May 22, 2015. There are currently about 7,000 people living in Sverdlovsk Region whose debts amount to more than 500,000 RUR, Nikolai Sergeyev of Federal Tax Service’s Sverdlovsk Region division said at the local Public Chamber meeting. ‘The figures were provided by court officers. Some of these people might apply for personal bankruptcy in order to get rid of some of their debts. I believe the personal bankruptcy law per se is imperfect. It is a complicated, costly, and cumbersome procedure,’ Sergeyev said. The personal bankruptcy law comes into effect in Russia on July 1 and will allow

May 22, 2015. The construction jobs at Bogoslovsky Technological Park came to a halt because no funds are coming in from Sverdlovsk Region’s budget, Kommersant refers to head of the park’s management company Yuri Myakishev as saying. ‘No commissioning date can be set as of yet,’ he explained. He admitted this was the reason why some of the park’s potential residents, for example, MRSK Urala and TechMash Group, refused to consider settling there. MRSK Urala confirmed the fact that the company had been considering Bogoslovsky as a possible site for a cable-manufacturing facility (which would

May 22, 2015. Oblkommunenergo completed the heating season of 2014-2015 and is now getting ready for the next fall/winter season, the company’s press service reports. ‘We have already done hydraulic tests of the mains and the boiling equipment in some territories and nearly completed these tests in others. Starting on May 25, our experts will conduct offsite meetings on the premises of local enterprises to do an in-depth analysis of the current state of events and make possible adjustments to their summertime repair plans,’ the press service says. Oblkommunenergo’s Director-General Dmitri

May 22, 2015. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development won the respective tender and will be paying out insolvent Plato-Bank’s debts, the state-run Deposit Insurance Agency’s website states. Applications can be submitted and payments will be expected starting from May 25. More information will be available on the UBRD and Deposit Insurance Agency’s websites on May 22. Russia’s Central Bank annulled Plato-Bank’s license on May 13, 2015. The bank is now being supervised by a trustee in bankruptcy. The bank had accumulated 740m RUR worth of (insured) private individuals’ deposits by

May 22, 2015. Volchansk Mechanical Plant (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) produced its first pair of special-purpose insulated containers 23-5165-01 meant for transportation of as-cast billets, the corporation’s press service reports. The containers were developed by Ural Carriage-Building Design Office by order of an Urals-based enterprise. ‘This railway vehicle variety is meant for transportation of as-cast billets on a plant’s railway siding and is designed as a platform with five support beams for placing four billets and a removable heat-reflecting lid there. The

May 21, 2015. A new turbo blowing engine was recently launched at Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) steam blowing power station. ‘Turbo Blowing Engine 8 with a new turbine was launched at the station upon the completion of all the tests and start-up and commissioning jobs in May 2015. Fitted with new equipment, the machine will both ensure unfailing performance of the plant’s most powerful blast furnaces 9 and 10 throughout the year and reduce our energy costs. For one, steam consumption will go down by 10% to 15%, which will result in up to 10,000 kg less of steam per hour (that is,

May 21, 2015. Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s head plant is getting busy with its summertime overhauls. This year, the focus is on reinforcing the framework of all the buildings on site, the corporation’s press service reports. ‘The plan is to repair the roofs of the plant’s metallurgical, mechanical assembly, and carriage assembly departments (total work area 30,000 m2) as well as to replace 6,000 m2 worth of an emergency layer made of armored concrete and wooden slabs and profiled sheeting at several other departments. 140m RUR will be directed to roof and layer renovation,’ the press service

May 21, 2015. Bank Koltso Urala’s customers are now using their e-banking options twice as often as before to put more money into their deposit accounts: the number of internal bank transfers rose by 150% in the last twelve months, the bank’s press service reports. The number of Koltso Urala’s e-banking users also went up quite noticeably in the last year, as seen from statistical data collected by analysts from the bank’s Payment System & Plastic Card Department in the first quarter of 2015. ‘About 40% of the bank’s cardholders who subscribe to its e-banking services actually use these

May 21, 2015. Soyuz Energoeffektivnost, a non-governmental, non-commercial partnership, met with potential partners from Green Building Alliance, a company which promotes environmentally friendly construction and energy efficient upgrades of buildings in Western Pennsylvania. The two companies are both non-profit organizations with essentially similar tasks of shaping new markets and increasing all the interested parties’ awareness of the benefits and potential of energy efficient and green technologies. The alliance members, two of whom are LEED certified building designers, shared their

May 21, 2015. Ural Railway Carriage Design Office/UKBV (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) coordinated a scientific conference on innovative design solutions and developments in the carriage-building to celebrate the office’s 80th anniversary, the corporation’s press service reports. The primary focus of the conference was on the scientific and technological aspects of developing the machine-building industry and heavy-weight carriage-building. For two days, presenters made reports on a wide range of topics from the latest technical solutions to development of innovative cars.

May 21, 2015. Metcombank joined Visa’s special offer. According to the bank’s press service, customers need to use their Visa card to pay for at least 300 RUR worth of purchases between June 15 and September 15, 2015. ‘Every transaction competes in a lottery: the winning transaction’s amount goes back to the cardholder’s account, and every card can take part in the prize-drawing an unlimited number of times. There are going to be over 6,000 winners altogether,’ the press service says. For more information, please go to Metcombank’s website www.metcom.ru and Visa’s www.visa.com.ru.

May 20, 2015. Ural Railway Carriage Design Office/UKBV (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) coordinated a scientific conference on innovative design solutions and developments in the carriage-building to celebrate the office’s 80th anniversary, the corporation’s press service reports. The primary focus of the conference was on the scientific and technological aspects of developing the machine-building industry and heavy-weight carriage-building. For two days, presenters made reports on a wide range of topics from the latest technical solutions to development of innovative cars.

May 20, 2015. Uralvagonzavod Corporation is now the official partner of a super heavyweight boxing match between Russia’s Alexander Povetkin and Cuba’s Mike Perez at Moscow Luzhniki Stadium on May 22, the corporation’s press service reports. ‘Alexander Povetkin is planning to join the elite champions’ club. In order to become the official WBC candidate, the Russian boxer absolutely must beat the Cuban, Mike Perez. The two super heavyweights’ match is going to become the main feature of the day. Povetkin is No.1 in the WBC rating, Perez is No.2. The Russian sports player has won 28 matches

May 20, 2015. Ural Airlines are now offering more flights to different European cities. According to the air carrier’s press service, U6 and Czech Airlines started selling tickets for code-shared connecting flights from Yekaterinburg to Bologna, Brussels, Rome, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Stockholm, Dusseldorf, Milan, Paris, Budapest, Madrid, and Athens with a stopover in Prague on March 27. Tickets can be booked via the airline’s website, Ural Airlines mobile app, or at the company’s booking offices. Ural Airlines operate direct flights from Yekaterinburg and Nizhniy Novgorod to Prague and

May 20, 2015. A U.S. dollar selling for 50 RUR or more is a better scenario for the Russian Government, claims Bank Koltso Urala Foreign Exchange Transactions Director Igor Nesterovitch. The analyst believes the reason for this is that a stronger ruble could result in reduced budget revenues. According to Nesterovitch, oil prices and the U.S. Federal Reserve System’s dollar interest rate are going to be the crucial factors affecting the ruble/dollar exchange rate. In case the oil prices stop growing the way they did over the last months and the FRS takes certain steps, the demand for the U.S.

May 20, 2015. Sverdlovsk Region’s industrial production index declined by 3% in January-April 2015 compared with a year earlier, Sverdlovskstat reports. The index is currently 4.2% lower than in April 2014 yet 2% higher than in March 2015. Compared with January-April 2014, the industrial production index in the oil and gas sector dropped by 14.1%, that in the processing industries – by 0.4%, that in the textile and clothing sector shrank most dramatically, that is, by 45.2%, that in the vehicle and equipment production sector decreased by 41.6%. At the same time, the industrial production

May 19, 2015. Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev is going to ask the Russian Industry & Trade Ministry to consider offering state guarantees and protection to Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation, the company’s press service reports. ‘I intend to ask the Industry Ministry and the government officials to consider providing your company with state guarantees to the extent that is necessary to make sure existing contracts are met, especially the contracts relating to production of civil-purpose railway carriages,’ the corporation quotes the Prime Minister as saying. The

May 19, 2015. Private individuals are expected to pay around 890m RUR worth of taxes to Sverdlovsk Region budget in 2015, which is 8% less than a year earlier, the Federal Tax Service’s regional division states preliminarily. As of May 1, 2015, over 171,000 tax declarations have been submitted by private individuals, which is 11% more than in 2014. Some 102,000 taxpayers applied for property-related tax deduction and 50,000 more applied for income tax relief. This means 4.7bn RUR are subject to being paid back to taxpayers, which figure exceeds that for 2014 by 16%.

May 19, 2015. Uralsib, a financial company, could be sold to the owner of Moscow Credit Bank Roman Avdeyev for a token price of 1 RUR, Vedomosti reports. The company owner Nikolai Tsvetskov intends to sell 75% plus 1 share of the company’s stakes because of its dramatically deteriorating financial performance. Since no customer has been in sight for a few years now, the businessman is going to sell the shareholding for a token amount. Uralsib currently comprises a bank, a leasing, insurance, and management company, and a non-state retirement fund.

May 19, 2015. The number of faulty food items with quality and safety problems offered for sale at Sverdlovsk Region retail stores rose by 1.2 times last year compared with a year earlier, Sverdlovsk Region division of Rospotrebnadzor (the state consumer rights watchdog) reports. 7,333 instances when poor quality foods were on sale at stores were detected in 2014. Most of the cases were related to violation of trade regulations (67%) and manufacturing defects (27%). The number of cases when foods were offered for sale that were past their sell-by date went up by 1.5 times. Rospotrebnadzor