October 7, 2014. In January-September 2014, the amount of building cargo shipped via Sverdlovsk Railways declined by 5.9% and came to 15.9m tons, the press service of Russian Railways reports. The volume of iron and manganese ore shipments went down by 0.5% as well and amounted to 9.5m tons, that of ferrous metals decreased by 4.2% and stood at 7.9m tons, that of chemicals and soda dropped by10.2% and came to 2.7m tons, that of timber goods decreased by 1.1% and reached 1.5m tons, and that of coal went down by 14.7% and came to 0.5m tons. In the nine months of the year, 11.2% more oil and

October 7, 2014. ChTZ Uraltrac (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) and its Far Eastern dealer Ural Brand presented their B14 bulldozer at Transport/Special Vehicles/Automobiles/Freight Forwarding in the Far East Exhibition that was part of the Amur River Basin Trade Fair. ‘The exhibition was held at the track-and-field hall of Khabarovsk’s largest stadium. The Chelyabinsk bulldozer, decorated with a ChTZ-branded flag post, was placed next to the main entrance. This was actually the only Russian track-laying vehicle there,’ the corporation’s press service says. The B14

October 7, 2014. ChTPZ Group’s warehouse facility (Uraltrubostal Trading House) is introducing the WMS, Warehouse Management System, in order to speed up the shipment process and enhance the efficiency of managing the stock balance through special data collection terminals that are used for product identification, the company’s press service reports. The WMS will help the company avoid the entry of stock changes under the wrong heading as well as to track the produce logistics from the moment it leaves the plant premises to the moment it arrives to the end user. There could be over 1,200 pipe

October 7, 2014. The Chinese car manufacturer Hawtai Motor is planning to put up a $1.1bn car assembly factory in Russia. Sverdlovsk Region is considered among the possible sites, RBC reports. Hawtai Motor Corporation is currently looking for a construction site for a factory with production capacity of at least 100,000 automobiles, which means the area required for the project stands at a hundred hectares. Sverdlovsk Region, Tatarstan, Samara Region, and Karachay-Cherkessia have all applied as candidate hosting areas. ‘Sverdlovsk Region could be one of the options, but we need to understand

October 6, 2014. Uralcryomash (Nizhniy Tagil-based member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) is celebrating its 60th anniversary, the corporation’s press service reports. ‘Today, Uralcryomash is a multi-industry, dynamically developing enterprise and one of the leaders on the Russian specialized cryogenic equipment market. The company makes goods for all kinds of industries: for the rail carriers and oil and gas companies, for Roscosmos, and for the Russian defense industry. For one, the company designs and makes special systems for storage, transportation, and filling of spaceships.

October 6, 2014. 49.2% of Yekaterinburg residents who applied to Sverdlovsk Region Labor Department in January-September 2014 looking for a suitable job found a position, the agency’s website states. 18,598 people tried to find a suitable position through the employment center over these nine months, and 66,483 people requested some information on the labor market situation. As of October 1, 2014, the number of the unemployed stood at 3,398 (0.47% of the city’s working-age population).

October 6, 2014. Inflation rate has reached 6.1% in Sverdlovsk Region since the beginning of the year and stood at 0.8% in September 2014, Sverdlovskstat officially reports. Food items have grown 8.7% more expensive since the start of 2014 (+1% in September 2014), strong drinks have grown 10.9% more expensive (+0.9% in September 2014). Non-food items prices went up by 4% in January-September (+0.6% in September 2014) and prices of various services rose by 5.8% (+0.8% in September 2014).

October 6, 2014. More than 2,000 people from thirty different countries are going to take part in the European Hair Styling Championship in Yekaterinburg on November 16-17, 2014, Chairman of Yekaterinburg Council Consumer Services Committee Maxim Afanasiev said at a press conference. He also said that hairdressers from countries located outside the European Continent – the U.S., China, and South Korea – would like to join the competition as well. The event is going to be unique in that any Russian beauty sector enterprise can take part in it free of charge. The final round of the championship

October 6, 2014. Denis Litvinov, an arc welder from Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s head plant, won in the prestigious local professional skills contest called Glory to the Man of Labor; the contest was held within the machine-building sector, and Litvinov won in the Best Manual Arc Welder category. According to the corporation’s press service, the winner works at the thermal power station, underwent certification by Rostechnadzor, has job class 6 and twelve-years’ work experience. ‘For one month, Denis Litvinov practiced welding in accordance with the technological map and under the guidance of

October 3, 2014. Russia Today recently broadcast a documentary called Tanks: Made in Russia that was filmed on the premises of Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s head plant in late 2013. ‘The seven-member film crew spent a month filming 24/7 to capture the real-life story of how the legendary T72 tank ties together the lives of two young plant workers. In addition to English, the film will be dubbed into Arabic and Spanish,’ the corporation’s press service says. Throughout the film’s 12 episodes, Kirill Zhalilov and Vladimir Danilov compete for a position in the prestigious tank department where

October 3, 2014. Sverdlovsk Region is Russia’s fifth largest market for SUVs based on the sales in the eight months of 2014. Still, these figures are 1.5% down on last year (sales declined from 18,700 to 18,400 units), Avtostat Analytical Agency reports. According to Avtostat, the top ten local markets (296,700 units) made up over a half of SUV market in Russia in the eight months of 2014 (nearly 556,000 vehicles were sold in the country all in all). The SUV segment dropped by 5.9% in January-August 2014 compared with January-August 2013, yet on the whole, this figure is higher than the

October 3, 2014. Kamensk Uralsky Foundry Plant (KULZ, a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) increased its product output by 15% in August 2014 compared with a year earlier and by 17.5% compared with the target figures for the month. This came to 125m RUR worth of goods. According to the corporation’s press service, the revenues stemming from sales of products for the machine-building sector (wheels for aircraft and special-purpose vehicles, braking equipment, and castings) rose by nearly 70m RUR. ‘Labor productivity is one of the factors affecting a company’s economic

October 3, 2014. Alexander An was appointed the new Director-General of Pnevmostroymachine by the Board of Directors’ decision, the issuer’s official announcement says. The company’s BOD agreed to resignation of the former DG Vladimir Anisimov earlier. Now on July 31, 2014, Sverdlovsk Region Arbitration Court received an insolvency application from Pnevmostroymachine. However, the company withdrew its claim as soon as in August, so the court stopped any hearings relating to this bankruptcy case.

October 3, 2014. MegaFon carried a performance report on the development of its fourth-generation network from the moment the advanced technology was introduced in Yekaterinburg a year ago. Over these twelve months, MegaFon’s 4G coverage network expanded by 2.5 times in the Urals’ capital, so more than 90% of Yekaterinburg residents can now enjoy the high-speed mobile Internet access, the company’s press service reports. ‘MegaFon was the first to launch the 4G network in Yekaterinburg early last October, and over the course of one year, the coverage area increased considerably and gave the

October 2, 2014. Tech study clubs are now welcoming all the schoolchildren at ChTPZ Group’s Training Center in Pervouralsk, the company’s press service reports. ‘Any school student can now attend one of our seven clubs – technical drawing, computer graphics, robotics, mechatronics, chemistry, numerical control machine programming, simulation, electric engineering, and electronics – free of charge. The main idea is to revive the students’ interest in engineering disciplines. Lessons will be given by the Training Center’s qualified teachers,’ the company says. ‘This technical creativity for

October 2, 2014. The second amateur youth Olympics took place on the premises of Yekaterinburg Suvorovskoye Military School in celebration of the Plant’s Day; the event was organized for the workers of Uraltransmash (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation). ‘Uraltransmash coordinates sports contests every year, with workers competing in football and basketball games, track-and-field relays, table tennis and chess matches, bowling, and target shooting. This is the second year we have been organizing amateur Olympics: our workers always take a great interest in sports events, and

October 2, 2014. ChTPZ Group is taking part in the 22nd International Oil & Gas Exhibition/KIOGE in Almaty, Kazakhstan, on September 30-October 3. The company’s stand is located at Pavilion 11 (Atakent, Stand 234), the Group’s press service reports. ChTPZ Group works in close cooperation with Kazakh industrial enterprises and takes part in the exhibition every year. This year, ChTPZ Group is featuring the produce of its pipe manufacturing member enterprises and the products and services of Rimera, its oilfield services division. The Group is also presenting the potential customers its

October 2, 2014. The increase in the volume of merchant acquiring transactions at the Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development went up by 68% between January 1 and September 1, 2014, the bank’s press service reports. The number of POS terminals increased by 84% over the same period and came to almost 4,000 units. According to the UBRD SME Director Elena Sorvina, the rise in the number of terminals and transactions volume primarily has to do with the branch network expansion as well as with a noticeable increase in the demand for this service on the part of tertiary sector companies. ‘We

October 2, 2014. VUZ Bank is offering new terms on its Savings Deposit. This deposit type can now be opened for three or six months or for one or two years: prior to this change, the deposit could only be opened for two years, with 10.5% annual interest rate. The maximum interest rate now comes to 11%, the bank’s press service says. This change was brought about by customer feedback: customers prefer simple and clear short-term schemes that make it easier to save up for a short-term goal. Depending on how long the money stays in the deposit, the interest rate will vary from 9.5% to 11% (9.5%

October 1, 2014. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development keeps meeting its obligations towards its bondholders in full accordance with the agreements. On September 30, the bank made the payments on the fourth coupon in the BO 1 bond issue. Investors were paid 102.22m RUR all in all, 51.11 RUR per bond. There are 2 million BO 1 bonds currently in circulation, with consolidated face value of 2bn RUR, the bank’s press service reports. According to the offering memorandum, October 6 is the buy-back offer date (the bonds can be bought out from the BO 1 bondholders if the latter are