UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 17, 2017. Following Sinara Transport Machines’ Kalugaputmash Board of Directors’ decision, Valeriy Savchenkov will assume office as the plant’s Director-General on March 13, 2017, Sinara Group’s press service reports. Valeriy V. Savchenkov was born on January 2, 1976. He graduated from Bryansk State Technical University with a degree in Economics and Business Management. Savchenkov started working as an electric jobs technician at Lyudinovsky Locomotive Plant in 1994. He held managerial positions at the plant’s subsidiary Remputmash in 2010-2013. Starting from

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 17, 2017. Players from Ural Football Club paid their first visit to the site of Yekaterinburg Arena; the stadium is currently being rebuilt by Sinara Development in time for the world football championship of 2018, Sinara Group’s press service reports. All the key players, coaches, and the club management, including President Grigory Ivanov, came to their future games location. ‘Sinara Development’s Director-General Timur Ufimtsev told the visitors about the construction progress and about the stadium’s technical parameters. The footballers took a stroll around the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 17, 2017. Ural Electro-Chemical Plant, Novouralsk-based asset of Rosatom’s TVEL, made 22.9bn RUR in revenues last year, the plant’s Director-General Alexander Beloussov announced at a press conference in Yekaterinburg. ‘This wasn’t one of our best years, but the plant managed to keep operating stably and retain its share of the uranium enrichment market despite the economic crisis and fierce competition. 22.9bn RUR is our peak revenue figure in the last five years. The plant’s net profit thus reached 6.4bn RUR,’ Beloussov said. According to Beloussov, the plant

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 17, 2017. Ural Airlines’ performance indicators improved considerably in the last year, with results much better than the sector’s average, the air carrier’s press service reports. The airline’s passenger traffic rose by 19% (compared with a 3.8% overall drop in the Russian civil aviation sector), payload rose by 3.5% (compared with -1.3% in the country on the whole), and the airline’s share on the national market rose by 1.5%. ‘The increase in passenger traffic and improved performance efficiency resulted in much better key financial performance indicators: the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 17, 2017. The average monthly pay came to 32,759 RUR in Sverdlovsk Region last year, which was 2.1% less than in the year 2015, in comparable prices, Sverdlovskstat reports. Locals’ factual pay keeps going down for the third year in a row. The average monthly amount shrank by 1% in 2014 and by 10.1% in 2015, whereas their factual income declined by 3.2% in 2014, by 6.4% in 2015, and by 6.2% in 2016.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 16, 2017. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s railcar-building management system now officially complies with the International Railway Industry Standard, the company press service reports. A certificate to this effect was issued by Russian Register and is valid through January 23, 2020. ‘The certificate proves that the head plant’s management system was thoroughly looked into and found to meet the IRIS requirements with respect to design, development, and production of freight platforms and tank cars. Certified were the railcar body, body parts, bogies, coupling gear,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 16, 2017. Rosset’s Federal Grid Company United Energy System completed the upgrades of protection relays and automation equipment at one of Orenburg Region’s key energy hubs, the 220-kilowatt Kargalinskaya Substation, the company press service reports. This resulted in more reliable power supply for the industrial end users, households, and oil and gas companies in Orenburg Region. ‘The 220-kilowatt switches were fitted with up-to-date digital, microprocessor-based devices; differential bus protection was introduced as well, as was an automated process control

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 16, 2017. The pipe manufacturer TMK delivered its first batch of boring pipes with TMK UP EXD pipe joints to AO Samotlorneftepromkhim, TMK press service reports. ‘Our new pipe joints are better than their first-generation versions in many respects. For one, the improved design has ensured more efficient hydraulic parameters during boring jobs. Next, TMK UP EXD joints are suited for higher torque factors than the earlier TMK UP TDS ones (+20%). Also, a differently shaped section reduces the wear of coupling threads caused by assembling and disassembling of drill

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 16, 2017. Sverdlovsk Region-based employers owed their workers 7.763m RUR in unpaid salaries and wages as of March 1, 2017, which exceeded the figures for early February by 2.1 times, Sverdlovskstat reports. At the same time, the figure is 30.8% lower than on March 1, 2016. It is reported that money is owed to 311 workers all in all.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 15, 2017. Russian Copper Company’s Kyshtym Copper Electrolysis Plant in Kyshtym got a new charging machine for its copper smelting department, the company press service reports. Charging machines are used for loading furnace charge into the copper smelting furnaces. The new unit was bought in order to replace the obsolete German Dango & Dienenthal equipment made in 1997. ‘It took Krasnoyarsk-based Henkon Siberia one year to make the charging machine for the plant. The machine is actually based on Dango & Dienenthal’s project, but this is an upgraded and

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 15, 2017. Ural Airlines keep expanding the number of flights operated from Sochi, so a new direct flight from Sochi to Tbilisi will be available starting from May 1. The flight will be operated twice a week, every Monday and Friday, the air carrier’s press service reports. Prices start from 12,950 RUR for a round trip (all fees included). ‘The first things that come to mind when one thinks of Tbilisi are borjomi, khvanchkara, khinkali, khachapuri, the old city of Mtskheta, the Scioni Cathedral, and the breath-taking mountains. In addition to the numerous churches

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 15, 2017. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development’s Visa Maximum holders got nearly 4m RUR in cashback in the first three months within the launch of the new card type (between October 28, 2016 and January 31, 2017, that is), the bank’s press service reports. The cardholders made 193,000 transactions (total amount: 240m RUR) in the given period altogether. Under the terms of the cardholders’ agreement, 1% off every purchase gets transferred back to the cardholder’s account (10% off every purchase in special categories such as Cafes & Restaurants,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 15, 2017. Rusnickel’s Rezhnickel is planning to make 917 people redundant as the company is going in liquidation, Deputy Head of Sverdlovsk Region Labor & Employment Department Natalia Bordyugova said at a press conference in Yekaterinburg. The news of liquidation was first made public in January 2017. As UrBC reported earlier, the decision was made because of the falling nickel prices and London Metal Exchange. Rusnickel makes high quality nickel in Chelyabinsk and Sverdlovsk Region-based enterprises and is Russia’s second largest nickel producer and supplier.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 15, 2017. Court officers from Sverdlovsk Region division of Russia’s Court Officers Service imposed a temporary ban on leaving the country for 44,414 locals, whose accumulated debts amount to some 30bn RUR, in the year 2016, the service’s press office reports. At the moment, 20,758 people based in Sverdlovsk Region are temporarily not allowed to leave Russia because of debts. ‘The temporary ban on leaving the country can be imposed if there is a court enforcement action to this effect and if one’s debt amounts to more than 10,000 RUR,’ the press office explains.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 14, 2017. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s Ural Railcar Design Office developed Russia’s first semiautomatic coupler that meets the Association of American Railroads’ requirements, the corporation’s head plant’s press service reports. This draw bar type gets used in railcars and locos in Southeast Asia (Vietnam and Thailand), Africa (the Congo), and Cuba. ‘It took the design office’s automatic coupling device and brakes department one year to design the semiautomatic coupler. The bar meets all the current requirements: this is a semi-automatic Janney coupler with a

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 14, 2017. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ) shipped a set of tractor spare parts to the Czech Republic, the company press service reports. The parts were packed up and sealed into photo-sanitary control-stamped boxes at the plant’s export division. These spare parts are filters, bearings, towing devices, pivots, replaceable dozer blades, and mechanical transmission gearboxes for the B10 and T170 bulldozers delivered to the European customers earlier. ‘Our caterpillar-tracked units are still being used in Eastern Europe, even though

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 14, 2017. TMK’s net profit amounted to $166m in 2016 against $368m in net loss a year earlier, the company press service reports. The pipe manufacturer’s revenue rose by 10% in the last quarter of the year compared with Q3’16 and reached $902m. The year’s revenue came to $3.338bn, which was 19% less than in the year 2015. TMK’s EBITDA rose by 11% in the last quarter of the year compared with the previous quarter, reaching $140m; the year’s EBITDA amounted to $530m, which was 19% less than in the year 2015. ‘We are happy to report an improvement in our performance

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 14, 2017. EVRAZ Holding’s Nizhniy Tagil Integrated Metallurgical Works (NTMK) started supplying its L5 UM Larssen sheet piles to Magadan in February; the piles will be used to reconstruct the town’s sea port, EVRAZ Holding Ural reports. NTMK is expected to deliver 3,000,000 kg of piles to the Far East by May. ‘Larssen sheet piles are NTMK’s unique development, as no other Russian company currently produces them. EVRAZ Holding started collaborating with the customer as early as at the design stage; our piles proved more competitive than other rolled products and were

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 14, 2017. The average asking price currently comes to 67,490 RUR per m2 on Yekaterinburg existing home market; the figure went down by 0.6% in the last four months and by 3.4% compared with one year earlier, Ural Real Estate Chamber reports. Prices have been declining in all locations: centrally located apartments grew 0.8% less expensive in the last four weeks and can now be had for 95,157 RUR per m2 on average. Near-downtown locations grew 0.6% less expensive, down to 72,298 RUR per m2. Prices in the city’s third and fourth most expensive districts dropped by

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 13, 2017. Six workers of Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s head plant won in the 17th All-Russian Engineer of The Year 2016 Contest dedicated to the Russian Technical Society’s 150th anniversary, the company press service reports. Alexander Ovechkin, designer from the plant’s Technological Institute, Yuri Samoilov, designer from the Mechanization and Automation Design Office, Sergey Shpirna, electronics engineer from the Senior Electronics Engineer’s Department, and Andrei Kostromitin, environmental protection engineer from Ural Vagon Zavod’s Environmental Protection