UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 9, 2016. The telecommunications provider MegaFon now offers its business customers the option of custom-made payment plans, MegaFon Ural’s press service reports. The Business Unlimited scheme means that the company’s business customers can choose their own set of available options and services online: all one has to do is go the company website and select the preferred amount of prepaid call duration (350 to 5,000 minutes a month) and mobile Internet traffic (5 to 40 Gb a month). Companies can also choose the coverage area for every service themselves; calls can be

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 9, 2016. The power station at Yurga Machine-Building Plant (a member enterprise of Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation) completed its heating season of 2015/2016, the company press service reports. ‘There were no accidents or breakdowns during this period that could affect the heat supply. Throughout this heating season, the power station provided accurate and full information in response to all the queries Kemerov Region authorities made in writing or over the phone on a daily basis. This was possible due to the careful preparations we made prior to the launch of the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 9, 2016. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s management decided to have its painting and coating facility at Volchansk Mechanical Plant renovated, the company press service reports. Director-General Oleg Sienko agreed on an action plan for the introduction of a new, automated powder coating unit in order to make the plant’s produce, gas cylinders, more competitive. Volchansk Mechanical Plant has been one of Russia’s major gas cylinder manufacturers for many years now; its share of the market currently comes to 61%. On a competitive market, the way a product looks is just

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 8, 2016. The time it takes to sell an apartment on Yekaterinburg existing home market rose from four to six months compared with the start of the year, Ural Real Estate Chamber reports. The average asking price currently comes to 68,685 RUR per m2, 2.9% less than on January 1. Prices went down slightly for all kinds of locations, with the decrease most pronounced (0.9% to 1%) downtown and in the city’s remotest, fourth and fifth most expensive districts. A downtown home can be had for 92,864 RUR per m2 on average, while on the outskirts, the asking price now stands

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 8, 2016. Russian Copper Company representatives met with leaders of Stop GOK protest movement on June 6 to discuss the prospective construction of Tominsky Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise (Tominsky GOK), the company press service reports. Head of the environmental NGO For Nature Chelyabinsk Region division A. Talevin and lawyer V. Kazantsev came to talk on behalf of Stop GOK; Russian Copper Company was represented by Vice President O. Medvedev and Counselor to President and Chelyabinsk Region Legislative Assembly deputy A. Yeremin. Despite certain

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 8, 2016. Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant/PNTZ (a member enterprise of ChTPZ Group) launched a new ultrasonic unit meant for testing layer thickness of OCTG pipes, the company press service reports. According to the company representatives, the new equipment will improve the quality control of pump and compression pipes with the diameter of 60 mm to 114 mm. The machinery cost 80m RUR to get, install, and launch. The unit was supplied by the German company Foerster, from which the Group has already bought equipment successfully in the past. The ultrasonic testing equipment

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 8, 2016. Lepse (a member enterprise of Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation) proved Kirov Region’s best insurance company in 2015, the company press service reports. The Insurer of The Year certificate was given to the company Director-General Gennady Mamayev by head of Russia’s Pension Fund Kirov division Nikolai Pasynkov. The pension fund’s contest winner was selected on the basis of two primary criteria: the fact that the pension insurance fees got paid in time and in full and the fact that all the necessary papers were provided in full and in perfect order. ‘The idea is

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 8, 2016. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s head plant in Nizhniy Tagil is gradually switching to lean production, the company press service reports. First, the company staff is to undergo special training on the introduction of lean technologies at industrial enterprises; this is part of the President’s Federal Management Training Program. The goal is to expand the employees’ existing knowledge base as much as possible. The seminars will be attended by workers from the head plant’s Lean Production Department and heads of the company’s production divisions (including

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 7, 2016. The city’s population might reach 1.5m people by the fall of 2016, provided the increase remains at 1,400 to 1,500 people a month, Yekaterinburg Council’s press service refers to the automated municipal population register as indicating. The number of people living in the city rose by 7,337 between January 1 and June 1, 2016, and currently comes to 1.492m residents. ‘Yekaterinburg only needs 7,526 more people to reach the 1.5m mark. If we keep getting 1,400 to 1,500 arrivals a month, the city will set this record as soon as this fall,’ the press service

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 7, 2016. Ural Airlines are now offering tickets for Irkutsk-Harbin flight at a reduced summer price: from 9,923 RUR (one way, no luggage) or from 10,293 RUR (one way, luggage included), the air carrier’s press service reports. A round trip will cost 20,971 RUR (carry-on luggage only) or 21,526 RUR (luggage included). All other fees and charges are included in the price quoted. Tickets are available on the company website www.uralairlines.com, UralAirlines app, over the phone +7-800-7700-262, or at any booking office. ‘Harbin is known in China and the rest of the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 7, 2016. Uekhk (a member enterprises of Rosatom’s TVEL in Novouralsk) replaced its obsolete automation system AKSU-M with the latest available AKSU-3 uranium enrichment control system, the company press service reports. The new system now controls fifty-three most important technological stages of uranium enrichment process and ensures control over and emergency protection of the equipment (including synchronization of gas centrifuges and management of interstage and ancillary machinery). The gas centrifuge experimental section, the evaporator systems, and equipment

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 7, 2016. Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu signed a decree to award For Strengthening Military Cooperation Medal to two employees of Electromachine (a member enterprise of Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation): the company Director-General Igor Afanasiev and Deputy DG for Marketing & Sales Eduard Bazhenov, the corporation’s press service reports. The decree states the awards have been assigned for the men’s ‘personal contribution to the strengthening of military cooperation and helping to work on the Russian Armed Forces’ projects.’ For Labor Valor Medals were also

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 7, 2016. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s company resort/summer camp welcomed the first portion of employees’ children who’ll stay there this summer, the company press service says. The summer camp was introduced at the resort in 2011 and had 370 children stay there then; last year, as many as 486 kids came to the camp. This year, 570 children will stay at the camp in four installments, the first 142 already there now. The kids will be looked after by a team of professional teachers, entertainers, nurses, doctors, and cooking staff. One advantage of this summer camp is

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 6, 2016. Inflation rate stood at 8.5% in May 2016 against one year earlier, Sverdlovskstat reports. Food items grew 8.2% more expensive, non-food items and alcohol items grew, respectively, 9.6% and 7% more expensive, the price of services went up by 7.7% on average. Compared with April 2016, May 2016 prices rose by 0.4%.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 6, 2016. The telecommunications provider MegaFon’s Urals-based subscribers can now coordinate their daily choices with the mobile trends of their star sign, the company press service reports. MegaFon carried out a unique research, analyzing and identifying customers’ buying preferences when choosing a mobile phone, a subscription plan, or a location against their Zodiac sign. ‘Based on the data provided by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center, every one in three women and every one in five men in this country rely on horoscopes. Some people even plan their

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 6, 2016. Three more companies joined the Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development’s Children Believe in Miracles Project in the first three months of 2016; this means forty-two different companies in twenty-seven locations contribute to the project as of June 1, the bank’s press service reports. Throughout January to March, twenty-four children and twenty-two teachers/parents took part in the Parrot Social Project workshops. All in all, 1,376 people have joined the Children Believe in Miracles Project by the month of May. The Parrot Project came to light in

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 6, 2016. The 11th International Strategic Partnership 1520 Forum in Sochi opened on June 2 with a plenary session on Finding New Opportunities on the Current Market. According to Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s press service, the company’s Deputy Director-General Andrei Shlenski presented his report at a panel discussion on balancing the need to cut down costs with long-term planning. ‘Shlenski spoke about innovative approaches to railcar-building as one of the ways to enhance the efficiency of railway freight forwarding and pointed out the company’s development

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 6, 2016. The 4th International KAZAKHSTAN DEFENCE EXPO 2016 Exhibition opened at the Republic of Kazakhstan Air Force Base in Astana. The presentation of Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation and Kazakhstan Paramount Engineering’s joint project combat module Barys proved the entire event’s key feature. ‘The corporation’s Director-General Oleg Sienko took part in the solemn presentation to Kazakhstan’s President Nursultan Nazarbayev. He also spoke about the unprecedented 57-mm automatic artillery unit AU 220M made at Burevestnik Central Scientific Research Institute (one of

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 3, 2016. ChTPZ Group Training Center started accepting this year’s applications from candidates willing to get on the Future of White Metallurgy Corporate Training Program on June 1. There are no entrance exams as such, candidates will be selected on the basis of their GPAs, the Group’s press service reports. This year, two hundred state fellowships have been provided for the program to cover the students’ tuition fees. Eligible to apply are students with completed two or four years of high school from everywhere around the country. The Group offers training in metal

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 3, 2016. Russian Copper Company’s Chelyabinsk Region-based member enterprises made 3.210bn RUR in profits in the first quarter of the year, the company press service reports. Aleksandrinskaya Mining Company produced 20,591 WMTs of copper concentrate containing 2,988,000 kg of copper, 45 kg of gold, and 1,774 kg of silver as well as 2,717 WMTs of zinc concentrate containing 859,000 kg of zinc, 4 kg of gold, and 206 kg of silver. The company’s revenues amounted to 974.2m RUR, its net profit to 102.6m RUR. Mikheyevsky Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise produced