November 5, 2014. Eight highly skilled workers of Uralvagonzavod Corporation embarked on WorldSkills, the national blue-collar jobs contest in the hi tech industries sector that is currently in progress in Yekaterinburg. ‘Workers from Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s five member enterprises are going to display their professional skills there. These member enterprises are Nizhniy Tagil-based Uralvagonzavod, Uralcryomash, and Ural Transport Machine-Building Design Bureau and Yekaterinburg-based Uraltransmash and Plant 9. A student from Nizhniy Tagil Vocational School for Metal Processing &

November 5, 2014. Kamensk Uralsky Foundry Plant (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) commissioned a new hydraulic water press with the capacity of 2,000,000 kg. ‘The equipment is meant for making a range of press-formed articles through powder metallurgy methods. The settings are currently tuned in to make products for the corporation’s head plant, which is expected to contribute to the state’s import replacement policy,’ the corporation’s press service reports. The press will be launched as soon as a special press form has been manufactured and delivered onto the foundry

November 5, 2014. The M30 howitzer was put into the service of the Red Army seventy-five years ago this fall. The howitzer, designed in 1938, was serially produced at Plant 9 (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation, then known as Uralmashzavod) starting from 1939. ‘M30 was used not only by the Soviet Army but also by those of many other countries, including Cuba and China. It was a witness to nearly all important wars and armed conflicts in the middle and final decades of the 20th century,’ Uralvagonzavod Corporation says. The Soviet Government’s plan consisted in making artillery

November 5, 2014. A cooperation agreement was signed between ChTPZ Group and Saint Petersburg Electric Machine-Building College at WorldSkills Hi Tech in Yekaterinburg. The two parties are to do business together within the framework of ROST ORLEU, the Association of Kazakh and Russian industrial colleges, the Group’s press service reports. The agreement was signed by Director of Electric Machine-Building College Alexander Nazarov and Head of ChTPZ Group Training Center Nikolai Desyatov. ‘Joining the association of colleges will take our cooperation on training blue-collar cadre to a new

November 5, 2014. A concept for WorldSkills CIS was presented in the course of a round table discussion on training blue-collar cadre for the CIS and the Customs Union member states; the discussion was part of WorldSkills Hi Tech business agenda, Governor of Sverdlovsk Region’s Information Policy Department reports. ‘We asked the Sverdlovsk Region team to assist in the elaboration of the concept for a new-format championship. The important thing is to ensure experience-sharing among the CIS member states. We’d like to come up with a set of unified professional standards for these countries

October 31, 2014. Rospotrebnadzor (the state consumer rights watchdog) determined that 31% of Sverdlovsk Region-based alcohol-selling companies do not entirely comply with the existing regulations, head of the agency’s Sverdlovsk Region Food Hygiene Department Natalya Sheluntsova announced at a press conference. ‘217 enterprises have underwent checks since the start of the year, and instances of non-compliance were detected in 31% of the businesses. 180 batches of strong drinks (some 2,000 liters altogether) had to be confiscated. Mostly, non-compliance had to do with discrepancies between

October 31, 2014. Uralvagonzavod Corporation presented Russia’s first innovative tram at the ExpoCityTrans 2014 International Exhibition in Moscow, the corporation’s press service reports. The corporation’s stand, designed to look like a transport terminal of a metropolis, got a visit from Mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin. Deputy Mayor for Transport & Road Infrastructure Development Maxim Liksutov had a look at the new tram and was informed about its technical parameters in the company of Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s DG Oleg Sienko. ‘Sergey Sobyanin wanted to know when R1 could start its

October 31, 2014. Travelsystem, a tour operator, is no longer a player on Yekaterinburg market: the company cut back on the number of flight offers and is to close down its local representation on November 1, 2014. The decision was taken in order to cut costs after demand for Europe-bound trips had sagged, Travelsystem’s website states. At the same time, the company’s Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, and Samara branches go on with business as usual. ‘The European business standards Travelsystem rests upon leave no room whatsoever for dumping, artificially boosted sales, or

October 31, 2014. Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant (ChTPZ) now manufactures non-standard length weldless pipes: this is part of the plant’s strategy to provide for the Russian companies’ needs for high quality home-produced tubing, ChTPZ Group’s press service reports. The plant manufactured 140-mm pipes (wall width 12 mm) made of 09G2S steel that was produced at its very own steel-smelting facility, Iron Ozone 32. These products are over 11 meters long. The order was particularly challenging in that the enterprise’s production technology is normally suited for making pipes that are up to 10

October 31, 2014. EVRAZ announces its Nizhyaya Salda Metallurgical Plant (NSMZ, owned by EVRAZ’s independent subsidiary Nizhniy Tagil Integrated Works) has been sold to OOO Businessinvest, the holding’s official statement goes. ‘The transaction in question is in full compliance with EVRAZ’s current strategy, namely, selling unprofitable and non-core assets. NSMZ made 62m RUR worth of losses in 2013, which had been brought about by a considerable decrease in the demand for its produce. EVRAZ Nizhniy Tagil Integrated Works will stop the production process at the plant on November 1, 2014,

October 30, 2014. ChTPZ Group is going to display several job counseling stands at WorldSkills Hi Tech, a national blue-collar jobs championship, at Yekaterinburg EXPO on October 30. The Group will also make a presentation of the so-called The Future of White Metallurgy Program that is offered at ChTPZ Group Training Center, the Group’s press service says. Visitors to the stand will be able to talk to experts and Training Center students and get all the details on the current programs and courses. ‘Throughout the five-day championship, one can enjoy a spectacular performance: every high

October 30, 2014. In 2015, Electromachine (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) is going to co-invest in education of thirty school-leavers and students so that they can get jobs at the company later. 17 students are to study for their Bachelor’s degrees and on five-year programs, the rest of these students are getting into grad school,’ the corporation’s press service reports. Electromachine’s Personnel Training & Development Director Natalya Fersovitch says that this is not the first time the Chelyabinsk-based plant has launched such a program, but next year’s program is

October 30, 2014. Omsktransmash (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) is preparing for the heating season and thus replaced over 800 m of pipes in the heating supply system. According to Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service, the company prepared for winter both with the help of its own resources and with that of ten contractors. The most labor-intensive and costly jobs were carried out at substation RP 6, where the automatic circuit breakers were fully replaced with the new, Electroshchit ones, and at the plant’s primary boiler house. Omsktransmash Deputy Chief Engineer

October 30, 2014. Every one in ten working Russians is going to take additional days off during the November break, Superjob’s research center reports. This year, both the official public holiday November 4 and the previous day (a shift from the public holiday on February 24) are going to be days off for the employed. A survey involving 1,600 working Russian citizens indicates that 10% of respondents are planning to take days off or a short-term vacation on November 5-7 in order to get a longer fall break. 61% of respondents have no such plans, 9% of those surveyed work shifts and just can’t

October 30, 2014. The trial of Stanislav Silkin, who is accused of taking part in the murder of Director of Yekaterinburg Meatpacking Plant Alexander Kuleshov, begins in Sverdlovsk Region Court on October 30, 2014. The 43-year-old Khakasia-born Silkin is charged with aiding and abetting in a hired killing (Article 105 (Part 2) and Article 33 (Part 5) of the Russian Federation Criminal Code) and with organized, collusive illicit trafficking in firearms and ammunition (Article 222 (Part 2) of the Russian Federation Criminal Code). ‘The inquest team believe the accused was an accomplice in the

October 29, 2014. Burevestnik Central Scientific Research Institute (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) hosted a meeting of heads of Volga Federal District-based defense industry enterprises. The meeting was chaired by Plenipotentiary Representative of Russian Federation President in Volga Federal District Mikhail Babich. The corporation’s press service reports the meeting was dedicated to looking into the ways of meeting the target figures for import replacement of spare parts that are used for design, production, and operation of Russian arms and special vehicles. The

October 29, 2014. Uralvagonzavod Corporation is going to present its R1 tram at the international exhibition ExpoCityTrans in Moscow, the corporation’s press service says. ‘Visitors to the exhibition can form their opinions of the exterior and interior design, ask the tram designers their questions, and look at the solutions that haven’t yet been presented to the general public,’ the press service says. R1 is Russia’s first 100% low-floor three-sectional tramway that was developed jointly by Uraltransmash (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) and Atom Design Office. ‘The design

October 29, 2014. Sinara Transport Machines (a member enterprise of Sinara Group) delivered its diesel-locomotive shunter TEM7A to the customer, Center for Terrestrial and Space Infrastructure Maintenance (a part of Roscosmos Federal Space Agency), Sinara Group’s PR Center reports. The locomotive was made at Lyudinovsky Locomotive Plant (a member enterprise of Sinara Transport Machines). Before the year ends, the plant is to deliver one more TEM7A shunter to Vostochny Cosmodrome. These vehicles will be used both while the launching site is being constructed and after the site has been

October 29, 2014. 56,833 new passenger and commercial vehicles were sold in Yekaterinburg between January and September 2014, which is 19% (13,224 units) less than in the three quarters of 2013, Auto Dealer Yekaterinburg reports. The agency says sales dropped by over a quarter in September. This time, the decrease stood at 26%: 6,235 automobiles were purchased in Yekaterinburg (2,240 cars fewer than in September 2013). Renault was the only brand among the top ten best-selling makes whose sales actually improved last month. ‘September is typically a successful month for Yekaterinburg’s car

October 29, 2014. Sverdlovsk Region Economics Ministry came up with a provision on the forecast for the area’s socioeconomic development in 2015-2017, acting Economics Minister Anna Uskova said at Sverdlovsk Region Government meeting. According to Uskova, there are currently two possible scenarios for the economic development of Sverdlovsk Region: a moderately optimistic one and the basic one. Under the optimistic scenario, the constituency’s gross regional product would grow by an average of 3.9% a year, with industry going up by 3.5%, agriculture going up by 8%, retail trade turnover going