March 20, 2014. The Crimea crisis is bound to affect the Russian economy tremendously, yet this impact will be less keenly felt by startups, Advisor to President of Skolkovo Foundation Pekka Viljakainen said in the course of the Russian Startup Tour in Yekaterinburg today. ‘Startups are, by definition, international businesses. They might even profit from what is happening in the short term, because their salaries are paid in rubles, so the labor costs are lower against all the other currencies,’ the advisor said. Viljakainen believes that the heart of the problem is in the difficulties of

March 20, 2014. Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ, a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) will fully fulfill its contract for the delivery of 12 B10M tractors to Uzbekistan, the corporation’s press service reports. ‘The tractors are shipped to one of the local plants, where the vehicles are fitted with special attachments for the repair and maintenance of oil and natural gas wells. The company has already delivered a number of standard, series-produced tractors with mechanical transmission to the customer. In the future, the two companies might agree to have the basic model upgraded

March 20, 2014. Kalugaputmash (Kaluga-based track machine and hydraulic drive plant and a member enterprise of Sinara Transport Machines) Board of Directors appointed Andrei Antropov the company Director-General, Sinara Group’s PR Center reports. Andrei Antropov was born in Pervouralsk, Sverdlovsk Region, on July 29, 1963. He graduated from Ural Electromechanicall Institute for Railway Transport Engineers in 1987 with a degree in Electromechanical Engineering. He started working at Chelyabinsk Locomotive Repair Plant in 1987 and evolved from Electrical Machines Department foreman to the

March 20, 2014. The Russian Union of Industrialists and Employers summed up the results of the All-Russian Business Leaders Contest 2013. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) was awarded with a diploma in the category called For Contributing to the Solution of Local Social Problems, MMK says. The awarding ceremony took place during the Russian Business Week, at a conference dedicated to labor market, social investment, and public-private partnerships. A large part of MMK's CSR projects last year had to do with supporting family growth and helping mothers and families with many

March 20, 2014. The Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs (RSPP) summed up the results of the All-Russian Russian Business Leaders: Dynamic & Responsibility 2013 Contest. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) was awarded a diploma in the Contribution to Solving Social Problems category, MMK says. The awarding ceremony took place during the Russian Business Week at the Labor Market & Social Investment: Private-Public Partnership Conference. In 2013, MMK's SCR activity focused on increase in childbirth and support to mothers and families with many children: 42m RUR

March 19, 2014. Yekaterinburg existing homes market has been going through the same trends as at the beginning of the year: prices have been rising gradually, while the supply keeps shrinking, Ural Chamber of Real Estate’s press service reports. According to the chamber’s analytical data, the median price of a square meter of housing came to 73,892 RUR on March 17, 2014. This figure has grown by 0.7% over the last few weeks and by 1.5% since the beginning of the year. ‘Since the start of the year, the number of apartments offered for sale has dropped by 11%, that is, by nearly 1,000

March 19, 2014. The employees of Transport Machine-Building Design Bureau (KBTM, a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) were once again among the winners of the first round of a prestigious All-Russian contest called Engineer of the Year 2013 in the Military and Special Purpose Vehicles category along the segments designated as Professional Engineers and Engineering Art of the Young, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service says. KBTM engineers have been taking part in the contest since 2007 and have always achieved good results. Over the said period, 17 workers took part in the

March 19, 2014. Sverdlovsk Region industrial production index was 11.2% less in January-February 2014 than in the first two months of 2013. According to Sverdlovskstat, the figure was 20.2% lower compared with February 2013 and 6.8% higher than in January 2014. In the mineral resources development segment, the industrial production index was 1.6% lower in the two months of 2014 than a year earlier (3.6% lower compared with February 2013 and 2% lower against January 2014). In January-February 2014, the IPI in the processing industries segment was 14.2% less than in the two months of 2013 (24%

March 19, 2014. Uralvagonzavod and Nizhniy Tagil Blood Transfusion Station 3 coordinated Donor Day: the head plant of Uralvagonzavod Corporation supported the program run by Russia’s Health Ministry on large-scale voluntary blood donation in 2008-2014. The program is implemented with help from Russia’s Union of Machine-Builders. The blood was collected on the premises of the plant’s health unit located at Foundry Shop 7, the corporation’s press service says. ‘The last time Uralvagonzavod coordinated an event like this was 9 years ago. It was now decided to have such days on a regular basis.

March 19, 2014. Sinara Transport Machines (STM, a divisional holding of Sinara Group) completed its transaction with TransFinGroup Management Company (which acted as the trustee of Blagosostotyaniye Non-State Retirement Fund in the purchase of the controlling shareholding in Kalugaputmash, a track machine and hydraulic drive plant). As a result, STM now owns 86.61% of the plant’s ordinary registered shares, Sinara Group’s PR Center reports. Besides, Kalugaputmash BOD appointed Andrei Antropov the company Director-General. Also, Governor of Kaluga Region Andrei Artamonov visited the plant on

March 18, 2014. The three new makes of freight carriages made by Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation got compliance certificates from the Federal Railway Transport Certification Register, the corporation’s press service says. ‘The first make is the gondola car 12-196-02 with the bogie 18-194-1 that can handle up to 25 tf. It differs from the mass-produced gondola car 12-196-01 in that its body has been increased from 88m3 to 94m3. The second one is the oil tank 15-5157-02 with the bogie 18-100 that can handle up to 23.5 tf. The new make will replace the mass-produced the

March 18, 2014. Five young men with disabilities from Yekaterinburg, Perm, Syktyvkar, and Kirov were able to go to Russia’s first Paralympics in Sochi this winter: this trip was the first prize in the I Am a Leader Contest that was coordinated by MegaFon, the general sponsor of the winter Paralympics in Sochi, the company’s press service says. ‘I Am a Leader Contest that was organized by MegaFon and Perspective (an NGO for people with disabilities) was directed to singling out leaders among people with disabilities throughout Russia. The contest aims to draw the society’s attention to

March 18, 2014. The website of bank VTB24 and its e-banking services were unavailable today, as the web pages underwent a hacking attack by a group identified as Anonymous Caucasus. An hour later, however, the bank’s website performance was fully restored. ‘The Russian bank VTB24 website is out of order, as is its e-banking service the hacker group’s Twitter states. VTB24 press service says the lending institution’s website underwent a DDoS attack. ‘All the services will be restored very soon. This has not affected the performance of our brick-and-mortar branches in any way, our ATMs are

March 18, 2014. The 14th Coordination Committee will meet at Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) on March 17-18. The meeting will involve the general directors of ChTPZ Group and MMK, the enterprise’s press service reports. The pipe manufacturing enterprise and the metallurgical enterprise managers will look into ways of cooperating in the field of metal quality control, tracking the goods and the terms of delivery, and expanding the range of steel sheets offered to customers, and will talk about their prospects of joining the major fuel and energy complex projects together, including

March 18, 2014. Ural Airlines is launching a new daily flight from Moscow to Kaliningrad on April 27, 2014. One can now travel from the Russian capital to Kaliningrad in the morning (the departure time for Flight U6 371 is 8 AM, the arrival time is 9 AM). The return flight U6 372 from Kaliningrad to Moscow is offered in the mornings as well: the departure time is 9 50 AM, the arrival time is 12 45 PM. This means passengers can now be more flexible in planning their business trips and manage their time more efficiently. Besides, Ural Airlines customers can always use the air carrier’s

March 17, 2014. Ural Airlines resumed the operation of its traditional summertime flights from Moscow to Mirny with a stopover in Yekaterinburg and from Yekaterinburg to Nadym and then to Salekhard and then back to Yekaterinburg, the air carrier’s press service says. Starting from May 22, 2014, an addtional Moscow-Yekaterinburg-Mirny flight will complement the existing schedule, so the flight will be operated twice a week, every Thursday and Sunday, with the flights back offered on Mondays and Fridays. As a matter of fact, the Moscow-Mirny flight is on the government subsidies list that makes

March 17, 2014. MegaFon and MegaLabs announce the launch of a new app, MegaFon Tracker, that makes it possible to track the locations of mobile devices with a high degree of precision. According to the telecommunications provider’s press service, the app is using data from GPS/GLONASS, the wireless, and GSM module, which ensures maximum precision in positioning. MegaFon Tracker is used for enhancing the positioning precision for such services as Radar and Cadre Control. The location of both Radar and Cadre Control users used to be identifed based only on the data provided by a few base

March 17, 2014. Burevestnik Central Scientific Research Institute (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation) was awarded with the Governor of Nizhniy Novgorod challenge pennant for Defense Industry Enterprises. According to the corporation’s press service, the award was received by DG Burevestnik Georgiy Zakamennykh in the course of a solemn ceremony and is actually to stay at the enterprise forever, since this is the third year in a row the company has won this award. The head of the institute told reporters that the organization managed to raise its

March 17, 2014. A sports festival called Electromachine Ski Track 2014 was held at Khimki Stadium in Kopeisk. This was the beginning of a series of sports competitions to celebrate the company anniversary. Some 200 people took part in this Ski Track event, a lot of company workers came there with their families, and everyone could try their luck in both sports competitions and traditional folk festivities, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service reports. The contests included ski races for all sports player categories (including the employees’ children) and a mini-football championship.

March 15, 2014. The current market trends and the ongoing devaluation of the ruble made it necessary for Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) to raise its metal goods prices on April 1, 2014, the company reports. This increase was also brought about by the growing demand that has to do with the end of the winter season. The hot-rolled metal goods prices will go up by 5% to 7% for thin sheets and by 4% to 6% for thick ones; the cold-rolled metal goods prices will increase by 6% to 9%, the prices of zinc-coated products will go up by 5% to 6%, the prices of products with polymeric coating