtunets, Alexei Ivanov, and Rustam Muminov worked particularly hard to achieve the goal. ‘The secret of Raspadskaya’s success lies in the power and unity of its team. Both managers and

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 21, 2017. A round table discussion on renovating passenger railcars used for commuter routes was held at the Federation Council’s meeting recently. Director-General of Siemens and Sinara Group’s joint venture Ural Locomotives Alexander Saltayev spoke at this meeting, Sinara Group’s PR Center reports. The round table discussion participants pointed out that Russian Railways came up with an action plan to improve their passenger service in 2017-2019, with over RUR 175m allocated for the purpose. ‘The demand for rail commutes has been rising steadily; according to

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, November 20, 2017. Russian Copper Company is planning to put up a multi-purpose sports facility in Korkino, Chelyabinsk Oblast, the company press service reports. The project was presented at Governor of Chelyabinsk Oblast’s Investment Council’s meeting on November 16, 2017. ‘The sports facility will comprise a building 2,500 m2 large and an open-air arena 6,000 m2 large. The building will house judo, box, and fitness studios, a basketball gym, a powerlifting gym, and a number of offices. The open-air arena will have running tracks with professional athletic coating, a

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, November 20, 2017. A project proposed by Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) won the Russian Metallurgy’s Event of The Year 2017 Contest, the plant’s Information, PR & Advertising Department reports. The award was given to MMK for the construction of its Continuous Hot-Dip Galvanizing Unit 3; the unit got launched in July 2017. The awarding ceremony took place at the opening reception of Metall Expo 2017 Industrial Exhibition in Moscow. The winner’s diploma and a trophy (a figurine portraying a metallurgical worker) were presented to MMK Sales Director for Russia

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 20, 2017. Oleg Ivanchuk’s team from EVRAZ Holding’s Raspadskaya Coal Company’s Section 19 set a production record in mining work: they worked through 624 meters of mine openings in just one month, EVRAZ Holding Ural’s corporate relations center reports. Raspadskaya Coal Company’s management awarded Oleg Ivanchuk with a new automobile in the course of a solemn ceremony. ‘I am happy to see the company has been increasing its mining work output, which improves the business’s overall performance. We hope Raspadskaya Coal Company’s member enterprises will meet the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 20, 2017. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development reduced its loan refinancing rates by 2% to 6% on November 14, 2017, the bank’s press service reports. You can now reduce your annual interest rate down to 13% (this holds for customers who have their salary accounts with the bank) or even down to 15% (this holds for all other customers) if you make your loan payments five days before the deadline using an ATM or online banking apps and if you transfer your salary into a UBRD account or use the bank’s card to pay for your shopping. The refinancing

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, November 20, 2017. Russian Copper Company’s Karabashmed is almost done with the startup and commissioning of its new mechanized crude copper-pouring facility, the company press service reports. The plant has already come up wit hate first batch of crude copper made at the new pouring line. The trial runs proved that the pouring time is now down to just one hour rather than two. ‘This has meant our ready produce output went up and our idle time went down. Idle times used to result in liquid metal setting solid before its time. Now the problem is gone,’ says Karabashmed’s

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 17, 2017. Three hundred employees of EVRAZ Holding’s Nizhniy Tagil Integrated Metallurgical Works (NTMK) and Kachkanar Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise (KGOK) took part in the young manager contest recently, EVRAZ Holding Ural’s corporate relations center reports. ‘Mikhail Kazakovtsev proved the best young manager at NTMK. He works at the plant’s technical administration and is in charge of rolling production technologies and the construction of a new ball-rolling mill. Yuri Syumkin won the first prize at KGOK. He has worked at the plant for three years,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 17, 2017. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) looked into its credit card holders’ spending behavior in July through October 2017, the bank’s press service reports. According to their findings, customers mostly use their credit cards to pay for food items (20%), clothes and footwear (14%), and building materials (9%), as well as to pay their housing bills or pay at beauty parlors and to taxi drivers and haulers. ‘This kind of spending seems in full harmony with the purpose people applying for credit cards state in their applications: an

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 17, 2017. Ural Airlines are now selling a number of tickets at reduced prices, the air carrier’s press service reports. According to the airline representatives, passengers can now book their flights at a price comparable with the cost of traveling by rail. ‘Just a few hours on board and a flexible timetable save your time and allow for very convenient planning,’ the press service says. On sale are tickets for flights from Yekaterinburg to Krasnoyarsk (prices start from RUR1,500), from Yekaterinburg to Saint Petersburg (prices start from RUR 3,500), from

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, November 17, 2017. A new Continuous Hot-Dip Galvanizing Unit 3 got launched at Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) in the summer, which meant the company could now supply more metal to carmakers, MMK Information, PR & Advertising Department refers to Anton Antonov from the plant’s Science & Technology Center as saying. According to Antonov, MMK is currently one of Russia’s leading automobile body sheet makers. The plant remains the market leader thanks to meeting its customers’ increasingly challenging sheet quality requirements. MMK metal enjoys demand with

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, November 17, 2017. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works’ MMK Trading House and its subsidiaries all won prizes in the all-Russian contests coordinated by the Russian Union of Metal and Steel Suppliers, MMK Information, PR & Advertising Department reports. The awarding ceremony took place during the fall Metal Week in Moscow. The Union holds three nationwide contests every year in July-October: Russia’s Best Metal Base, Russia’s Best Metal Center, and Russia’s Best Sales Network. 130 companies competed in the contests this year. ‘Russia’s Best Metal Base Contest got the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 16, 2017. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) set up a recruiting center in Yekaterinburg, the bank’s press service reports. In addition to hiring, the center will be used for personnel management workshops. The center has negotiation and job interview rooms and a special conference hall fitted with all the modern multimedia appliances that is meant for trainings, workshops, and master classes for Yekaterinburg businesses’ HR experts. According to the UBRD Corporate Development & Personnel Management Director Yuri Voronin, competition is

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, November 16, 2017. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) is taking part in the 23 International Metall Expo 2017 Exhibition that opened in Moscow today, the company Information, PR & Advertising Department reports. ‘MMK’s stand is one of the largest and most interesting ones presented at the forum. Visitors to the exhibition can take a look at a wide range of produce and learn about the technological solutions offered by both MMK itself and all the member companies of MMK Group (Magnitogorsk Roller Plant, Ogneupor, MMK Trading House, United Service Company,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 16, 2017. Ural Airlines started operating flights from Zhukovsky International Airport in Moscow Oblast one year ago this month (the date was November 14, 2016), the air carrier’s press service reports. The first flight was operated from Zhukovsky to Osh, Kyrgyzstan; this was the first scheduled international flight on the airport’s timetable. Ural Airlines were the first air carrier to discover the new airport’s potential and to introduce several flights to large cities and capitals in the CIS member states; the airline kept adding more destinations to its