January 13, 2015. UTair Airlines won’t be operating any flight from Yekaterinburg to Moscow and back before March, Koltsovo Airport’s press service informed UrBC. ‘The airline cancelled these Moscow-bound flights till the end of the winter season. There used to be one daily flight on offer,’ the press service explained. The company says the flights are no longer offered due to dropping demand. ‘As the demand for Moscow-Yekaterinburg-Moscow flights has been on the decrease, and in order to optimize our costs, the flight was made unavailable starting from December 22 and until the end of the

January 13, 2015. Gasoline production went up by 0.6% in Russia on December 22-28, 2014 and amounted to 845,100,000 liters, while diesel fuel output dropped by 0.2% and amounted to 1,550,800,000 liters, Rosstat reports. Over the given period, consumer prices decreased by 0.4%; the price of A76 remained the same, while the prices of AI 92, AI95 and higher grades of gasoline became 0.4% less expensive; the price of diesel fuel remained the same. The average consumer price stood at 33.24 RUR per liter (30.29 RUR for A76, 32.26 RUR for AI 92, and 35.04 RUR for AI 95 and higher grades). Diesel

January 13, 2015. Seventeen schoolchildren from Karabash spent a fortnight at Russkoye Pole, a health resort near Chekhov, Moscow Region. The children were treated to a full range of healthcare services, including hydrotherapy, exercise therapy, and medical/social rehabilitation, Russian Copper Company’s PR & Social Policy Department reports. The kids took therapeutic baths, swam in the pool, went inside a speleotherapy chamber, spent plenty of time outside on a daily basis as well as traveled to Moscow and Moscow Region. According to Prof. Yelena Zhukovskaya of Dmitri Rogachev Federal

January 13, 2015. Sverdlovsk Region Arbitration Court is going to consider Low Rise Construction Center’s bankruptcy application. The files were submitted to the court on December 30, 2014. Low Rise Construction Center is the Mid-Urals Development Corporation’s (KRSU) daughter enterprise and therefore belongs to Sverdlovsk Region. In 2012, the company took out a 260m RUR loan from Sberbank, guaranteed by the KRSU, in order to put up Yuzhny District in Yekaterinburg. 230m RUR were taken out by the borrowing party in 2012 and 2013, with the money to be paid back by September 25, 2015. However,

January 13, 2015. Sverdlovsk Region hotels will keep getting star categories throughout 2015. The eleven cities that will be hosting the World Cup 2018 games must get all of their hotels starred by July 1, 2016. The requirement applies to all hotels regardless of whether they are planning to offer rooms to the football championship visitors, Sverdlovsk Region Government’s Information Policy Department reports. Russian Restaurateurs & Hoteliers Federation believes strongly in the need for the hotels to be ascribed star categories, since this gives guests a clear system. The state, in its

December 29, 2014. Omsktransmash (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) won the annual national Golden Idea Prize, the corporation’s press service reports. ‘The Omsk-based company’s team won the third prize in the Successful Production of Military Goods and Introduction of Advanced Technologies and Innovative Solutions category for design, production, and export of heavy-duty flame weaponry. Omsktransmash Director-General Igor Lobov received the well-deserved award from Assistant to the Russian Federation President for Military & Technological Cooperation Vladimir Kozhin and

December 29, 2014. Ural Airlines have offered their services to 5,000,000 passengers within twelve months for the first time this year, the airline’s press service reports. The 5,000,000th passenger checked in for his flight on December 26, 2014. This was Andrei Ostrikov, who took his family to Sochi on the U6 219 flight from Yekaterinburg. The company representatives welcomed the special passenger at Koltsovo Airport and upgraded his entire family to business class as a present. It proved quite symbolic that the 5,000,000th passenger flew with the company on the eve of the year 2015. ‘It has

December 29, 2014. Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK) held an extraordinary general meeting by absentee voting on December 25, 2014, the company’s press service reports. The shareholders decided on the distribution of profit made in six months of 2014 and on the payment of dividends (393,786,159.48 RUR in six months of 2014). Dividends are paid to shareholders in proportion to the number of ordinary registered shares they own. The list of those entitled to dividend payments stands as of January 12, 2015.

December 29, 2014. Sverdlovsk Region division of the Federal Antimonopoly Service reports they get three to five complaints about food price increases daily, the division head Dmitri Shalobodov announced at a press conference. ‘Customers mainly complain about buckwheat, bread, and vegetables growing more expensive. Every case is looked into. According to the data we have, the price of cabbage has gone up 40% since August, that of buckwheat is up 100%,’ Shalobodov said. He also pointed out some foods became less expensive: for one, pork prices dropped by 6.5% compared with August 2014, butter

December 29, 2014. The amount of taxes and levies owed to Sverdlovsk Region budget (including fines and fiscal sanctions) rose by 2.64bn RUR (9.6%) in the eleven months of 2014 and amounted to 29.984bn RUR, Sverdlovsk Region division of Russia’s Federal Tax Service reports. Head of the Debt Settlement & Bankruptcy Proceedings Department A. S. Balyura says 972,000 payment requests were sent out to taxpayers, the total sum being 26.729bn RUR. Around two-thirds of these payment requests have to do with the payment of property tax by private individuals. The debt collection efficiency

December 26, 2014. Sverdlovsk Region Ministry for the Environment & Natural Resources carried out an expert examination of the amount of mineral and fossil resources in 24 deposits. The examination proved positive in all of the cases, Governor of Sverdlovsk Region’s Information Policy Department reports. Thus the amount of stone (the primary material for making macadam) in deposits was estimated at 320m3, which was 16 times more than was extracted throughout the year. The estimated deposits of sand and tile stone were increased by 12m m3, which was 100 times more than was extracted

December 26, 2014. ChTZ Uraltrac (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod) produced its first B11.80000 tractor with a Chinese engine and hydro-mechanical transmission. ‘The launching ceremony was attended by representatives of the Chinese manufacturer, the country’s largest machine-building corporation WeiChai Holding Group. Our Chinese partners were in charge of the assembly and did more than just supervise our local experts’ work, they actually took part in the process themselves,’ the corporation’s press service says. The plant designers managed to fit the units in the serially produced

December 26, 2014. Uralvagonzavod Corporation was declared the top charity supporter of Nizhniy Tagil: the enterprises and organizations which contributed greatly to the city’s development and to socioeconomically important projects were awarded at the Mayor’s end-of-year reception, the corporation’s press service reports. ‘What is more, Mayor Sergey Nosov also gave the plant the highest award introduced this year, the Nizhniy Tagil No.1 Charity Supporter Award. This silver plate is given to organizations and enterprises that have become top charity-doers thrice,’ the press service says. In

December 26, 2014. The investigative division of Yekaterinburg Department of Internal Affairs completed their inquiry into a criminal case involving theft of 5m RUR from bank cards. All of the suspects have been detained, the Department’s press service reports. According to the inquiry team, the head of the organized crime group elaborated a scheme for stealing money from bank cards and bought equipment for making bank card duplicates. His 21-year-old brother, who was good at computers, became his accomplice and, together with three more ‘partners’, used Yekaterinburg- and Sverdlovsk

December 26, 2014. Ural Airlines was once again awarded with a thank-you letter from Governor of Sverdlovsk Region and Sverdlovsk Region Government for its noticeable contribution to charity projects in the area, the airline’s press service says. The authorities commented on the company’s great corporate social responsibility and specific help to those in need this year. In fact, the airline has received numerous government awards for its charity efforts before. In 2014, Ural Airlines directed over 565m RUR to sponsorship and charity projects, with most of the money spent on funding child

December 25, 2014. ITERA O&G Company (a member enterprise of Rosnef) and Uralvagonzavod Corporation signed a natural gas supply agreement, the corporation’s press service reports. ‘The ten-year agreement will come into effect on January 1, 2015. Our agreement on a long-term partnership with ITERA means we’ll be able to cut costs on natural gas supply for Uralvagonzavod’s needs and also means we manage to keep on cooperating fruitfully with Rosneft,’ the press service says. For one, an agreement on oil and mineral products supply cooperation was signed in the course of Saint Petersburg

December 25, 2014. First Deputy Director-General Alexander Grubman was appointed the new Director-General of Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant (ChTPZ). Grubman is going to succeed Vitaliy Sadykov, who used to run both of ChTPZ Group’s divisions, the pipe-manufacturing one and the O&G servicing one. Following his leave of office, Sadykov will focus on the development of Rimera. As the plant’s new Director-General, Alexander Grubman will be in charge of developing and implementing the company strategy: enhancing the business performance efficiency and the company’s competitiveness and

December 25, 2014. Novouralsk-based AMUR Car Factory might become the property of Sverdlovsk Region Government, hints the constituency’s Prime Minister Denis Pasler. ‘We might take AMUR out of its current bankruptcy proceedings in order to make it the Region’s property so that it could be sold to investors in 2015,’ Pasler said at a press conference in Yekaterinburg. According to the official, AMUR still has a production site that is suited for making automobiles and special-purpose vehicles. AMUR Car Factory is currently undergoing bankruptcy proceedings, whereas the factory’s former DG

December 25, 2014. Skoda raised prices for all of its car makes by an average of 7% on December 23: the price increase will thus come to between 40,000 RUR and 100,000 RUR per item, Avtostat reports. For one, Skoda Roomster is now 60,000 RUR more expensive and costs 806,000 RUR. Skoda Yeti also grew 60,000 RUR more expensive. The increase in the price of Skoda Rapid will depend on the options you are buying: Rapid Active will become 40,000 RUR more expensive, Rapid Ambition will become 46,000 RUR more expensive, and Rapid Elegance will become 50,000 RUR more expensive. The base price now

December 25, 2014. Sverdlovsk Region’s law on the constituency’s budget in 2015 and the constituency’s government internal loan program Sverdlovsk Region to take out some budget loans next year, Governor of Sverdlovsk Region’s Information Policy Department reports. Just like a year earlier, loans from non-state institutions will be made in the form of credit lines, which will allow for faster decision-making; the actual borrowing policy will depend on the budget revenues within a particular time period. All this will allow the borrowing party to cut debt servicing costs. The interest rate for