UrBC, Chelyabinsk, July 19, 2016. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works reports the investment loan taken out by the company to finance the construction of the metallurgical plant MMK Metalurji in Turkey has been paid out ahead of schedule. As a result, MMK Group’s overall debt is now down to $403m. ‘The decision to pay everything back was made within the framework of the Group’s overall debt reduction strategy. The loan payout improved our balance considerably (since this had been a secured loan) and reduced our interest payments for the future,’ MMK says. MMK Group embarked on the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 18, 2016. 6,250 people living in Sverdlovsk Region have been officially warned that their driver’s license might be taken away from them temporarily unless they pay their debts, the local division of Russia’s Federal Service of Court Officers reports. ‘This has already proven effective. Most of the people who have a driver’s license would like to keep it at all costs, so a warning usually suffices to make people try and find the money necessary to pay their debts,’ the division’s press officer says. 2,283 debtors had their driver’s licenses withdrawn by court

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 18, 2016. ChTPZ Group coordinated a conference on dual education and new standards of blue-collar job training at the Innoprom 2016 International Industrial Exhibition to ensure a platform for experience-sharing and discussion on vocational training. According to the company press service, representatives of local authorities, educational establishments, and business community talked about the ways to work together and about the implementation of the Regional Industrial Cadre Training Standard. The Standard was designed by the Agency for Strategic Initiatives, the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 18, 2016. The telecommunications provider MegaFon is launching an updated version of its Crimea Package, which means subscribers traveling to Crimea can now spend less, the company press service reports. The main thing is the 50% decrease in the cost of mobile Internet access, which comes for 5 RUR per megabyte rather than the 9.9 RUR charged previously. Also, subscribing to this option is now free of charge. Any outgoing calls still cost 5 RUR per minute and incoming calls remain free of charge. A text message sent to any Russian mobile phone number costs 3 RUR,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 18, 2016. Experts from Shkola 2025 Directorate took a tour of School 23 in Yekaterinburg’s Akademichesky District on July 14 and said it was ready to welcome students on September 1, Sverdlovsk Region Government’s official website states. Shkola 2025 Directorate coordinates the national new school program and manages the funds meant to partially reimburse the developers for the construction of a new school in the area. ‘All the construction and finishing jobs in the primary building are now complete. The classrooms and labs are fitted with all the necessary learning

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 18, 2016. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation got its new railcar, a close-top loose cargo gondola type 12-5190, certified; the railcar is meant for coal, ore, and other loose goods, the company press service reports. The new gondola car was designed by the corporation’s Ural Railcar Building Design Office according to technical specifications provided by Russia’s largest coal company SUEK. The railcar is mounted on a 25,000-kg-strong base 18-194-1; this base has already been used successfully at Ural Vagon Zavod’s drop-bottom gondolas 12-196-01 for over six years now. The

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 15, 2016. Sinara Transport Machine Holding’s Ural Diesel Engine Plant launched an up-to-date production facility for making new-generation diesel engines. Sinara Group’s press service reports the opening ceremony was attended by Russia’s Industry & Trade Minister Denis Manturov, Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Evgeny Kuivashev, President of Russia’s Union of Industrialists & Entrepreneurs Alexander Shokhin, and Sinara Group Chair of the BOD Dmitry Pumpyansky. The plant designed a new family of diesel engines and diesel power generators and put up a production

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 15, 2016. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s Kamensk-Uralsky Foundry Plant (KULZ) launched a new hydrogen-hardening line for steel friction discs, the ompany press service reports. ‘We used to have to take the discs to Yekaterinburg nearly every day to get this done there. Now the discs can be treated thermally right on the site, and our technological chain is now much more flexible and convenient. Once the discs have been hardened, they need to get their mechanical properties stabilized within the next twelve hours. Now that we have our own thermal treatment facilities,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 15, 2016. EVRAZ Holding was chosen as the primary rolled metal goods supplier for the construction of Volgograd Arena Stadium in time for the World Cup 2018. According to the company press service, the holding is to supply some 10,000,000 kg of metal goods for the project. ‘Our A500C fittings have excellent mechanical, operational, and technological properties as well as great concrete bonding characteristics, which ensures the end structure’s sturdiness, strength, and seismic resistance,’ the press service says. Volgograd Arena Stadium is big enough for 45,000

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 15, 2016. Rosatom Corporation presented Russia’s first industrial 3D printer at the Innoprom 2016 International Industrial Exhibition, the company press service reports. Both the machine and its software were designed entirely in Russia: the pilot sample was created by Atomenergomash’s research center and AO Nauka I Innovatsii. The printer is fitted with a 1,000-watt laser and a three-axis optical scanning system. The device’s printing capacity is estimated at 15 to 70 m3 an hour, which is comparable with its foreign counterparts’ performance. ‘This project requires

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 15, 2016. EVRAZ Holding’s Nizhniy Tagil Integrated Metallurgical Works (NTMK) announced it was going to put up a new blast furnace. The foundation of the future unit, with a symbolic commemorative plaque, was laid in the course of a solemn ceremony on Metallurgist’s Day on July 14, the company press service reports. ‘We keep investing in the development of our metallurgical facilities in Nizhniy Tagil, despite the unfavorable situation on the market at the moment,’ says EVRAZ Holding Vice President Maxim Andriasov. ‘The construction of new Blast Furnace 7 is an

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 14, 2016. Russia’s Vice Premier DmitriRogozin and the Vice Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Wang Yang paid a visit to Ural Vagon Zavod COrporation’s stand at the Innoprom 2016 International Industrial Exhibition, the company press service reports. The corporation’s Director-General Oleg Sienko accompanied the two state officials during their visit. Rogozin and Yang paid special attention to a track-mounted excavator platform designed at the corporation’s Ural Transport Machine-Building Design Office; the excavator is fitted with a

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 14, 2016. Russia’s Vice Premier Dmitri Rogozin arrived in Yekaterinburg on July 13. He came to the Innoprom 2016 International Industrial Exhibition and paid a visit to the stand of Russian Copper Company, the exhibition’s silver partner for this year. According to the company press service, Rogozin came with a large group of Chinese officials headed by the Vice Premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China Wang Yang. Russian Copper Company Chair of the BOD Igor Altushkin presented the stand to the Vice Premier. Rogozin could learn about the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 14, 2016. EVRAZ Holding’s Kachkanar Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise (KGOK) and the Byelorussian haulage and earthmoving equipment manufacturer BELAZ signed a long-term cooperation agreement at the Innoprom 2016 International Industrial Exhibition. The Russian company’s press service reports the agreement is valid through July 2019. The paper was signed by EVRAZ KGOK Managing Director Vladislav Zhukov, BELAZ Director-General Petr Parkhomchik, and BelTransLogistic Director-General Sergey Dzyubenko. The parties agreed to work together on production, sale,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 14, 2016. The developer business Forum Group signed a special land use agreement with its parter companies Sinara Development, Astra, and Victoria at the Innoprom 2016 International Industrial Exhibition. The agreement sets out the land use and construction regulations for the prospective Solnechny District of Yekaterinburg. Sinara Group’s press service reports the parties agreed to work together to create a comfortable living quarter in Yekaterinburg that will be consistent in architectural style yet will have something distinct in every section. ‘The project

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 14, 2016. The Yefim and Miron Cherepanov Prize awarding ceremony took place at the Innoprom 2016 International Industrial Exhibition in Yekaterinburg. This year, EVRAZ NTMK Deputy Technical Director for Repairs Sergey Druzhinin and EVRAZ NTMK Head of Coke & By-Product Processing Central Lab Denis Koksharov were among the awardees. According to EVRAZ Holding’s press service, Denis Koksharov has worked at the plant for seventeen years now. He started out as a gas-plant attendant at the coke-making department and has been head of the central lab for the last five

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 13, 2016. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation signed two new agreements at the Innoprom 2016 Exhibition, the company press service reports. For one, a memorandum on technical cooperation between the company and its Indian partners (part of the Make in India Program) and on the promotion of the company’s products in India was signed by Ural Vagon Zavod Director-General Oleg Sienko and Kalyani Group’s Amit Kalyani. Russia’s Industry & Trade Minister Denis Manturov and India’s Minister of State for the Ministry of Commerce & Industry Nirmala Sitharaman were present

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 13, 2016. Russian boxer Sergey Kovalev beat Malavi’s Isaac Chilemba in a twelve-round match. Kovalev thus gets to keep all of his three light heavyweight champion titles: the WBO title (for the 8th time) and the WBA and the IBF ones (for the fourth time). Neither Kovalev nor Chilemba proved impressively stronger from the start, but the Russian boxer managed to drop the challenger in the seventh round. Still, Chilemba got up and remained on his feet until the end of the game. This is the first time Kovalev has competed Russia in the last five years. The game was

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 13, 2016. The Innoprom 2016 Exhibition will host a forum on dual education and new standards of blue-collar workers’ training coordinated by ChTPZ Group, the company press service reports. ‘The forum will gather together companies already dealing successfully in dual education programs and representatives of state authorities, public groups, and secondary schools. Discussions will be held on the new possible forms of public-private partnerships in vocational education sector and on the new Sverdlovsk Region Industrial Cadre Training Standard adopted by the Agency for

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 13, 2016. Ural Airlines resumed operating scheduled flights to Turkey, the air carrier’s press service reports. Starting August 7, Yekaterinburg-Antalya flight will be operated every Sunday; prices start from 385 euros (if you travel without any luggage) and from 435 euros (economy class seats and 23kg of luggage). Flights will be operated on Airbus A320 liners (both economy and business class seats available). Ural Airlines are among Russia’s top five air carriers in terms of passenger traffic in January-May 2015 and 2016. 5.4m people flew with the airline last