November 21, 2014. Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (PNTZ, a member enterprise of ChTPZ Group), produced pipes with increased wall thickness by a customer’s customized order, the company’s press service says. The pipes are used by the customer, Omsktransmash (an Omsk-based member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) for making chain tracks for vehicles. The order is unique in that the pipes must meet very strict parameter requirements set by Omsktransmash designers and in that additional testing of the produce will take place. ‘The first 3,000-kg batch of pipes was made at PNTZ pipe-drawing

November 21, 2014. The city’s budget revenues came to 22.414bn RUR in January-September 2014 (78.4% of the year’s target figure), Head of Yekaterinburg Council Finance Department Andrei Koryukov announced at Yekaterinburg Duma’s budget and economic policy committee meeting. He explained the city budget’s expenses amounted to 20.754bn RUR (68.4% of the year’s target figure). ‘For one, education expenses came to 10bn RUR, or 50% of the total amount, and 2.2bn RUR, or 10.6%, were directed to social policy. All in all, some 70% of budget expenses had to do with socially-oriented spending,’

November 21, 2104. 30% of anti-smoking law violations in Sverdlovsk Region occur on the premises of restaurants and cafes, Head of Sverdlovsk Region division of Rospotrebnadzor (the state consumer rights watchdog) Natalya Kochneva announced at a press conference in Yekaterinburg. ‘Quite a few cafeterias, cafes, and restaurants are actually located within the 100-meter limitation area. Besides, they tend to be selling cigarettes apiece, which is also against the law,’ Kochneva said. Rospotrebnadzor representative also explained that not a single business which had inquired about the

November 21, 2104. Two businesspeople born in Sverdlovsk Region were featured in Forbes rating of Russia’s 25 best paid top managers, the magazine’s website states. The Director-General of Uralkaliy Vladislav Baumgartner was given the 11th position in the rating (as of December 24, 2013) and the Managing Director of Polyus Gold International German Pikhoya was given the 13th position (as of November 23, 2013). They were both born in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg). VTB Chairman of the Board Andrei Kostin tops the rating; the second place went to Gazprom’s Alexei Miller, the third one to Bank

November 21, 2104. Customers of microfinance organizations have placed 860 complaints with the Central Bank since the beginning of the year, of which 500 had to do with assumed violation of consumer rights in the process of debt collection, Head of the Bank of Russia’s Protection of Customers in the Financial Sector & Minority Shareholders’ Rights Department Ilya Kochetkov announced at the 13th National Microfinance Conference in Saint Petersburg. He said the number of complaints relating to companies that collect money from private individuals claiming to be micro-lenders (which they

November 20, 2104. Uralkhimmash will have to pay a 40,000-ruble fine for violating its license terms, Sverdlovsk Region division of Rospotrebnadzor (the state consumer rights watchdog) says. An inspection revealed grave cases of non-compliance with the license terms at Uralkhimmash. For one, input-exhaust ventilation was missing at the fault detection labs, as were emergency high voltage turn-off/blocking switches, the door-locking system (responsible for turning off voltage at the opening of shielded box doors) was not working, and sound and light alert would only went on if the X-Ray unit

November 20, 2104. The team of Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (PNTZ, a member enterprise of ChTPZ Group) was given the gold medal at the international exhibition Metal Expo 2014 for its project on Technology, Chemical Composition of Steel and Production of Corrosion-Resistant Oil Well Tubing and Casing for the Development of Wells at O&G Companies’ Deposits with Oil, Natural Gas, or Gas Condensate with Corrosive Contents, ChTPZ Group’s press service reports. The competition was held by the exhibition coordinating committee in order to promote and popularize Russian production and scientific

November 20, 2014. The Russian Institute of Directors rated Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation at 5+ for Corporate Governance on the National Corporate Governance Rating®. The corporation announced the introduction of a new CG system in 2010, and a CG Center was set up by the Director-General within the company, Uralvagonzavod’s press service reports. In 2011, the company elaborated a multi-purpose CG improvement program. CG enhancement is now an integral part of the corporation’s privatization roadmap. The company’s CG practices were evaluated along four criteria that

November 20, 2014. Yekaterinburg housing prices stopped growing in September and October 2014, with the average price of a square meter of an existing home coming to 75,584 RUR, Ural Chamber of Real Estate reports. In early October, the existing home market supply reached its six-year high: 10,100 apartments and more than 1,750 rooms in communal apartments. The new home market supply remains high as well, with 3.3m sq m worth of housing (85% of these dwellings are located in Yekaterinburg, 9% are apartments in apartment buildings in the suburbs, and 6% pertain to lofts and premium class

November 20, 2014. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) is now offering its customers direct online acquiring services, the bank’s press service says. The UBRD is a member of the international Visa system, which means no intermediary bank is required for a transaction. This membership improves the quality of service by ensuring faster, safer payments of goods and services. ‘We see the trend with businesses switching from an offline to an online mode, and the number of such businesses keeps growing. Doing things online through an Internet-based acquiring system is one way

November 19, 2104. TR12, a pipe-laying crane made by Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant (ChTZ Uraltrac), was recently bought by ALROSA for one of its production divisions, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service reports. The machine was ordered by the company’s repairs and construction division in Mirny, Yakutia; the place has a reputation for being Russia’s diamond capital. ‘The ChTZ Uraltrac machine is fitted with a side beam and a bulldozer blade, which means its uses will be very many throughout the year, whatever the weather. The pipe-layer can lift weights, lay pipes, and be used for

November 19, 2014. Only 800 new taxpayers have registered in Sverdlovsk Region since the start of the year, while over a thousand legal entities chose to quit the area and get a new registered office, Deputy Head of Russia’s Federal Tax Service Sverdlovsk Region division Marina Ryabova announced at a press conference. According to Ms Ryabova, taxpayers’ migration typically has to do with a business’s wish to avoid an on-site inspection or payment of taxes or fines. ‘However, a change of address doesn’t mean a company is not subject to inspections. All the fiscal authorities make a schedule of

November 19, 2014. The U.S. Consulate in Yekaterinburg announced the visa-issuance process might be taking somewhat longer, as might data transfer all over the world due to technical problems, the Consulate’s official website states. ‘U.S. embassies and consulates worldwide are currently experiencing technical difficulties that may result in delays in visa processing and receiving and sending communications,’ the Consulate says. It is also explained that visa sections keep on their business as usual, yet payments with credit cards are unavailable for the time being. ‘Additionally, applicants

November 19, 2014. Only 800 new taxpayers have registered in Sverdlovsk Region since the start of the year, while over a thousand legal entities chose to quit the area and get a new registered office, Deputy Head of Russia’s Federal Tax Service Sverdlovsk Region division Marina Ryabova announced at a press conference. According to Ms Ryabova, taxpayers’ migration typically has to do with a business’s wish to avoid an on-site inspection or payment of taxes or fines. ‘However, a change of address doesn’t mean a company is not subject to inspections. All the fiscal authorities make a schedule of

November 19, 2014. Europe Cup in hairstyling, makeup, and manicure that was held at Yekaterinburg EXPO International Exhibition Center (2 Expo Boulevard) for the last two days is now over in Yekaterinburg. Contestants from twenty-two Old World countries and other parts of the world arrived to compete in the championship. Over 2,000 visitors from abroad came to the Urals’ capital, including 265 members of competing teams. The contestants said they had been unable to see the city’s landmarks because of a tight schedule, but they intended to spend some time sightseeing when Yekaterinburg hosts

November 18, 2014. Yekaterinburg Central Stadium will close for reconstruction after a football match between the local Ural and Kazan’s Rubin on November 22, the Ural club’s website states. The start of the reconstruction has already been postponed a number of times. First, the stadium was supposed to have closed on September 1. Then, after the FIFA reconsidered its spectator capacity requirements, the date was shifted to September 27. However, Ural Club kept on having home games at the stadium even past this date. As the result of the upcoming reconstruction, Central Stadium will be able to

November 18, 2014. Yekaterinburg came seventh in the rating of Russian cities with the highest living standards, the findings of a research by the Sociology Department of the Financial University under the Russian Federation Government indicate. Tyumen, Moscow, Kazan, Krasnodar, Saint Petersburg, and Chelyabinsk were also among the top seven, while Volgograd, Kurgan, Ulyanovsk, Omsk, Astrakhan, and Togliatti turned out to be cities with poor living standards. The research involved cities with population over 500,000 people, plus two cities with smaller population were added to verify the

November 18, 2014. Since the sale of SEATs on the Russian markets has been halted, the brand’s official dealer in Yekaterinburg Avto Plus SEAT will keep on operating as an after-sales service center, the company’s Marketing Manager Alexander Goldberg told UrBC. ‘Starting from January 1, no new SEATs will be available for purchase in Russia, yet we as dealers keep up with our business as usual: we’ll offer our customers warranty and post-warranty services for the cars they bought earlier. We intend to meet all of our warranty obligations in full. A servicing agreement for 2015 will be signed

November 18, 2014. Uralvagonzavod Corporation is now one of Russian companies that supports gifted students applying for colleges abroad: school-leavers who managed to enter a foreign college and plan to get a degree in a popular vocational field can now sign an employment contract with the corporation that will entitle them to some 1.5m RUR from the Russian Government for every year spent studying. This decision was made by the Russian Industry & Trade Ministry, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service says. The company plans to go ahead with these contracts next school year. Students

November 18, 2014. President of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov met with shareholder and BOD Chairman of ChTPZ Group Alexander Fedorov in Kazan today, the Group’s press service reports. The meeting was also attended by Tatarstan Vice Premier and Industry Minister Ravil Zaripov, Counselor to President of Tatarstan for Economic Issues Irat Khairullin, Tatarstan’s First Deputy Minister for Education & Science Andrei Pominov, ChTPZ Deputy DG Maxim Ignatiev, and Executive Director of OAO Alnas Sergey Sachenko. The officials talked about the ways to develop Almetyevsk-based plant Alnas, the asset