UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 27, 2016. Downward trends persist on Yekaterinburg commercial estate market, Ural Real Estate Chamber reports. ‘The letting market and the buying market are reacting differently to the dropping demand. The average shop’s rent declined by 4% in the first three months of the year, while that of an office went down by 5%. At the same time, owners willing to sell their property are not so eager to reduce their asking price. It appears not all the sellers actually realize what the current situation is like and what may happen next,’ says the chamber’s analyst Mikail

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 27, 2016. Yekaterinburg Duma deputies accepted the city council’s report on budget implementation in 2015. The report was presented by Andrei Koryukov, who was recently appointed Deputy Mayor for Strategic Planning, Economic Issues & Finance. According to Koryukov, the budget was originally adopted with 1.5bn RUR-plus deficit: expected municipal revenues came to 33.11bn RUR, while the city’s yearly expenses were estimated at 34.68bn RUR. By the end of the year, however, Yekaterinburg budget’s revenues amounted to 32.64bnRUR ( 96.8% of the target figures), while

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 26, 2016. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s head plant in Nizhniy Tagil hosted Bulat Okudzhava Theater Days Festival in celebration of the plant’s 80th anniversary, the company press service reports. Both the plant’s management and current and retired employees gathered together in Nizhniy Tagil Drama Theater on April 22 for the first night of We, the Undersigned, a play by Alexander Gelman. The city mayor Sergei Nosov gave a welcoming address to the audience before the show began. The corporation’s deputy DG Alexei Zharich stressed the festival’s particular importance

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 26, 2016. KMEZ, a copper electrolysis plant and a member enterprise of Russian Copper Company, pays special attention to training and professional development of its production instructors, the company press service reports. ‘These instructors, working together with the plant’s experts and managers, are in charge of providing blue-collar job training right in the workplace. These are usually workers with both impressive skills and vast experience but also with a bent for explaining all the intricacies of a job to a novice. Certain teaching skills and willingness to

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 26, 2016. The telecommunications provider MegaFon is offering its subscribers 36 gigabytes of prepaid Internet traffic which will be available in every part of Russia, the company press service reports. According to MegaFon, their subscribers rely heavily on their tablet computers when traveling around the country. The new Internet Tablet S offer means they can now freely share their holiday pictures and watch videos online when away from home. ‘A tablet computer is a great companion on the road, offering all the benefits of a TV, a music player, a play station, and

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 26, 2016. Sverdlovsk Region’s non-food consumer goods index changed by 2.6% since the start of the year, Sverdlovskstat reports. The prices of perfumes and cosmetic items rose most noticeably, by 5.9%, those of electrical appliances and household goods by 5.6%, those of tobacco items by 5%, and those of household chemicals by 4%. Additionally, the price of footwear went up by 4.1%, that of jersey wool and knitted items by 2.6%, and that of other clothing articles by 1.8%.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 26, 2016. Several hundred people will most probably lose their jobs in the second quarter of the year, Sverdlovsk Region Legislative Assembly deputy Andrei Alshevskikh refers to the local labor and employment department as stating. The data provided by the department indicate that Yekaterinburg’s Koltsovo Airport is planning to make 107 out of its 1,826 employees redundant by June 20, 2016. Also, 113 out of Serov Ferrous Alloys Plant’s 2,417 workers will have to be let go, as will 173 people working at Vesta Management Company in Severnouralsk and 63 employees out

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 25, 2016. Omsktransmash (a member enterprise of Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation) is taking part in the national job counseling event called The No Turnstile Week for the second time this year, the company press service reports. Over three hundred companies from forty different constituencies, including Ural Vagon Zavod, took part in the event last October. The idea is to familiarize schoolchildren, students, and their parents with the ways local businesses operate on their premises. Omsktransmash coordinated its No Turnstile Week in three stages: a job counseling

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 25, 2016. Sinara Development (a member enterprise of Sinara Group), which is currently acting as the general construction for the reconstruction of Yekaterinburg Central Stadium in time for the World Cup 2018, started working on the internal part of the roof of the building, the Group’s press service reports. The first 35-ton part of the internal roofing support beam (made of highly durable steel) has already been mounted. The section is located right above the northern spectator stands, at the height of 35 meters. A special 220-ton-strong lifting crane had to be

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 25, 2016. The telecommunications provider MegaFon is now offering its customers a special wake-up call service, which is expected to unite those who need to get up on time with those who are willing to wake a stranger up with a phone call, the company press service reports. ‘This is bound to result in loads of fun. Some people find it hard waking up in the mornings, and some people love sharing their positive vibes and talking to people they haven’t formally met. Interestingly enough, in Russia, the service is considerably more popular with women rather then men.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 25, 2016. Sun’s Children, the Sverdlovsk Region-based non-profit organization uniting over 270 families with children diagnosed with Down syndrome, joined the Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development’s charity project, the bank’s press service reports. As part of its Parrot Program, the UBRD is planning to coordinate a series of workshops this May that will be fully tailored to meet the children’s special needs. ‘Some changes were made to our charity project Children Believe in Miracles eighteen months ago when it was decided that the bank would not only help

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 25, 2016. Ural Airlines are launching a flight from Saint Petersburg to Batumi this spring, the air carrier’s press service reports. The flight will be available twice a week starting from May 16, 2016. This is going to be one of the first new flights to be operated from Pulkovo Airport in the spring and summer of 2016. The airline also introduced a Saint Petersburg-Tbilisi flight last year, which is available every Friday (or Thursday, starting from May 26). ‘Georgia, this hospitable country, will be your love at first sight. A pleasant climate, a warm sea, the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 22, 2016. Prices dropped by 10% on Yekaterinburg existing home market against February 2015 and by 2.4% in the first three months of this year, with the average asking price at 69,028 RUR per m2 on April 1, 2016, Ural Real Estate Chamber’s analysts report. Rather predictably, homes in the older apartment buildings lose their value the fastest: the average asking price of the Brezhnev era apartments declined by 14.5% in the last fourteen months, that of the Khrushchev era apartments dropped by 12.9%, and that of apartments in the nine-storey apartment buildings put

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 22, 2016. The telecommunications provider MegaFon now offers its business customers portable GSM base stations, the company press service reports. The new service will make it possible for the local businesses to set up a mobile connection and Internet access point anywhere within just a couple of hours. ‘The station was first presented at the international Innoprom 2011 Exhibition. This technical solution is one way to introduce connection during rescue operations, for example, or to reinforce the signal and improve coverage in crowded places, and it left

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 22, 2016. Ural Airlines added this year’s first purchase, Airbus A319 liner, to its fleet of vehicles, the air carrier’s press service reports. This is the seventh plane of this make the company has bought so far. Airbus A319 arrived in Yekaterinburg from Ireland; the aircraft has 126 economy class seats and 8 business class ones. The plane will be used for operating both international and domestic flights, with the first one, U6 274, to be operated from Yekaterinburg to Moscow today. Ural Airlines currently use thirty-six Airbus liners. The airline embarked on a

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 22, 2016. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation is hosting the Bulat Okudzhava Theater Days Festival in Nizhniy Tagil in celebration of the company’s head plant’s upcoming 80th anniversary. The festival will feature a play called We, the Undersigned. The well-known Russian actors Andrei Kuzichev, Anna Bolshova, and Anatoly Kot and actors from Nizhniy Tagil Drama Theater are starring. The play is directed by the Russian actor and film/play director and Russia’s Honored Artist Vladimir Skvortsov. The play production team comprises winners of the Golden Mask Prize art director

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 22, 2016. Ural Vagon Zavod and its daughter enterprise UVZ Logistic presented their produce at the international logistics exhibition TransRussia in Moscow, the corporation’s press service reports. Over three hundred companies from twenty-seven different countries are coming to the exhibition this year; the exponents are the transportation and logistics sector’s major players such as rolling stock manufacturers, infrastructure businesses, and freight forwarders. Both the corporation and its daughter company are taking part in the event for the third time this year.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 21, 2016. Children of Sinara Pipe Plant’s employees and kids from local schools organized a flash mob to celebrate the Pipe Metallurgical Company’s 15th anniversary, both companies being a part of one holding. ‘The event took place at the square in front of the plant. A banner with drawings from the Company Through Children’s Eyes Contest was placed next to the entrance, and the town brass band created quite a special atmosphere with its cheerful music. Activists from A.I. Brizhan Youth Council presented the locals with company souvenirs. A PA system was used to

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 21, 2016. The advertising agency Voskhod and HYPE Production produced, with MegaFon Ural’s support, a new social service announcement about We Are Together Charity Foundation, the telecommunications provider’s press service reports. ‘Our company has been supporting this charity for seven years now; the fund has proven a reliable, conscientious, well-targeted partner for people who are in keen need of support. We have implemented a number of projects for children together; for one, our special number 000777 where MegaFon Ural subscribers can always direct money meant

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 21, 2016. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) opened a new branch for private customers in Krasnouralsk, Sverdlovsk Region, the bank’s press service reports. The office is to be managed by head of the bank’s Kushvinsky branch Olga Tregubova, who says Krasnouralsk locals really needed a bank outlet downtown. ‘Customers would often call the bank hotline asking about the possibility of introducing a branch in the town. The new sales point is now in care of deputy head of Krasnouralsky branch Natalya Nazarova,’ Tregubova says. Krasnouralsk-based