UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 6, 2015. ETERNO, a joint venture set up by ChTPZ Group and Rosnano Corporation, got certified by Gazprom and Transneft. Prior to the certification audit, ETERNO came up with three types of specifications that meet the customers’ requirements: TU 1469-001 and TU 1469-003 for Dn500 to Dn1,400 pipeline fittings for main and upstream pipelines with service pressure 11.8 Megapascals and 9.8 Megapascals, respectively (for Gazprom) and TU 1469-002 for Dn530 to Dn1,220 pipeline fittings for main and upstream pipelines with service pressure up to 14.0 Megapascals (for

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 6, 2015. Uralvagonzavod is hosting the Ready for Labor and Defense (GTO) sports competition for the second time this year. 626 workers (353 sportsmen and 272 sportswomen) from eighty-three divisions of the company took part in the event. 'Our employees first competed for GTO badges in 2014. We see restoration of company traditions, attracting more people into amateur and professional sports, and promotion of a healthier lifestyle as the main goals of this championship,' the company press service says. This year, team competitions were introduced for the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 5, 2015. Metcombank's Academic District Membership Card Project has been around for exactly three years now, the bank's press service reports. The project was launched on September 30, the date when Yekaterinburg's new district was founded. 'We thought a socially beneficial project that can help save time and money would prove the best present for all the locals,' says Metcombank Deputy Chair of the Board Nina Batalova. Over 5,000 have got themselves a card so far. The card offers discounts on housing and telecommunications bills and

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 5, 2015. Employees of UVZ Corporation's member enterprises met in Zvezdny Camp for their Literary Weekend last week, the company press service reports. First, there was the Eight Elegant Presents Contest, where eight teams had to act out extracts from well-known literary works. The next day, there was a sports competition and an educational workshop held by UVZ Corporate University faculty members. The weekend's agenda also featured a Literary Quarters section, where teams had to feature a character from a book or some authors. Finally, there was a round

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 5, 2015. ChTPZ Group Training Center hosted one of the first rounds of WorldSkills Hi-Tech, a hi tech blue-collar jobs contest, the company press service reports. 22 young workers competed for the prizes; the contestants work at the three enterprises that are part of the Group's pipe-manufacturing and O&G divisions. There were six competition categories all in all: Mechatronics, Mobile Robotics, NP Milling, NP Turning, Welding, and Wiring. The judges' panel decided on the following winners: Alexander Ilynykh won the first prize in Mobile Robotics,

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, October 5, 2015. SOT, a member enterprise of Rimera Group, delivered a set of 1.5DN pressed bends to its key customer for the first time. The first batch of this new product type was complemented with six 530mm stamp-welded bends (turn angle 90°) made of K52 steel in compliance with the TU 1469-027-74238272-2011 standards. According to the company press service, the bends are meant for Transneft Prikamye, which will use them to build excess pressure protectors at Lopatino oil pumping station in Samara Region. SOT was able to manufacture the necessary 1.5DN pressed bends due

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 5, 2015. The Russian national currency is expected to grow a bit stronger in October, says Bank Koltso Urala's Foreign Currency Transactions Director Igor Nesterovitch. According to Nesterovitch, stable oil prices and not having to make large foreign debt repayments will serve as supporting factors. 'Oil prices might get stabilized at $50 to $55 for a while, which will make a positive impact on our national currency. If prices stop at over $50, the ruble exchange rate is likely to fluctuate between 62 and 66 RUR per US dollar and between 69 and 74 RUR

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 2, 2015. First private bankruptcy claims started to arrive in Sverdlovsk Region Arbitration Court; the exact amount is not clear yet, a source inside the court told UrBC. ‘We have already received first claims, an ad hoc committee was set up to process these. Statistical records on personal bankruptcy cases are also expected to be kept,’ the source said. Private bankruptcy legislation came into effect in Russia on October 1, 2015. Under the new law, an arbitration court might institute bankruptcy proceedings for a private individual if their debt exceeds 500,000

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 2, 2015. Yekaterinburg housing prices decreased by 5% in the nine months of this year so far, with prices on the existing homes market dropping by 1% to 2% every week, Ural Real Estate Chamber reports. As of September 28, 2015, the average asking price came to 72,436 RUR per m2 on the existing homes market. The market demand remains only moderate, even though customers are still very active. As a result, the market supply has gone up by 47.5% since February. There are currently over 11,500 apartments and 1,860 rooms in communal apartments on sale through estate

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 2, 2015 Sakhalin-Energy and Pipe Metallurgical Company/TMK, one of the world’s leading OCTG manufacturers, signed a memorandum on partnership. Under the terms of the document, TMK will make pipes with TMK premium threaded joints for Sakhalin-Energy’s needs. TMK press service reports the two parties intend to work as partners and find ways of mutually beneficial collaboration in what concerns getting pipes with premium threaded joints certified for the Sakhalin 2 Project. Under this memorandum, the pipe manufacturer’s TMK UP premium threaded joints for casing pipes

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 2, 2015. Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) delivered a set of eight swamp-marching bulldozers to one of Lukoil’s daughter companies in Yamalo-Nenetsky Autonomous District. According to the corporation’s press service, the plant and its dealer Neftespetstrans (which sells the plant’s vehicles and spare parts to customers in Khanty-Mansiysky and Yamalo-Nenetsky Autonomous Districts) won Lukoil’s tender for the order. ‘The customer decided on the trusted and well-reputed B10MB with a mechanical transmission, D180 engine,

UrBC, Moscow, October 1, 2015. The trade turnover between Russia and Italy dropped by 36% in the first half of 2015, Interfax refers to Chairman of State Duma Sergei Naryshkin as saying. Naryshkin said the Russian and Italian parliaments reopened their dialogue once again. ‘I must say we are truly sorry Italy decided to impose the so-called anti-Russian sanctions, I say ‘so-called’ because these stemmed, in fact, from a unilateral decision not supported by the UN Security Council, so we cannot consider them legitimate,’ the official said. According to Naryshkin, all this has been affecting

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 1, 2015. The number of private individuals who might actually fit all the requirements set forth in the private bankruptcy law (this one comes into force on October 1, 2015) has gone up by 1.5 times since the beginning of the year and now comes to 460,000 people, National Bureau of Credit History reports. The figure indicates the number of people with debts of over 500,000 RUR that haven’t been paid for over ninety days. There were no more than 300,000 such people in Russia last December. The Bureau feels the increase has been due to Russia’s current economic

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 1, 2015. Thirty new low-floor buses are now cruising the streets of Yekaterinburg, the city council reports. ‘These are smoothly running, comfortable buses that are warm, safe, and functional on the inside. We are very favorably impressed,’ one of the bus drivers said. Thanks to preliminary trial runs, bus technicians were able to practice all the O&M, commissioning, and launching routines and are now busy with all the final setup of navigation and information equipment and elimination of minor drawbacks detected in the course of the first runs, the city bus

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 1, 2015. Uralvagonzavod Corporation and ATOM, a design office, won the prestigious international RedDot Award (in the Design Concept category) for their innovative tram R1, the corporation’s press service reports. Red Dot Design Awards is a prestigious European consumer goods design contest, with over 4,000 designers (including those from such giants as Apple, Mercedes, Audi, and Bork) taking part every year. The awarding ceremony took place at the Red Dot Museum in Singapore on September 25. Around a hundred reputable designers from all over the world attended

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 1, 2015. Three new 5,000-kg electric bridge cranes made in Russia were mounted at Uralvagonzavod’s Casting Department 2, the company press service reports. The new cranes were custom-made for Uralvagonzavod, as their parameters had to be different from the standard measurements. For one, the leadstock pieces had to be 100mm narrower than the standard size. These modern cranes are used for making rolling stock, including the innovative gondola cars 12-196-01. The cranes have already been assembled and are now operating at the department’s three busiest sectors. The

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk Region, October 1, 2015. Shareholders at Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) general meeting voted for the payment of 0.58 RUR (adjusted for taxation) per share in dividends, the company reports. Dividends will be paid out in cash in accordance with the procedure prescribed by the Federal Joint Stock Companies Act.

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk Region, October 1, 2015. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) now focuses on low-budget, highly efficient investment projects with a short payoff period, the company reports. The shortlist of projects with payoff period of under 2 years is based on a longer list of proposals presented by MMK departments. In the first half of 2015, some fifty low-budget investment projects (Difficulty Level 2) were considered and implemented. There are 26 first-priority projects with the average payoff period of 1.22 years and 28 second-priority projects with the average

UrBC, Moscow, September 30, 2015. Russian Minister for Economic Development Alexei Ulyukayev said railway fares might go up by 10% in the year 2016, Kommersant reports. ‘I see a 10% price increase as possible, given that no subsidies will be allocated from the national budget to freight forwarders,’ he said. According to the Minister, the government is also considering raising the mineral replacement tax for metallurgical enterprises. Besides, it is possible that Bank of Russia’s profits prove an extra source of budgetary income. ‘In my view, the Central Bank’s profits might be at play. There

UrBC, Moscow, September 30, 2015. Russian air carriers flew approximately as many passengers between January and August 2015 as they did in the eight months of 2014. The Association of Russian Tour Operators reports, however, that the ratio of domestic and international travelers shifted dramatically, with over a half of all flights operated by Russian airlines becoming domestic ones. The Russian companies’ overall passenger traffic declined by 0.6% in August; the number of international passengers went down by 16.3% (which continued the trend of a two-digit-percentage decrease in traffic in