October 23, 2014. The number of vacancies available in Yekaterinburg declined by 6% in the third quarter of 2014 compared with the third quarter of 2013, HeadHunter Urals’ press service reports. ‘It should be noted that in other parts of the Urals, in Chelyabinsk and Perm, for example, the number of job openings actually went up by 25%and 31%, respectively. As for the number of CVs submitted by applicants, this increased by 28% in Q3’14 compared with a year earlier,’ the press service says. In the third quarter of the year, the demand for new workforce was the strongest in sales (27% of all

October 23, 2014. Russia is now No.1 on the list of countries most frequently suffering from hacking attacks through Trojans connected to m-banking services. According to the company’s experts, 91% of such hacking attempts are targeted against Russia-based users. In fact, the number of instances where mobile banking Trojans were involved rose by 14 times over the last twelve months. Besides, 64% of hacking attempts to do with SMS Trojans hit Russian users as well; what these Trojans do is send short fee-charging messages to premium numbers without the phone owner’s knowledge.

October 22, 2014. The 13th International Steel-Smelters Congress was held at Seversky Pipe Plant (STZ, a member enterprise of Pipe Metallurgical Company), the company’s press service reports. The forum was organized by Association of Steel-Smelters, an interregional NGO, and Pipe Metallurgical Company. STZ, one of the leading steel-smelting businesses, was chosen as the congress site for a reason. STZ workers carried out a full-scale reconstruction of the plant’s steel-smelting facilities and did a lot of scientific research. They were thus able to share their experience with the fellow

October 22, 2014. Consumer prices of goods and services in Sverdlovsk Region went up by 6.1% in September 2014 compared with December 2013. In contrast to this, the difference between prices in September 2013 and December 2012 was around 5.4%, Sverdlovskstat’s official data state. The overall increase in food item prices, including the price of alcohol produce, was more noticeable than that of a year earlier (8.9% against 4%). Food items, when looked at without the alcohol produce, became 8.7% more expensive, with most groceries affected. Milk and dairy products prices rose by 10.9% to 22.2%,

October 22, 2014. ChTZ Uraltrac (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) celebrated the 30th anniversary of the day the plant’s millionth tractor left the assembly line, Uralvagonzavod’s press service reports. ‘A special event dedicated to the anniversary was organized at the company museum. The evening was hosted by the museum workers and members of the plant’s Home Climate Club that unites some fifty families of the tank-making plant’s workers,’ the press service says. A long-service machine-builder and ChTZ Honored Worker, holder of the Order of the Red Banner of Labour Nikolai

October 22, 2014. According to Rosstat, the official unemployment rate in Sverdlovsk Region stood at 6.1% in the second week of September. 69% of the local population (2,268,700 people) are economically active and 64.8% (2,130,000 people) are currently employed. 138,700 people are unemployed at the moment.

October 22, 2014. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) and Klyuchevsk Ferrous Alloys Works (a member enterprise of MidUralGroup) signed a $5m loan contract, which means the total amount of funds available through credit lines now reaches $20m. The money will be directed to financing of the company’s working capital, the bank’s press service reports. The UBRD has been doing business with the MidUralGroup member enterprises since 2010. The group relies on the bank’s credit lines, leasing options, and guarantees to the accounts of fiscal authorities, the Federal Customs

October 21, 2014. Czech Airlines might reduce the number of Prague-Yekaterinburg flights planned for this winter, Kommersant refers to the airline’s press service as saying. Fewer flights will be operated to Samara, Saint Petersburg, Rostov, and Ufa as well, while Perm-Prague flights will be cancelled even before the New Year recess. According to the Czech media, low demand for Europe-bound flights is behind the air carrier’s decision. Koltsovo Airport’s press service reports no information regarding a reduction in the number of Czech Airlines’ flights has been provided yet.

October 21, 2014. Ural Mining & Metallurgical Company (UMMC) is planning to get one third of its $5bn debt refinanced in 2015, Prime refers to the company’s Director-General Andrei Kozitsin as saying. Kozitsin explained the company’s primary creditors are Sberbank, Gazprombank, and VTB. ‘We have no intention of borrowing through public offerings. Our debts to the three banks amount to around $5bn, including $1bn owed by Kuzbassrazrezugol. We keep working on our refinancing schemes and the long- and short- term money options. Next year, slightly less than a third of the sum total will be

October 21, 2014. The all-pervading snow and cold temperatures in Sverdlovsk Region are making harvesting very difficult to complete, Sverdlovsk Region Food & Agriculture Ministry reports. ‘The fields are full of snow, and our vehicles can’t operate there. We do hope the snow melts and we’ll be able to gather some of the remaining crops and vegetables off the frozen ground,’ says Sverdlovsk Region Food & Agriculture Minister Mikhail Kopytov. According to Kopytov, things look the glummest in terms of crop harvesting: 15% of the total yield, or 55,000 hectares, are still out there in

October 21, 2014. Some offenses were detected in 89.8% of cases cash-register equipment was used in Sverdlovsk Region in the three quarters of 2014. A year earlier, the figure stood at 78.8%, Sverdlovsk Region division of the Federal Tax Service says. As of October 1, 2014, 84,778 till equipment units have been registered with Sverdlovsk Region’s fiscal bodies. In the nine months of 2014, the local fiscal authorities coordinated 2,827 inspections (15.2%, or 373 inspections more than a year earlier), including 2,220 checks of how the equipment is applied, 455 checks of completeness of the

October 21, 2014. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development is complying with its obligations to bondholders in accordance with all the statutory documentation, the bank’s press service reports. The bank proceeded with the third coupon payments on its BO 05 bonds: investors were paid a total of 117.18m RUR (58.59 RUR per share). There 2m BO 05 bonds (total face value 2bn RUR) currently in circulation. The third and fourth coupon rate was set at 11.75% a year (58.59 RUR per 1,000-ruble bond); the next coupon payment on BO 05 bonds is scheduled for April, upon which a buy-out offer

October 20, 2014. ChTZ Uraltrac (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) shipped its DET 250 bulldozer to one of Kazakhstan’s energy sector enterprises, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service reports. ‘This is actually the third DET that has been delivered to this neighboring country this year. Diesel electric tractors get bought not only by Kazakh energy sector companies but also by ore mining and processing enterprises. Shipments have been handled with the help of Spets Avto from Shimkent. The same dealer actually shipped four B10M bulldozers with elastic couplings to

October 20, 2014. Kaspersky Lab carried a list of the Urals’ most cyber-unsafe cities, the company’s press service says. 38% of Ural Federal District-based Internet users were faced with an Internet security threat at least once in the third quarter of the year; this figure, in fact, is the year’s all-time low. In the previous quarter, the figure actually stood at 41%, while in the Q3’14, the number of malicious objects per user dropped dramatically. In Nizhniy Tagil and Chelyabinsk, for example, the number of such objects was almost halved. At the same time, Nizhniy Tagil still turned out to

October 20, 2014. A new power-generating unit is expected to be put up at Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s head plant in the course of thermal power station reconstruction. The project has been elaborated by Saint Petersburg-based Transmashproyekt, the plant’s reliable partner of many years, the corporation’s press service reports. As soon as the construction permit has been granted, an auction will be held for the contractors. The main criterion is whether the contractor is willing to both put up the unit and remain in charge of its operation and maintenance in the future. The construction is

October 20, 2014. The Urban Planning Council under the Governor of Sverdlovsk Region adopted a new reconstruction concept for Yekaterinburg Central Stadium; this was done in preparation for the World Cup 2018. The FIFA adjusted their site requirements recently: the stadium now must be big enough for 35,000 spectators (rather than the 45,000 required earlier). This is why the Russian Federation Government asked the parties in charge to come up with the new design solutions and make changes to the project design documentation. According to Governor of Sverdlovsk Region’s Information Policies

October 18, 2014. MMK Group’s consolidated steel output went up by 10.3% in the three quarters of 2014 compared with the nine months of 2013 and amounted to 9,959,000,000 kg, the Group reports. The company shipped 9,277,000,000 kg of ready goods to its customers, which exceeded the figures for a year earlier by 11.4%. The output of high value-added (HVA) produce rose by 2.9% in the nine months of 2014 and came to 4,134,000,000 kg.

October 17, 2014. Omsktransmash (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) employed graduates of the Urals- and Siberia-based colleges, the company’s HR Director Ekaterina Vetchinkina announced in the course of a round table discussion dubbed Hunting for Pros: How Can Education and Business Face the Government’s Key Task? According to Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service, Vetchinkina said in her report that the recently hired young graduates majored in Machine-Building Technology, Electric Engineering & Electric Equipment, Thermal Engineering, Radio Equipment, Production

October 17, 2014. Court officers made the subsidiary of Ural Federal University in Sredneuralsk stop operating for sixty days, says Sverdlovsk Region division of the Federal Service of Court Officers. The decision to impose a temporary operating ban on the subsidiary followed an inspection by Rospotrebnadzor (the state consumer rights watchdog). The agency’s inspectors determined that the college building’s material resources and equipment did not meet the federal state educational requirements for vocational secondary education establishments. The UFU subsidiary does not possess an outdoor

October 17, 2014. 1,398,400 sq m worth of new housing got commissioned in Sverdlovsk Region in January-September 2014, which exceeded the figures for January-September 2013 by 1.9 times, Sverdlovskstat reports. 16,023 apartments were built (compared with 8,175 apartments a year earlier); there was an average of 324 sq m worth of new housing per 1,000 residents (compared with 169 sq m in January-September 2013). In the nine months of 2014, the new housing output was higher than a year earlier in 55 cities and towns in Sverdlovsk Region. As for Yekaterinburg, 633,900 sq m of new housing were