UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 23, 2017. SKB-Bank’s representative is going to be on the judges’ panel at Finopolis 2017, a financial startups contest and an important event in the national finance sector, in Sochi this fall, the bank’s press service reports. The startup contest is held during Finopolis Innovative Finance Technologies Forum every year; the event gets coordinated by Russia’s Central Bank. The contesting startups get selected by a judges’ panel comprising representatives of the FinTech Association member banks. Startups can present projects ranging from scoring, biometric, and

UrBC, Moscow, August 23, 2017. The average asking price of a used car came to 535,000 RUR on the Russian market this August, Avtostat reports. This is 5.8% less than in December 2016. It is reported that used car prices kept rising since December 2014, when the average asking price stood at 430,000 RUR and thus increased by a whopping 32% two years later (up to 568,000 RUR). This year, the prices have been gradually going down. Whereas the new car market expanded by 8.5% in the seven months of 2017, the used car market has been stagnating and only grew by 0.8% compared with the start of the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 22, 2017. Russia-based U.S. Consulates will have to have their nonimmigrant visa operations suspended due to the Russian Government-imposed cap on the number of diplomatic personnel they can have, effective August 23, 2017, the U.S. Embassy and Consulates in Russia report. According to the Embassy, nonimmigrant visa operations will resume eventually, but on a much more limited scope. Starting September 1, 2017, nonimmigrant visa interviews will only be available in the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. The U.S. Consulates in Saint Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, and Vladivostok

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 22, 2017. Ural Airlines are offering their customers their new Saint Petersburg-Tenerife flight. The flight will be operated from Pulkovo Airport every Friday starting from October 27, the air carrier’s press service reports. ‘This is a unique destination for Saint Petersburg and a great winter holiday option. Tickets are already on offer,’ the press service says. The Spanish island of Tenerife is known as the ‘Island of Eternal Spring’ where the weather is nice any time of the year. The southern part of the island is perfectly suited for beach holiday-making,

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, August 22, 2017. Russian Copper Company Boxing Promotion is going to coordinate a large-scale boxing competition in Chelyabinsk on Town Day. The event is supported by Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Boris Dubrovsky, the company press service reports. ‘There will be boxing fights in several sports categories at Tractor Arena on September 9. Four professional boxing fights are expected to be the key feature of the night, with Muay Thai and amateur boxing fights to follow. Chelyabinsk residents will be able to support their local sportsmen there,’ the press service says. The

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 22, 2017. A five-meter-large panorama of Yekaterinburg’s snow-covered downtown is now on display next to Passage Shopping Mall entrance, Obschestvo Malysheva 73’s press service reports. It took the local artist Sergey Kiyanitsa over six months to complete the work. The panorama features the city’s main square with a New Year’s Tree in the center, the town hall building, Lenin Avenue, and Central Department Store. It was Senator Arkadiy Chernetsky’s idea to place the painting on one of the centrally located buildings after he saw the work at Innoprom Exhibition in

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 22, 2017. Visitors to and residents of Yekaterinburg spent over 2.8m minutes on the phone on Town Day, which equals to about five years’ worth of ongoing conversations. Local subscribers made more than 7.5m phone calls, which was 20% more than one year previously, while their Internet traffic rose by as much as 70% against last year, MegaFon’s press service reports. The company subscribers mostly made calls to Moscow, Moscow Region, and Saint Petersburg. Ivanovo, Pskov, Rostov Region, and Krasnodar Territory were also among the most popular long-distance call

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 21, 2017. Rosatom State Corporation intends to focus on making Cobalt 60, a radioactive isotope used in cancer treatment, at Sverdlovsk Region’s Beloyarskaya Nuclear Power Station, the company press service reports. The plan is to start producing the isotope using the power station’s Power Generating Unit 4 BH 800 reactor. The radioactive cobalt variety (Co 60) enjoys stable demand on both the national and the international markets. The isotope is used for food sterilization and disinfection of medical appliances and materials as well as a grain and vegetable

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 21, 2017. ChTPZ Group and Sberbank Corporate University coordinated a conference called The Power of White Metallurgy this month, the Group’s press service reports. The conference was held on Sberbank Corporate University campus, with over fifty ChTPZ Group trainers (business managers and corporate workshop developers) attending. ‘Sberbank experts used the two-day conference slots to conduct group workshops on advanced visualization methods and audience interaction techniques for the Group’s corporate trainers,’ the press service says. Sberbank Corporate University

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, August 21, 2017. Russian Copper Company’s workout championship is in full progress in Chelyabinsk Region, the company press service reports. ‘The selection rounds of the championship will take place at the new workout sites and parks that Russian Copper Company got set up in Chelyabinsk Region towns of Karabash, Korkino, Pervomayskiy, Kyshtym, and Chelyabinsk this year. There will be eight selection rounds all in all, followed by finals in Chelyabinsk on Town Day (September 10). Prize-winning challenges and workshops for visitors to the show will be offered during the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 21, 2017. Sverdlovsk Region-based farmers’ poultry output declined by 6.4% in April 2017 compared with April 2016, Sverdlovskstat reports. The number of head of cattle declined by 1.3% in July 2017, that of pigs and goats/sheep rose by 0.2% and 1.2%, respectively. The dairy foods output rose by 4.3% in January-July 2017 compared with one year previously, while egg production rose by 3.1%.

UrBC, Moscow, August 21, 2017. Russians’ factual disposable incomes declined by 0.9% in July 2017 compared with one year earlier, Rosstat reports. The figures for January-July 2017 were also 1.4% lower than in January-July 2016. At the same time, people’s actual pay rose by 4.6% last month against one month previously and by 3% against the start of the year, according to Rosstat.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 17, 2017. EVRAZ West Siberian Integrated Metallurgical Works (ZSMK) competed the overhaul of their Blast Furnace 2. This is expected to increase the furnace productivity, ensure longer time between repairs, and reduce the furnace’s environmental impact. EVRAZ Holding spent some 1bn RUR on the overhaul, the company press service reports. ‘We had the furnace casing partially replaced, the cooling units fully reconstructed, and the firebrick lining of the furnace, the tuyere area, and the tunnel renovated. The furnace-charging appliances were repaired as well. All

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 17, 2017. #Goodneighbors Festival will take place in Yekaterinburg’s Akademicheskiy District on Town Day on August 19, RSG Akademicheskoye’s press service reports. This annual event will be held at a special site at the intersection of Akademik Sakharov St and Wilhelm de Gennin St. A show, a food court, a large play area, and some musical performances will be there for the visitors from 12 PM to 7 PM. ‘Two headliners, the legendary Trubetskoy and Nogu Svelo! are invited to perform on the main stage. The bands will start performing at 4 PM so that all those willing

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 17, 2017. Pipe Metallurgical Company’s TMK Neftegazservis offered its professional support during the pay-out of pipes at Vankorskoye, Yuzhno-Tambeyskoye, Urengoyskoye, and Astrakhanskoye Deposits 112 times in the first seven months of 2017. So far, every one in eight pay-out of pipes with TMK UP premium threaded joints has been supervised by the company experts. According to Pipe Metallurgical Company’s press service, their engineering support covers personnel training on how to use the pipes properly, inspection of the pipe string once its components have been

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 17, 2017. Sverdlovsk Region’s industrial production index rose by 4% in January-July 2017 compared with one year earlier, Sverdlovskstat reports. The IPI went up by 4.3% in the processing sector and by 9.6% in the sector for the production and distribution of electric power, natural gas, and steam. The fossils extraction industry’s index declined by 9.6%. Sverdlovsk Region’s IPI for July 2017 was 0.5% lower than in June 2017 and 2.5% higher than in July 2016.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 17, 2017. Sverdlovsk Region-based building businesses’ accumulated turnover amounted to 51.471m RUR in January-July 2017, which was 19.4% less than one year earlier, Sverdlovskstat reports. The turnover of metal goods manufacturers declined by 9.1% in the first seven months of the year, that of beverage producers by 8.2%, that of printed materials by 6.7%, that of leather goods manufacturers by 3.4%, and that of textile makers by 1.8%.

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, August 16, 2017. Russian Copper Company’s workout championship started with the first, selective round in Chelyabinsk Region on August 11, the company press service reports. Fifteen sportsmen and women, both professionals and amateurs, gathered together at a workout site in Karabash. ‘The contestants competed in Freestyle, Triathlon, and Biathlon. Sports players in the 12-17 age group used no extra appliances in triathlon and biathlon challenges, while those over 18 had to use extra weights. Semen Barmin proved Karabash’s No.1 in Junior Freestyle, Timur Titovich won the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 16, 2017. ChTPZ Group’s Future of White Metallurgy Corporate Training Project’s coordinators launched ProfMetalClub, a job counseling project, at Gagarinsky Sports Camp in Pervouralsk. ‘The project is aimed for summer campers aged 11 to 16. This is part of the Ural Engineering School, a program supported by Governor of Sverdlovsk Region,’ the Group’s press service reports. The goal is to help attending children and teenagers develop their engineering and design-oriented thinking, technical skills, and logic and master teamwork. Five fifty-people teams will have two

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 16, 2017. Rosset’s Federal Grid Company United Energy Systems is going to install 622 multi-frequency vibration dampers at the electric mains in Yugra’s Nizhnevartovsk District, FGC UES Western Siberia’s PR Department reports. ‘Our power engineers will install 228 vibration suppressors at the 220-kilowatt Belozernaya-Kompressornaya Main in August alone. These new appliances, made in Russia, have a wider vibration-suppressing frequency range and spiral reinforcement-type fittings. This means the mains are less likely to get damaged by a strong wind,’ the department