UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 16, 2017. Sinara Transport Machines’ Lyudinovsky Locomotive Plant coordinated a technical meeting on the plant’s TEM14 loco upgrade potential. According to Sinara Group’s press service, the meeting was attended by Russian Railways’ locomotive operators from Northern, Moscow, Volga, South-Eastern, and Sverdlovsk Railways, since two-diesel, electric transmission locomotive shunters of the TEM14 type are particularly popular in these parts of the country. ‘An experimental TEM14 sample loco was made at the plant in July 2011; this make has been produced on a serial

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 16, 2017. 866,700 m2 worth of new housing got commissioned in Sverdlovsk Region in January-July 2017, which was 14.2% less than one year previously, Sverdlovskstat reports. 153,800 m2 worth of new housing got commissioned in the month of July alone, which, in fact, exceeds the figures for July 2016 by 1.7 times. 13.2% of this new housing (59,200 m2) fall into the private houses segment.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 15, 2017. Miners started working on new Long-Face 26-18 bis at EVRAZ Yesaulskaya Mine, EVRAZ Holding Siberia’s Corporate Relations Center reports. The working area in question is estimated to contain 820,000,000 kg of valuable Zh coking coal. 3km worth of excavation work had to be done first, as had a number of assembly jobs and capital mining operations. The miners are now operating at more than 400 meters below the ground; their safety is ensured with the help of gas-trapping facilities that divert the excess gas into the rock cavity. ‘Oleg Basmanov’s team

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 15, 2017. A new wire-winding mill was recently launched at EVRAZ Holding’s West Siberian Integrated Metallurgical Works (ZSMK), EVRAZ Holding Siberia’s Corporate Relations Center reports. ‘This new Italian equipment is used to wind large rolls of wire that are 1,000 to 2,500 kg heavy into smaller ones (100 to 150 kg each), which is much more consumer-friendly. The smaller coils are easier to transport and unload, and no special equipment is needed to unwind them,’ the Center says. The launch of this new mill signifies yet another important stage in the plant’s

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 15, 2017. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development’s customers had over 5,800 credit cards issued to them in the first half of the year, which is nearly four times more than in the first six months of 2016, the bank’s press service reports. According to the bank’s Credit Cards Management Director Svetlana Davydova, better terms the bank is currently offering is one reason for this dramatic increase in demand. ‘We introduced many more options this year, so that our customers can actually benefit financially from using borrowed funds. For one, the credit

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, August 15, 2017. Keramik, a ceramics plant operated by MMK Group’s Stroykompleks, is now active once again, MMK Information & PR Department reports. ‘The plant had to be shut down temporarily between November 2016 and August 2017 because of the plummeting demand for non-load-bearing clay tiles and bricks that are used for housing construction. Shortly before the stoppage, the plant started making solid bricks that can be used both in housing construction and industrial construction. The plant also had its Siemens automated control system replaced with a newer version

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 15, 2017. Sinara Group’s Sinara Development coordinated a foundation-laying ceremony at Yekaterinburg EXPO’s future Congress Center on the eve of Builder’s Day. The construction of the center is part of the contract Sinara Development signed with Ural Exhibition Center, the company press service reports. Sinara Development’s Director-General Timur Ufimtsev and the site workers tossed some coins into the foundation base, and then builders poured the first portion of concrete over it. The construction site has been prepared for action by now. Over ten special-purpose

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 14, 2017. 943,343 people flew with Ural Airlines in July, which exceeded the figures for one year previously by 18%, the air carrier’s press service reports. The airline operated 5,904 flights last month, including 3,624 domestic flights, 870 flights to and from the CIS member states, and 1,410 international flights. This was 17% more than one year earlier. Ural Airlines have offered their services to 4,266,451 people this year so far, which is 23% more than in January-July 2016. The air carrier operated 30,082 flights between January 1 and July 31, 2017, including

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, August 14, 2017. Vice Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Vadim Evdokimov had a tour of Metallurg Sports Palace during his recent visit to Karabash. The arena, currently under construction, is Russian Copper Company and Russian Copper Company Group’s Karabashmed’s joint project, the company press service reports. Karabashmed’s First Deputy Director-General Alexander Yushkov, StroyMaximum’s Director-General Vladimir Paklin, and Mayor of Karabash Oleg Budanov all made their reports on how the construction was going. ‘The sports facility is growing by the hour. The fitness and

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 14, 2017. Kindergarten 32 in Korkino closed for capital repairs, Russian Copper Company’s press service reports. The building was put up in 1955 and has never been given a round of capital repairs since. Only some partial remodeling was done in 2004. Thanks to the funding supplied by Russian Copper Company, the overhaul could begin in August 2017. These were the children’s parents who asked the company management for support. ‘Kindergarten 32 is Korkino’s only creche, with some eighty children as young as 1.5 (and older). They had to switch to other pre-school

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, August 14, 2017. Workers from MMK Group’s Stroykompleks, a building company, are getting ready to celebrate Builder’s Day, MMK Information & PR Department reports. The company was set up over fifteen years ago at the Group’s management’s initiative and is now one of Magnitogorsk’s leading construction businesses, comprising a concrete goods plant, a glass-making plant, a ceramic materials-manufacturing plant, and a building and assembly depot. Stroykomplex is mainly active as a general contractor for construction project and does building and assembly jobs at

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 14, 2017. The average asking price currently comes to 66,167 RUR per m2 on Yekaterinburg existing home market. This is 0.4% less than four weeks previously and 13.7% less than in February 2015, Ural Real Estate Chamber’s analytical report indicates. Prices declined most noticeably for the centrally located apartments (-1.7% in the last four weeks), with the current asking price at 93,933 RUR per m2. Homes in the city’s remotest and least expensive areas are now 0.4% cheaper and can be had for 55,445 RUR per m2, whereas those in the city’s third and fourth priciest

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 11, 2017. EVRAZ Holding’s IAS-calculated net profit amounted to $86m in the first half of the year, which was 12 times more than one year earlier, the company’s report states. The mining and metallurgical holding’s consolidated revenues rose by 44.1% and reached $5.106bn. Its EBITDA increased by nearly two times and reached $1.152bn.

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, August 11, 2017. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) recently launched new Blast Heater 23 bis at its Blast Furnace Unit 7. This is part of a larger blast furnace upgrade program, with investments already exceeding 1bn RUR, MMK Information & PR Department reports. ‘The launch of the new Cowper, a regenerating blast air heater named after the English engineer Edward Alfred Cowper, will allow for consecutive replacement of the three remaining heaters at Blast Furnace Unit 7,’ the Department says. The inner-chamber blast heaters will get replaced with their

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 11, 2017. Special offer for young home buyers in Akademicheskiy will hold for five more days, RSG-Akademicheskoye’s press service reports. Customers in the 18-35 age group can get a 100,000-ruble or a 200,000-ruble discount on their new home in Akademicheskiy till August 14, 2017. ‘Akademicheskiy is a popular location with young customers: 80% of local residents are young families aged 21 to 40, with pre-school and school-age children. This is hardly surprising, as the area has a lot to offer this age group: affordable ready-to-move-in housing and special terms on

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 11, 2017. The number of micro-financing organizations (MFOs) operating in Ural Federal District shrank by 22% against 2014, Sequoia Credit Consolidation’s press service reports. There are currently 181 such organizations on the Central Bank’s register. The decrease in the number of MFOs was most noticeable in Tyumen Region, including Khanty-Mansiysky and Yamalo-Nenetsky Autonomous Regions (-50%, with 23 active organizations at the moment), followed by Chelyabinsk Region (-20%, 68 active MFOs), Sverdlovsk Region (-15.9%, 74 active MFOs), and Kurgan Region (-11%, 16

UrBC, Moscow, August 11, 2017. Russia’s net capital outflow amounted to $13.1bn in January-July 2017, which exceeded the figures for one year previously by $4.3bn, or 1.5 times, Central Bank states. The money mostly left the country through the banking sector. According to the regulatory authority, banks have to both keep handing their international debt burden (comparable with that for last year) and place their funds abroad. At the same time, in contrast to last year, other economic players proved net capital importers and switched from international asset expansion to attracting foreign

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 10, 2017. EVRAZ Nizhniy Tagil Integrated Metallurgical Works (NTMK) is getting ready for the upcoming heating season of 2017/2018, EVRAZ Holding Ural’s Corporate Relations Center reports. ‘The plant’s power station and other heating facilities underwent large-scale repairs throughout this summer. For one, an overhaul was given to Boiler 3, whereas Steam Generator 3 underwent a major reconstruction. This both ensured a more reliable power supply and increased our furnace gas recycle rate by 50%. Switching to furnace gas means we can save considerably on the costly

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, August 10, 2017. The Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI) sent a thank-you letter to Vice President of the South Urals Chamber of Commerce & Industry Igor Aristov to express its gratitude for the CCI’s contribution to improvements in the national business climate, the Chamber’s press service reports. The South Urals CCI has helped to estimate the current parameters of mechanisms aimed to make business procedures easier and to enhance the national constituencies’ investment appeal. The letter states that the Chamber’s experts’ reports and comments serve as supporting

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 10, 2017. Rosset’s Federal Grid Company Untied Energy Systems connected Salym Petroleum Development N.V.’s oil-extracting facilities to the national power network, the company’s West Siberian division’s press service reports. This means the company’s disposable power supply rose from 36 to 96 megawatts. FGC UES power engineers extended the 220-kilowatt Snezhnaya Substation’s outdoor switchgear to two 110-kilowatt sections, which means the end user can now enjoy the extra 60 megawatts worth of power. ‘Snezhnaya Substation was put up in 1973. The facility ensures