July 18, 2014. Ural Airlines are offering their customers special rates on south-bound flights during the off-peak season, the airline's press officer reports. Ural Airlines' customers can already book flights to Sochi, Anapa, Gelendzhik, Simferopol, Rostov-on-Don, and Mineralnye Vody via Moscow (the prices quoted are for one-way tickets and do not include any fees and charges). The appealing prices for flights bound for the Black Sea resorts and holiday destinations in Krasnodar Territory and the Caucasus will come into effect on September 1, 2014: flights from Nizhnevartovsk start

July 18, 2014. Sverdlovsk Region will receive about 601m RUR from the federal budget this year to raise the salaries of civil sector workers, RIA Novosti reports. The civil sector workers pay rise program for 2012-2018 was adopted by the Government in late 2012 in compliance with the President's May decrees. The aim of the program is to convert the civil sector to an 'efficiency contract' system, which means their salaries will depend on the complexity and quality of the government services they offer. Prior to this, Putin asked the government to assess the federal

July 18, 2014. Deputy Head of Yekaterinburg Council for Consumer Market and Services Vladimir Bolikov held a meeting with heads of local hostels on Wednesday, July 16. According to the council's press service, the meeting was dedicated to the possibility of hosting supporters during the World Cup 2018. The hostel managers were given out instructions that will have to be considered to ensure good quality service and a comfortable stay for visitors to Yekaterinburg. There are currently 42 hostels operating in Yekaterinburg, with a total of 180 rooms (over 1,000 beds). The city authorities

July 18, 2014. Head of Yekaterinburg Council Alexander Yakob signed a decree on adopting an action plan targeted at enhancing the investment appeal of the Urals' capital and at creating propitious conditions for business development, the council's press service reports. The action plan was adopted for 2014-2016 and covers a set of actions relating to creation and modernization of highly productive jobs and improvements in labor productivity, in the labor market situation, in the training and retraining of skilled workers, in th quality and accessibility of production and transport

July 18, 2014. In the first half of 2014, Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) remained the leading flat rolled products supplier and was also the top supplier of deep-level processing goods on the home market. These are the data provided by Metallosnabzhenie I Sbyt magazine that carried a rating of leading ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgical products suppliers in the first half of 2014. MMK is No.1 in the FRP Supplies rating as usual. Besides, this year the company moved from the second to the first place in the Deep-Level Processing Goods category. The improvements in the

July 17, 2014. Gazprombank became yet another one of Sputnik Hockey Club's sponsors - in addition to Uralvagonzavod, the hockey team's general sponsor, Chairman of Sputnik board of trustees Alexei Zharich said at a press conference. According to Zharich, the last season's primary focus was on the changes in the club's oranizational structure. In March, Sputnik left the sports club of the same name and was founded as an independent legal entity and a non-commercial partnership. As Zharich pointed out, this opens up new and impressive horizons for Sputnik and will let the

July 17, 2014. Under the company's technical conversion program for 2014, the obsolete forming machine Azovpressmash IG 1430 was replaced with the new TruBend-5320 with numerical program control made by the German firm TRUMPF at PTK 870, the third production site of Uraltransmash (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation), the corporation's press service reports. The installation of this modern equipment will reduce labor intensity of the start-up and commissioning process by 50% to 70% and will considerably improve the quality of spare parts as

July 17, 2014. A press conference dedicated to Sputnik Hockey Club's development prospects and training for the new season was held at Uralvagonzavod Ice Sports Palace in Nizhniy Tagil. Uralvagonzavod Corporation is the club's general sponsor. During this conference, special attention was paid to changes in the club's organizational structure: in March, Sputnik left the sports club of the same name and was founded as an independent legal entity and a non-commercial partnership, the corporation's press service reports. In his welcoming address, Chairman of Sputnik board of

July 17, 2014. Omsktransmash (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation) won a diploma in the Trade Union of Defense Industry Workers contest as the Best CSR Enterprise. According to the corporation's press service, the third-prize diploma was given to the company by Chairman of the All-Russian Oboronprof Trade Union Andrei Chekmenev. 'Chekmenev congratulated the company team on this victory in the presence of division managers and trade union administration members. He pointed out that Omsktransmash actually joined the competition, dedicated to

July 17, 2014. A modern cleaning machine made by the German firm DURR was recently launched at the motor division of ChTZ-Uraltrac (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation). According to the corporation's press service, the cleaning machine is fitted with a Siemens sensor screen that allows the operator to program various washing and vacuum drying modes for connecting rods from different engine types. 'This is one of the final procedures in the technological chain of making engine connecting rods. Once the cleaning machine has been launched, the company acquired a full

July 16, 2014. The team of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation took part in a sports event Ready for Work and Defense in Magnitogorsk on July 12, 2014. According to the corporation's press service, 40 representatives of the corporation's member enterprises who won in-company sports contests were on the team. 'In addition to the corporation's workers, teams from Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works, Chelyabinsk Electrical & Metallurgical Works, and Dynamo Sports Club took part in the competition. Ural Military & Sports Fund acted as the coordinator

July 16, 2014. Omsk-based Transport Machine-Building Design Bureau (KBTM, a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation) changed its name to Omsk Transport Machine-Building Plant (Omsktransmash). According to the corporation's press service, the decision was made at the BOD meeting. The changes were registered with the fiscal authorities on July 8, 2014. 'Omsktransmash, the tank plant, the October Revolution plant – all of these are the different names given to one of the Russian economy's most important enterprises. It was there where the first

July 16, 2014. 96.4% of Sverdlovsk Region's economically active population – 2,141,800 people – are (self-) employed, while 5.4%, or 121,900 people, do not have a job but are actively looking for one (this population segment is classed as the unemployed by the International Labor Organization, Sverdlovskstat's press service reports. As for state-run organizations, these classed 27,100 people, or 1.2% of the economically active local population, as the unemployed as of late May 2014.

July 16, 2014. The industrial production index in Sverdlovsk Region in the first half of 2014 was 4.5% lower than a year earlier. In June, the figure was 1.3% lower than in June 2013, Sverdlovskstat reports. As for specific industries, the production index in the oil and gas extraction segment rose by 2.1% in January-June 2014 compared with January-June 2013; that in the processing industries segment dropped by 5.7%; that in the production and distribution of electric power, natural gas, and water declined by 4.5%. The industrial production index went up by 13.9% in the leather, leather

July 16, 2014. ChTZ-Uraltrac (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation) became one of the stopping points en route of an expedition that began in Vladivostok on June 12. The primary aim of this motor rally is to increase awareness of the achievements and problems of this immense country from the Far East to the Crimea, the corporation's press service reports. 'Rally participants, including young United People's Front activists from Moscow, Pskov, and Vladivostok, were accompanied by the corporation's Chelyabinsk partners – heads of the

July 16, 2014. In order to establish and fortify its cooperation with the companies based in China, one of the world's largest economies, the management of Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) decided to set up a company representation in Shanghai, MMK reports. The representation will be in charge of liaising with the company's partners and contractors in China, of finding new suppliers (including through MMK e-trading floor), and of monitoring the Chinese market in order to purchase machines, raw stuffs, and materials for the enterprise's needs. Former Commercial Director

July 16, 2014. AK35-9SV steel sheets made at Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works underwent all the commissioning tests and was recommended by the interdepartmental committee as the steel of choice for the Russian Navy ships, MMK reports. MMK experts and Prometey Central Scientific Research Construction Materials Institute developed a technology for making AK35-9SV steel sheets within a closed cycle. To make these sheets, the company uses slabs made at MMK oxygen converter shop; these slabs are then rolled with the helof of Mill 5000. The sheets are then treated in the furnaces at the

July 15, 2014. A new pavilion will be completed at Yekaterinburg EXPO Exhibition Center next year, in time for the Innoprom 2015 Exhibition. A new venue became necessary after the exhibition got a new partner: some 100 Chinese companies announced they were willing to display their developments at the fair, Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Evgeny Kuivashev said at a press conference in Yekaterinburg. 'There was a group of 150 Chinese delegates at this year's exhibition, most of them were actually business people,' Kuivashev said. According to the Governor, the idea of putting up a

July 15, 2014. According to preliminary estimates, the total worth of deals signed at the international industrial exhibition Innoprom 2014 came to 50bn RUR, Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Evgeny Kuivashev said at a press conference in Yekaterinburg. The Governor said that this figure was comparable with last year's one. 'This year, slightly over 50 contracts were captured, including 19 large-scale ones. According to the preliminary data we have, we are talking about 50bn RUR. It is possible, however, that the final figure will be either smaller or larger after all. We are interested

July 15, 2014. Yekaterinburg has grown into one of Russia's top cities in terms of high-rise construction over the last two decades: such was the conclusion made by participants of a discussion forum on high-rise construction in Russia as the driver of industrial growth outside capital cities; the forum took place within the framework of the 5th international exhibition Innoprom in Yekaterinburg. 'I think the fact that this topic is now under discussion in Yekaterinburg is no coincidence. Yekaterinburg is currently one of Russia's tallest cities. Moreover, it is one of the