January 12, 2016. Saint Petersburg-based Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Rus made 299,500 Hyundai Solaris and KIA Rio automobiles last year, which was 3.2% less than one year earlier (237,000 cars), Avtostat reports. 14,200 cars got exported, mostly to Kazakhstan (10,300 units) as well as to Egypt and Lebanon (2,500 units).

January 12, 2016. Sverdlovsk Region Arbitration Court is to consider a claim laid by Habberton Group Inc against Severnaya Kazna Insurance Company; the plaintiff demands to be paid $916.7m in compensation, the court reports. ‘The plaintiff asked for the acknowledgement and enforcement of the ruling pronounced by the Russian Federation Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s Marine Arbitration Committee on September 18, 2015. It was ruled that the insurance company would have to pay Habberton Group Inc $890m and $26.7m in legal fees. The plaintiff also asked for the enforcement order to be

January 12, 2016. The number of dissatisfied customers filing complaints about violation of their rights rose by 5% in Sverdlovsk Region last year. The local division of Rotrebnadzor (the consumer rights watchdog) reports 19,000 complaints were filed altogether. ‘Most of these have to do with infringement of consumers’ rights relating to sale of technically sophisticated goods as well as clothing, footwear, furniture, and other non-food items and to financial services and housing bills,’ the division says.

January 12, 2016. Volkswagen Group Rus announced on December 30, 2015 that 2,166 Volkswagen Caddys manufactured in 2014 and 2015 would haveto be called off, Avtostat reports. The problem lies in the faulty fastening of the in-vehicle network control unit. In the worst-case scenario, this could result in an unprogrammed engine start when a remote control button is pushed. A stick-driven car could thus get moving and cause an accident. The company’s authorized dealers are to inform the car owners via email or phone, asking them to take their automobiles to the nearest store to have it repaired.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 30, 2015. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s member enterprises are organizing office parties and children’s parties for their employees this week. New Year shows at all of the company’s clubs, special contests and chocolate presents are meant to create the holiday feeling for workers and their children, the company press service reports. This year, Santa is going to give 700 boxes of chocolates and toy monkeys to children of people working at Kamensk Uralsky Foundry Plant. As for the very young children, Santa and his granddaughter Snegurochka will see them in their

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 30, 2015. Sverdlovsk Region proved to be a constituency with the third largest number of local borrowers, the National Credit History Bureau reports. The overall number of borrowers actually decreased by 11.2% over the eleven months of 2015 and dropped to 1.317m people by December 1 (compared with 1.483m on January 1). Moscow, predictably, hosts the greatest number of loan-takers (1.851 people, -11.3% on the start of the year), and Moscow Region (1.522m people, -11.5% on the start of the year) comes second. It is reported the average loan amount went up by 6.8%

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 30, 2015. The average price of a square meter of an existing home grew 6% less expensive (in rubles) and 24.6% less expensive (in US dollars) on Yekaterinburg housing market this December compared with one year earlier, E1.RU and E1.Nedvizhimost report. A year ago, the average housing price came to 77,000 RUR ($1,380) per m2 on average. The figures reached their peak in February (78,000 RUR per m2) in ruble terms and in April in dollar terms ($1,500 per m2). By the end of the year, prices dropped to 72,000 RUR and $1,040 per m2 on average (down 6% and 25%,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 30, 2015. Sverdlovsk Region’s public prosecution authorities uncovered over 1,250 attempts at violation of entrepreneurs’ rights this year, their press service reports. Additionally, 177 protests were issued, 7 claims were placed with courts, and 310 reports were filed, resulting in 133 people facing disciplinary liability, 43 people facing administrative liability, and 42 people getting warrants against violating the law. The authorities also kept working with personal queries from businesspeople based in Sverdlovsk Region towns and cities: Aramil, Alapayevsk,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 30, 2015. This year, Yekaterinburg’s retail trade turnover rose by 12.5bn RUR, the city council’s press service reports. According to Mayor Alexander Yakob, the overall figure came to 720bn RUR in 2015 (compared with 707.5bn RUR in 2014). ‘Our retail trade figures keep growing from year to year. This year’s figures were actually record-setting, only Moscow and Saint Petersburg did better,’ Yakob said. He added the services sector was also growing noticeably.

UrBC, Moscow, December 29, 2015. Russia’s GDP dropped by 4% in November 2015 compared with January 2015 (by 3.8% in October 2015 compared with the start of the year), Prime refers to the Economic Development Ministry as stating. ‘The preliminary data we have for November indicate a downward economic trend. The country’s GDP declined by -.3% on the previous month, seasonal factors notwithstanding,’ the ministry says. It is reported all the economic indicators went down last month: the industrial production sector shrank by .6% after a short-lived slight growth period, the agricultural sector

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 29, 2015. Yekaterinburg residents decided not to try and save any money on natural or artificial New Year tree expenses this year. One of the city’s New Year tree bazaars reports their sales grew very good around New Year’s Eva. Russian regular and silver fir trees (60 cm and up) are the most popular choice. Locals mostly spend between 1,000 and 3,000 RUR per tree. In the meantime, the demand for artificial fir trees has been growing stably over the last few years. Novogod-shop.ru, the online service, reports customers have been buying increasingly more expensive

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 29, 2015. Sverdlovsk Region was not on the list of Russian federal constituencies with the best socioeconomic climate in 2014. The list was drawn up by the Russian Government for the purpose of subsidies distribution (5bn RUR) for next year. The Cabinet’s official website states the money has been distributed among twenty constituencies with the best socioeconomic performance figures. Tula Region, Arkhangelsk Region, and Leningrad Region were the top three.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 29, 2015.Head of ChTPZ Group Training Center Andrei Saltsev, Director of Pervouralsk Metallurgical School Elvira Korovina, and Director of Pervouralsk Lyceum 21 Lyudmila Demakova signed a trilateral cooperation agreement on educational programs for the Center’s prospective applicants/students, the Group’s press service reports. The goal is to improve the quality of educational services available in Pervouralsk and to ensure its cadre growth. First and foremost, the three parties will engage in joint training projects for school-leavers applying for Pervouralsk

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 29, 2015. A 2015 performance report for Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s head plant was presented in the course of a solemn ceremony at I.V. Okunev Palace of Culture in Nizhniy Tagil last week. According to the company press service, Plenipotentiary Representative of Russian Federation President in Ural Federal District Igor Kholmanskikh, Sverdlovsk Region’s Vice Premier Alexei Orlov, Mayor of Nizhniy Tagil Sergei Nosov, and Nizhniy Tagil Duma deputies offered the plant workers their New Year greetings. In his welcoming address, Kholmanskikh wished the employee

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 28, 2015. ChTPZ Group is holding New Year parties for the workers of its Pervouralsk- and Chelyabinsk-based plants. More than 1,000 employees from Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant and Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant – the best workers – have been invited to see the 2015 Premiere Show. The company press service says the party in Pervouralsk took place at the local Palace of Culture last week. The Group’s shareholder Andrei Komarov, Director-General Alexander Grubman, and Mayor of Pervouralsk Alexei Dronov all wished the plant workers happy holidays. ‘ChTPZ Group met all

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 28, 2015. Ten metallurgical workers from Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant/PNTZ (a member enterprise of ChTPZ Group) received honorary certificates from Sverdlovsk Region Industry & Science Ministry. The awarding ceremony took place at the government house on December 22. The ministry’s honorary certificates are issued for noticeable contribution to the development of science and industry such as completing very important tasks, getting new industrial facilities launched, and so on. The awards were given to the plant’s key experts in pipe production: rolled stock

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 28, 2015. Director-General of Burevestnik Central Scientific Research Institute (a member enterprise of Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation) Georgi Zakamennykh was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky by President’s special decree. The order was given for his ‘work achievements, many years of conscientious service, and proactive social efforts.’ According to the company press service, Zakamennykh was appointed Senior Designer for Artillery Weapons by a military-industrial committee in 2009. He was personally responsible for the development and serial production of the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 28, 2015. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s head plant was declared Nizhniy Tagil’s No.1 charity-giver in the year 2015. This is the fourth year in a row the plant wins this title among the city’s industrial enterprises with over 1,000 employees; the title is an acknowledgement of the plant’s great contribution to Nizhniy Tagil’s development, the company press service says. The plant directed over 500m RUR to help various local residents this year. Despite the challenging economic situation, this year’s donations were greater than one year earlier; Ural Vagon Zavod

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 28, 2015. This year’s final meeting of Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s heads (the company’s top managers and directors of member enterprises, design offices, and research institutes) took place in Moscow, the company press service reports. First Deputy DG Yuri Bodyayev stressed that the corporation’s reserves made it possible to cope with all the macroeconomic factors such as the stagnating rolling stock market, the devaluation of the ruble, the sanctions imposed on the company, and limited financial market supply. ‘We managed to reach one top-priority goal:

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 25, 2015. Yekaterinburg labor market ended up with more supply and less demand by the end of the year compared with early January. According to Superjob analysts, the number of job ads will go down by 13% by late December compared with January 2015 (in Russia on the whole, the drop is 4%), whereas that of submitted CVs will rise by 40% (in Russia on the whole, the increase is expected at 21%). This year’s seasonal fluctuations were the same as last year: a more or less unchanging number of job openings throughout the first quarter of the year, a stable increase