September 10, 2014. Yekaterinburg authorities are about to complete all the certification procedures necessary to ensure the city is ready for the upcoming heating season of 2014/2015, the city council’s press service reports. ‘A number of Sverdlovsk Region towns are under-prepared for the winter at the moment. Yekaterinburg, on the contrary, looks like one of the most responsible cities in this respect: the authorities have been getting ready for winter for a few months now, and this has been done in accordance with a previously adopted plan and under ongoing supervision by authorities. A

September 10, 2014. A draft provision on the minimum living wage for the fourth quarter of 2014 was adopted at Sverdlovsk Region Government meeting on September 9, Governor of Sverdlovsk Region’s Information Policy Department reports. Sverdlovsk Region’s per capita living wage for the fourth quarter of 2014 was estimated at 8,370 RUR a month, which is 6.3% more than in the previous quarter. The figure for working-age population was set at 8,370 RUR a month, that for retirees was set at 6,888 RUR a month, and that for children was set at 8,483 RUR a month. ‘The living wage, determined through

September 9, 2014. VUZ Bank is conducting a financial literacy campaign in all of its branches. In Yekaterinburg, workshops can be attended at any of the eleven branches the bank operates in the city on any Thursday. The lecture starts at 6:30 PM, the bank’s press service says. In addition to obtaining valuable theoretical knowledge, the workshop attendants can also get practical advice on savings, personal financial planning, and the best banking solutions from the bank’s experts. ‘You don’t have to be the bank’s customer in order to attend our School for Financial Literacy. Anyone can spend

September 9, 2014. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) raised the limits it sets on cash deposits transferred via the ATMs of Alfa Bank, the UBRD’s press service reports. Starting from September 3, 2014, VISA and MasterCard cardholders can deposit some cash onto their account using the ATMs of UBRD and Alfa Bank united network under new terms: up to 85,000 RUR can be deposited through a single transaction, and the total of 180,000 RUR (no more than eight transactions all in all) can be deposited within every twenty-four hours; the monthly limit is set at 720,000 RUR.

September 9, 2014. Uraltransmash (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) summed up the results of its Company’s Best Turner Contest, the corporation’s press service reports. ‘The contest took place at two of Uraltransmash production sites and consisted of two stages: the first one was purely theoretical, and contestants had to answer twenty-two multiple choice questions. During the second, practical, stage, they had to make an adaptor plug on a turning lathe. Winners were determined based on the points scored at both stages of the contest. Alexander Semenov from the centralized

September 9, 2014. METCOMBANK acted as the partner of Fabergé Museum-St Petersburg, the bank’s press service reports. Russia’s first private museum of national importance, the Fabergé Museum was opened at the Shuvalov Palace in Saint Petersburg in late 2013. The museum exhibits one of the world’s best collections of Russian applied arts and jewellery dating back to the late 19th and early 20th century. ‘Nine famous Fabergé eggs created by orders of the last two Russian emperors are the most valuable pieces of the collection. What also makes the museum’s Fabergé collection unique is that it

September 9, 2014. Ural Airlines is reminding its customers at the start of the fall/winter season 2014 that special rates are offered on Europe-bound flights, the air carrier’s press service reports. ‘Planning your fall or winter trips just got even more convenient. Appealing prices are offered on popular destinations from Yekaterinburg to Rome, Munich, Barcelona, Prague, Karlovy Vary, and Tel Aviv and from Nizhniy Novgorod to Prague as well as from Krasnodar to Munich. The price of the ticket depends on the date you book on,’ the company explains. If you book more than sixty days before the

August 8, 2014. The amount of overdue loans rose by 468m RUR at Sverdlovsk Region-based banks in August, the local division of Central Bank reports. Debt arrears on loans, deposits, and other funds offered to non-financial organizations went up by 197.36m RUR, while the amount of outstanding debt reached 5.97bn RUR in August compared with 5.77bn RUR a month earlier. The picture looked the same in the private individuals’ funds segment. By the end of August, the amount of debt arrears on loans and deposits increased by 271.08m RUR up to 8.13bn RUR against 7.85bn RUR in July. Debt arrears in

August 8, 2014. Ural Federal University was given the 11th position in the rating of best Russian colleges to get a degree in Economics. The rating was created by Expert Rating Agency. The top three positions were awarded to Moscow-based colleges: Moscow State University, N.E. Bauman Moscow State Technical University, and Moscow Physicotechnical Institute. UFU was also given the 10th position in the rating of fifty Russian colleges that offer degrees in engineering disciplines, natural sciences, and precise sciences. ‘These impressive positions in the ratings prove that we are moving in the

August 8, 2014. Plant 9 (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) bought a cleaning vehicle for its production premises recently According to the corporation’s press service, this modern machine will be used at Department 23. ‘Despite the fact that this department was set up in early 2013 and has the newest equipment possible, it is impossible to avoid some spillage of oil which has to be used in the production process. For one, members of the third-stage control committee voiced numerous complaints regarding oily floors during their inspection of the department; they insisted that

August 8, 2014. The Russian Federation constituencies that comprise Ural Federal District will receive additional 1.3bn RUR to support their agricultural businesses, Russian Minister for Agriculture Nikolai Fedorov said at a briefing in Yekaterinburg in the course of Ural Federal District 5th Interregional Agricultural & Industrial Fair. ‘The district was allocated 6.5bn RUR from the national budget. We hope to be able to provide 1.3bn RUR before the end of the year, which is an adjustment on the country’s budget for 2014. These tranches will give our agricultural investors more

August 8, 2014. Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation, the general partner of the event, presented the latest developments by its member enterprises at Ural Transport Show Magistral 2014. According to the corporation’s press service, the Director-General Oleg Sienko took part in the plenary session on transport machine-building and the impact this segment feels of the new institutional mechanisms. ‘In his report, Oleg Sienko spoke about the corporation’s innovative developments, including, for example, production of rolling stock and of modern low-floor trams. Besides, he

September 5, 2014. Rospotrebnadzor (the state consumer rights watchdog) closed down McDonald’s second restaurant at 106 Chelyuskintsev St in Yekaterinburg following a recent inspection. ‘One restaurant in Yekaterinburg still awaits court decision. We are closely studying the content of the agency documents to determine what should be done to re-open the restaurant as soon as possible.,’ McDonald’s official website states. No reasons are given for why the restaurant was forced to close down. Now on August 28, 2014, Yekaterinburg Leninsky District Court imposed an 85-day stoppage on McDonald’s

September 5, 2014. A direct flight from Yekaterinburg to Budapest might be reintroduced in the nearest future, General Consul of Hungary in Yekaterinburg Sándor Molnári said at a press conference in the Mid-Urals’ capital. ‘I can’t give you the exact launch date yet, but we are working on this. Negotiations are in progress,’ the consul said. Prior to 2009, Malev Airlines used to operate Yekaterinburg-Budapest flights, but the offer was withdrawn due to low demand and poor sales. Sándor Molnári also said that Hungary’s Consulate-General in Yekaterinburg issued 3,398 entry visas to applicants

September 5, 2014. 16,024 people have applied to Yekaterinburg Employment Center looking for a job since the beginning of 2014. 10,266 applicants found a suitable position; this figure comes to 47% of the officially registered jobless in the area, Sverdlovsk Region Labor & Employment Department’s press service reports. As of September 1, 2014, 3,597 unemployed citizens were registered with the employment center. The official unemployment rate thus stood at 0.49%. Sverdlovsk Region-based enterprises placed announcements for 31,469 job openings as of early September, including 8,006

September 5, 2014. Sverdlovsk Region paid a portion of face value and coupon yield on the seventh coupon period on the constituency’s government bonds issued in 2012, Sverdlovsk Region Finance Ministry reports. ‘Acting on the Provision on the issue of Sverdlovsk Region 2012 government bonds with a fixed coupon rate and debt amortization, Sverdlovsk Region Finance Ministry directed funds of National Settlement Depository to the payment of a portion of face value and coupon yield on the seventh coupon period on Sverdlovsk Region government bonds issued in 2013,’ the Ministry says. The seventh

September 5, 2014. Ural Airlines came up with a special offer for travelers to the Emirates: very appealing rates on early booking of Dubai-bound flights. According to the air carrier’s press service, passengers flying from Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, and Perm can benefit from the following rates: if you book more than sixty days before the flight, the price will come to €150, if you book thirty to fifty-nine days before the flight, the price will come to €200, and if you book at any other time, the price will come to €250. Passengers flying from Samara, Krasnodar, Mineralnye Vody, and

September 4, 2014. ChTPZ Group representatives were among Chelyabinsk Region’s official delegates who took part in the international industrial exhibition Eurasia Expo that is currently taking place in Urumqi, China, the Group’s press service reports. The constituency’s official delegation to China was chaired by acting Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Boris Dubrovsky; the team of the so-called ‘white metallurgists’ was represented by Chairman of ChTPZ Board of Directors Alexander Fedorov. The Eurasia Expo Exhibition was sponsored by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Business Council, and

September 4, 2014. Travel.ru carried a rating of Russian cities that are most frequently traveled to in the summer; the rating is based on hotel booking data between June 1 and August 31, 2014. Yekaterinburg was given the fourth position in the rating. Among the top ten summer trips cities were Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kazan, Nizhniy Novgorod, Yaroslavl, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, Samara, and Perm as well. Travelers stayed in Yekaterinburg for three days on average last summer; they spent some 3,800 RUR a day on accommodation at local hotels. Moscow was ahead of Saint Petersburg in terms of

September 4, 2014. The member enterprises of Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK) based in the Urals, that is, Sinara PipePlant (SinTZ) and Seversky Pipe Plant (STZ) announced the results of their financial aid campaign targeted at helping local kindergartens and schools get ready for the new school year. The company’s member enterprises support eight schools and six kindergartens in Kamensk Uralsky and nine schools in and around Polevskoy, Sverdlovsk Region, TMK press service reports. Thanks to these pipe manufacturers, two schools in Kamensk Uralsky got a new food unit and two mores schools got