February 9, 2015. The cost of car fuel in Russia declined by 0.2% between January 27 and February 2 and by 0.1% compared with the beginning of the year, Rosstat reports. In Yekaterinburg, gasoline costs, on average, 32.68 RUR per liter; AI 92 is sold for 31.65 RUR, AI 95 for 34.05 RUR, and diesel fuel for 34.74 RUR. The average price of gasoline on the Russian market amounted to 33.17 RUR per liter on February 2 (30.7 RUR for A 76, 32.21 RUR for AI 92, 35.05 RUR of AI 95 and up, and 34.31 RUR for diesel fuel).

February 9, 2015. Yekaterinburg Council Architecture, Urban Development & Land Use Department and the Environment & Nature Management Committee suggested introducing a few more parks and green boulevards to the city, the city council’s press service reports. For one, it was proposed to introduce green areas in Pokhodnaya St next to Culture Palace in order to prevent the existing greenery from being destroyed by a nearby warehouse development, and between 23 and 23A Kosmonavtov St in order to prevent the greenery there from being destroyed by a nearby parking lot. Besides, little parks

February 7, 2015. Magnitogorsk-based MMK METIZ added new types of PSC strands to its range of products: the plant mastered the production of these last year, the company reports. A sample batch of 12.5mm PSC strands (1,860 N/mm2 or 190 kgf/mm2) was manufactured in accordance with the EN 10138-3 standard. Additionally, the plant also made samples of 15.2mm strands in accordance with GOST 53772-2010 from corrugated wire (min rupture strength 1,860 N/mm2). Besides, a sample batch of 43mm and 46.5mm strands was made for Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works furnace department in accordance with the

February 6, 2015. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) supplied over 2,780,000,000 kg of metal goods to pipe manufacturing enterprises last year, which was the all-time high in the company’s post-Soviet era history, MMK reports. In 2013, 2,240,000,000 kg of goods were sold and delivered to pipe-making plants. In 2014, the figure rose by 24.3%, making up for 33.2% of MMK’s home market sales (compared with 29% a year earlier). MMK has always been one of the leading metal goods suppliers for the Russian pipe manufacturers. The company’s production options expanded considerably when the

February 6, 2015. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) supplied over 2,780,000,000 kg of metal goods to pipe manufacturing enterprises last year, which was the all-time high in the company’s post-Soviet era history, MMK reports. In 2013, 2,240,000,000 kg of goods were sold and delivered to pipe-making plants. In 2014, the figure rose by 24.3%, making up for 33.2% of MMK’s home market sales (compared with 29% a year earlier). MMK has always been one of the leading metal goods suppliers for the Russian pipe manufacturers. The company’s production options expanded considerably when the

February 6, 2015. Magnitogorsk-based MMK METIZ added new types of PSC strands to its range of products: the plant mastered the production of these last year, the company reports. A sample batch of 12.5mm PSC strands (1,860 N/mm2 or 190 kgf/mm2) was manufactured in accordance with the EN 10138-3 standard. Additionally, the plant also made samples of 15.2mm strands in accordance with GOST 53772-2010 from corrugated wire (min rupture strength 1,860 N/mm2). Besides, a sample batch of 43mm and 46.5mm strands was made for Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works furnace department in accordance with the

February 6, 2015. Sverdlovsk Region Government set up an ad hoc work team to consider ways in which Lastochka, an electric train designed and produced by Ural Locomotives (a member enterprise of Sinara Group), could be used at Sverdlovsk Railways, the government’s website states. Sinara Group and Sverdlovsk Railways management are now calculating the financial scheme of the service, looking into possible routes, and deciding upon the necessary number of trains and their schedule. The most popular destinations are considered first, including the most heavily used one, from Yekaterinburg to

February 6, 2015. Yekaterinburg Patra Brewery (a member enterprise of Heineken Russia) might have to stop producing non-alcoholic beverages in case the Unified State Automated Information System gets introduced to the brewery industry, Heineken Russia’s Corporate Relations Director Kirill Bolmatov told UrBC. ‘The way this system is described in the legislation means a company isn’t allowed to make alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks at the same time. Quite a few breweries produce mineral water, kvass, and lemonade as well as beer, this is a widespread case in Russia. In case the system gets

February 6, 2015. Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (PNTZ, a member enterprise of ChTPZ Group) is going to deliver support wire along with other products for the nuclear sector. PNTZ is actually the Russian nuclear industry’s key wire supplier, the company’s press service says. The order was placed for 1.05mm round wire, 0.6x1.3mm oviform wire, and 0.85mm wire for the future-generation reactors. The new alloy, EK 164, which the wire is made of, is resistant to radioactive impact, which means it can be used longer. Nuclear companies buy PNTZ produce on a regular basis, for example, its longitudinal

February 6, 2015. Two experimental armored vehicles developed at ChTZ (Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant) design office in the sixties and in the eighties were handed over to Uralvagonzavod. The unique BMP 1 (Object 765) and BMPT (Object 781) will serve as exhibits for Tankprom Museum, which is to open in Nizhniy Tagil in 2020. According to Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service, BMP 1, designed at Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant in 1966, was produced on a serial scale. ‘Thanks to the machine’s new firing options, infantry troops could be converted into motorized rifle ones, who, together with the tank

February 6, 2015. Sverdlovsk Region’s consumer price index was 4.7% in January 2015 and up 15.3% compared with January 2014, Sverdlovskstat reports. Food items grew 6.7% more expensive (22.8% against January 2014), alcohol grew 0.9% more expensive (13.3% compared with a year earlier), and non-food items and services grew 3.6% (9.9%) and 4.5% (15.3%) more expensive, respectively.

February 5, 2015. 3,000 tickets have been sold for the Russian Classic 2014-2015 Supreme Hockey League game in Nizhniy Tagil; the event will take place at Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s stadium on February 14; the stadium is big enough for 7,000 spectators, the corporation’s press service reports. ‘Sputnik Hockey Club representatives stress the game arouses a lot of interest: tickets get booked not only by residents of Nizhniy Tagil but also by people from other parts of Sverdlovsk Region. Moreover, a number of seats have already been reserved for Orsk supporters, who will come to see their

February 5, 2015. Central Yekaterinburg division of Rospotrebnadzor (the state consumer rights watchdog) detected food safety problems at two of Yekaterinburg Subway fast food outlets, the agency’s press service reports. It was determined in the course of an inspection that both cafes had been selling foods that did not meet the microbiological safety regulations. E.coli was found in the salmon sandwich on offer at the Subway at 8D Vosmoye Marta St and in the beef sandwich and the vegetable salad on offer at the one at 22 Repin St; the bacterium content was determined through lab tests. As

February 5, 2015. Yekaterinburg Chkalovsky Court officers collected over 2m RUR from Uralkhimmash, a chemical plant, to the benefit of the enterprise’s contractors, Sverdlovsk Region division of the Federal Service of Court Officers’ press service reports. ‘Two enforcement proceedings on the collection of debt from Uralkhimmash to the benefit of Technoservice and Sibirenergoengineering have been completed. The plant owed 711,170 RUR to the former (having failed to pay the royalties on suction filter sales, and 1.5m RUR to the latter (having failed to deliver the goods within the contract

February 5, 2015. Eleven promising industrial sites were placed on the industrial parks register, Governor of Sverdlovsk Region’s Information Policy Department reports. The register now comprises four Sverdlovsk Region-based banks: Tagil Chemical Park, Sinara Park, Berezovsky Park, and Pro Business Park. The parks’ management teams are working hard to attract new residents. Tagil Chemical Park and Pro Business Park are members of the Industrial Parks Association. Cooperation agreements were signed by the Mid-Urals Development Corporation and the management companies of Tagil Chemical Park,

February 5, 2015. Supply keeps going down by over 1% a week on Yekaterinburg existing homes market, Ural Chamber of Real Estate reports. The number of homes available for sale in the Chamber’s database dropped by 22.5% and comes to 7,800 at the moment (compared with nearly 10,100 in late October). The number of rooms in communal apartments plummeted by as many as 32% (from 1,800 down to 1,220). Prices kept fluctuating noticeably throughout January: the city’s average price rose by 0.6% in the last four weeks. As of February 2, the average asking price on Yekaterinburg existing homes market

February 4, 2015. Plant 9 (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) opened a modern canteen, the corporation’s press service reports. ‘Engineers, designers, and technicians now won’t have to go to another building for lunch: the new canteen has enough room to provide meals for forty people simultaneously and for up to one hundred and fifty workers throughout the lunch hours,’ the press service says. OOO Electromechanomontazh was chosen as the contractor for the refurbishing project in the course of an auction. The plant’s employees took care of the engineering infrastructure:

February 4, 2015. Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK) and Gazprom Neft signed a technological partnership agreement for 2015-2017, TMK press service reports. ‘Our company has been doing business with Gazprom Neft successfully for a while now: we supply pipes for oil production and transportation, including pipes with premium threaded joints. The two companies have been working on their scientific and technical cooperation program since 2013. We have come to understand that TMK’s production capacity, its product range, and scientific and technological potential as well as the geographical

February 4, 2015. Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK) was qualified by Missan Oil Company as an approved supplier of OCTGs made of Russian materials, TMK press service reports. Missan Oil Company (MOC) is one of Iraq’s largest oil companies. Getting qualified means TMK is eligible to make its bids in the company’s auctions for the supply of OCTGs for oil production projects in Iraq. The list of qualified goods includes threaded, casing, and tubing varieties of OCTGs as well as pipeline tubing. The qualification was preceded by an audit of TMK enterprises. To assess TMK production capacity, MOC

February 4, 2015. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development proved one of Russia’s 35 largest banks, according to Interfax CEA. The bank’s assets exceeded 235bn RUR: the figure rose by 17.7% throughout last year alone, the bank’s press service reports. The UBRD also came first in the ranking of thirty-four Ural Federal District-based banks (there were 776 banks on the nation-wide list altogether). In terms of private individuals’ investments and deposits, the UBRD, with its 98.6bn RUR, was among Russia’s 25 largest banks. In 2014, the volume of private individuals’ money deposited