June 27, 2014. Semi-Precious Ring of the Urals, a project for the development of an automobile tourist cluster, was selected to join the national special-purpose program on the development of external and internal tourism in 2015-2018. Within the framework of this program, the project will get 1.1bn RUR for infrastructure development, Governor of Sverdlovsk Region’s Information Policies Department reports. Semi-Precious Ring of the Urals is the longest tourist route in the Urals that comprises nearly all the landmarks to be found in Sverdlovsk Region. The route is 650 km long and can actually

June 27, 2014. Experts from Bank Koltso Urala report that the number of currency exchange transactions their customers perform using their bank cards increases in the summer months as usual. Customers started using their cards more often to pay for their purchases in foreign boutiques, outlets, and restaurants as early as May, and by the end of June, the volume of such transactions doubled, the bank’s press service reports. According to Bank Koltso Urala’s Commission-Based Card Services Management Director Irina Buribayeva, the variation in the number of currency exchange transactions last

June 27, 2014. Students of Ural State Mining University who came to study in Yekaterinburg from Guinea are planning to attend the night-time live broadcast of the Russia-Algeria football match in the fan zone of V.V. Mayakovsky Central Park, the university’s information department reports. There are currently 22 Guinean citizens in Mining University at the moment. It is also possible that international students from other Yekaterinburg colleges will attend the event as well. Even though the Russia-Algeria game will only start at 2AM local time, supporters, including foreigners, will have no

June 26, 2014. The US dollar exchange rate dropped to below 34 RUR per dollar and stood at 33.65 RUR last Monday. The same minimum was observed in mid-January 2014, Bank Koltso Urala reports. According to the head of the bank’s Currency Transactions Deparment Igor Nesterovitch, the ruble mainly grew stronger due to the positive news inflow (ceasefire in Ukraine’s South East, Europe’s ‘mild’ sanctions towards Russia, and recalled permission for the Russian troops to enter Ukraine) and the current fiscal period which stimulates demand for rubles. Nesterovitch feels, nevertheless, that the ruble

June 26, 2014. Visitors to and participants of the world computer programming championship ACM-ICPC 2014 that is currently being held in Yekaterinburg were attracted by an enormous chess board that was installed in the city’s main recreation area as part of the Unique Entertainment Area Project,’ the city council’s press service says. Visitors to and participants of ACM-ICPC 2014 can play chess from 10 AM to 7 PM, and everyone can have a photo of them standing next to the chess pieces taken. ‘I like this idea, and I like playing chess as well. This could become a permanent fixture, although

June 26, 2014. Visitors to and participants of the world computer programming championship ACM-ICPC 2014 had a very high opinion of how the event was organized in Yekaterinburg, Director of Luxembourg-based Artec Group Leonid Volkov told UrBC. ‘We were quite favorably impressed: the championship is very well organized, the competition was very dynamic, and, as far as I can tell, all the visitors, including those from abroad, are having a very good time. All the people I’ve spoken to – long-time contestants and team coaches from both the States and Russian cities such as Samara and Saint

June 26, 2014. The graduates of ChTPZ Group’s corporate project called the Future of White Metallurgy who were all serving their army term in the village of Gorny Shchit, Sverdlovsk Region, were discharged from the army today. 21 people served their term all in all, the company’s press service says. This unique opportunity for all the graduates of one vocational school to serve in one and the same regiment became possible thanks to efficient cooperation between the army, the business community, and the local authorities. This was a PPP where ChTPZ Group, Sverdlovsk Region Government, and

June 26, 2014. The actual time it takes to get a small or a medium enterprise registered in Sverdlovsk Region is 18 days, Sverdlovsk Region Prime Minister’s press secretary says. The local authorities keep working on reducing the registration time. An agreement has already been signed with the Social Insurance Fund relating to providing the registration information via a multi-purpose center. This means the applicant doesn’t need to wait for a notification in the mail and get these data more or less at the same time as the registration certificate, that is, when the agreement is signed with

June 25, 2014. ChTZ-Uraltrac (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) is going to deliver five B10M bulldozers and two DET-400 heavy-duty diesel electrical tractors to Russia’s largest diamond manufacturer ALROSA, the corporation’s press service reports. The contract provides for the delivery of the vehicles within thirty days. The entire set of B10M bulldozers that are meant for the diamond manufacturer are ChTZ tractors with cold-weather options and with a set of customized options that were set out in the customer’s technical requirements. ‘The vehicles will be used at ore

June 25, 2014. The owners of small and medium enterprises are now opening credit lines increasingly more often. The service only used to be popular with big businesses before, Bank Koltso Urala’s press service reports. According to head of the bank’s SME Lending Department Marina Smirnova, representatives of SMEs followed in the footsteps of managers of big enterprises this year by showing a better quality approach to managing their businesses and turning to special-purpose banking products. ‘For one, we observe an interest in the opening of credit lines that make it possible to plan for

June 25, 2014. All the electric power consumers based in Sverdlovsk Region owe Oblkommunenergo State Unitary Enterprise 598,047,000 RUR altogether, the enterprise’s press service reports. Among the top non-payers are state-run organizations, Oblkommunenergo’s sales experts say. These organizations sometimes fail to pay their bills for three to seven months. Thus the accumulated debt the state-run organizations have towards 13 ‘heating constituencies’ of the power supplier comes to 7.685m RUR. Most of this debt falls onto two constituencies, Tugulym (4.414m RUR) and Kushva (3.131m RUR). Among

June 25, 2014. Russia’s Deputy Healthcare Minister Tatiana Yakovleva chaired a meeting on the construction of a medical cluster in Yekaterinburg’s Academic District. Sverdlovsk Region Prime Minister Denis Pasler, the local Healthcare Minister Arkady Belyavsky, and Rector of Ural State Medical Academy Sergey Kutepov represented the local authorities at the meeting, Governor of Sverdlovsk Region’s Information Policies Department reports. ‘Governor of Sverdlovsk Region and Sverdlovsk Region Government are interested in the construction of a medical cluster in Academic District. We are primarily

June 25, 2014. VUZ-Bank coordinated a large-scale (in terms of the number of visitors) and unique (in terms of format) event for its business customers last weekend. Starting from 2014, the bank has been implementing a new approach to customer service that is based on the customer club principle. Members of VUZ-Bank Club gathered together at an out-of-town resort on June 21 to get acquainted with one another, find new business partners, take part in useful workshops, and talk about the painful issues their businesses are struggling with, the bank’s press service reports. Nearly 200 sole

June 24, 2014. In compliance with the current legislation, Tominsky Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise (a member enterprise of Russian Copper Company) informed the general public of holding public hearings on their preliminary report on the projected environmental impact the enterprise’s production and processing of ore in Tominsky ore deposit will have, Russian Copper Company’s PR Department says. The announcements of the hearings were carried by three types of mass media: on the national level, Rossiyskaya Gazeta published the announcement on June 20, while Yuzhnouralskaya Panorama

June 24, 2014. ChTZ-Uraltrac (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) shipped 61 vehicles to Surgutneftegaz, the corporation’s press service reports. ‘Our customers will receive bulldozers with hydro-mechanical transmission and an engine made at Yaroslavl Engine Plant, including swamp bulldozers and pipe-laying vehicles as well as towing tractors and wheeled loaders. The last vehicle for this shipment – a B10MB bulldozer with an angled blade that is meant for cleaning and maintaining ice roads – is leaving the plant in a day or two,’ the press service says. The agreement to have a

June 24, 2014. The members of Armada Cycling Team paid a visit to the stand Uralvagonzavod Corporation presented at Eurosatory 2014 exhibition, the corporation’s press service reports. Two-time world Paralympics cycling champion Alexei Obydennov and his coach examined the corporation’s stand and took part in a photo shoot. According to these sports players, the company did a very good job of presenting its developments to the visitors to and exponents at the exhibition. ‘Alexei Obydennov is taking part in yet another tour of international road racing competition in France. He is now among the

June 24, 2014. MegaFon’s Olympic pavilion won the grand prix at the Cannes Lions Festival, the largest annual event in the world of advertising. This is the first time in the festival’s 61-year history when the grand prix is heading for Russia, the company’s press service reports. The MegaFaces Project that was designed specially for the Sochi Olympics 2014 proved the marketing sensation of the year. It may absolutely serve as the starting point for the new trend in modern architecture and digital technologies. This interactive, hi tech structure has no counterparts anywhere else in the

June 24, 2014. Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK) and Sinara Group coordinated an annual open air art festival Arkhyz 2014 for their employees this June. The festival took place at Romantic Tourist Village in Arkhyz, an all-the-year-round mountain resort in Karachay-Cherkessia, TMK press service reports. ‘The main idea behind the festival, which won Russia’s Best Social Projects Contest last year, is to develop corporate culture and support creative efforts of TMK and Sinara Group’s personnel. The festival gathered together workers from the two companies’ sixteen member enterprises, who were

June 23, 2014. Contestants in and visitors to the 38th World Computer Programming Championship ACM-ICPC 2014 are beginning to arrive in Yekaterinburg. The event coordinators expect 1,200 students (representatives of 243 universities from 49 different countries) to come to the championship altogether. The computer programming championship will be held in Yekaterinburg on June 22-26. The first selection stage will take place at Uralochka Sports Center, and the final stage will take place at Cosmos Concert Hall. An entertainment program will also be presented to visitors to Yekaterinburg at

June 23, 2014. Breeze Café was reopened in Nizhniy Tagil’s Dzerzhinskiy District after a renovation; the café is located within company Sportivnaya 2 Hotel (an enterprise run by Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s head plant). In 2014, renovations will also touch upon eleven more cafes and canteen operated by the plant, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service reports. Breeze had to undergo large-scale changes, including not only remodeling of customer areas and cooking rooms but also replacement of equipment. The café has also got a totally new staff team now. ‘Professional designers were invited