March 07, 2014. The volume of coal handled by Sverdlovsk Railways decreased by 51.7% in February 2014 compared with February 2013 and amounted to 28,300 tons, the company's press service reports. The shipment of building materials dropped by 14.6% down to 1,500m kg, that of ferrous metals declined by 8.3% down to 800,000,000 kg, that of ferrous metal scrap decreased by 10% down to 200,000,000 kg, that of iron and manganese ore declined by 7.6% down to 1,000m kg, that of cement declined by 10.3% down to 200,000,000 kg, that of timber declined by 9.7% down to 200,000,000 kg, and that of

March 07, 2014. Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ, a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation) is about to complete the shipment of a large batch of spare parts for bulldozers to Uzbekistan in March 2014, the corporation's press service reports. Early in the year, a carriage full of spare parts for the Uzbek consumers who routinely use ChTZ bulldozers for stripping operations (among other things) was already shipped to this Central Asian country. A large batch with joints, motor parts, and running gear will ensure quality maintenance and operation of the

March 07, 2014. As of January 1, 2014, there are 115 lending institutions in Sverdlovsk Region that are allowed to perform banking transactions, including 16 Sverdlovsk Region-based commercial banks, 36 subsidiaries of such banks, 61 subsidiaries of lending institutions whose HQ are in other federal constituencies, and 2 subsidiaries of Sberbank of Russia's Ural branch, the Economics Ministry's press service says. Sverdlovsk Region-based banks operate 32 subsidiaries outside their federal constituency. All in all, the number of bank branches located in Sverdlovsk Region rose by 50

March 07, 2014. Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant (ChTPZ) will deliver a batch of large-diameter pipes to Gazprom in March-June 2014 to put up the second extension of the Bovanenkovo-Ukhta natural gas pipeline, the company's press service says. The shipment will thus come to more than 45,000,000 kg and the contract is worth over 4bn RUR. LDPs with the diameter of 1,420mm and wall width of 23mm and 27.7mm are made of K65 (X80) strength grade steel and have an outer and inner three-layer corrosion-resistant coating; the operational pressure is 11.8 megapscals (120 arm). All of these LDPs will

March 07, 2014. Ural Airlines are now offering a preliminary booking option for the flights from the Far East to the European part of Russia and back that are partly covered for by the government. This is done within the framework of the state program on making air travel more affordable for the Russians living in the Far East; the departure dates run from April 1, 2014 to October 31, 2014, the airline's press service says. Under this program, specially priced tickets can be obtained by Russian citizens under 23, females over 55 and males over 60, people with disabilities and those who

March 6, 2014. An administration representative got killed while looking into the circumstances of a recent accident at Cheremukhovskaya-Glubokaya Mine. The company employee looked at the scene of the earlier accident, slipped and fell down from an 11-meter height, Sverdlovsk Region division of Russia's Investigative Committee says. 'It was detected that the victim, a representative of Cheremukhovskaya-Glubokaya Mine management, was among the inquiry team members who looked into the accident on March 3, 2014, the same day the accident happened,' the committee reports. The

March 6, 2014. A solemn opening ceremony of Russia's Junior Female Boxing Championship took place at the sports club of Uralvagonzavod. The championship is dedicated to Natalia Ragozina, the world's absolute boxing champion among professional players and Deserved Master of Sports. Uralvagonzavod acted as the general sponsor of the event as it did in 2013. According to the corporation's press service, 294 young women from eight Russian Federation constituencies are going to compete in the championship. Sports women from Chelyabinsk, Altai, Kemerov, and Penza Regions, and from

March 6, 2014. Sverdlovsk Region Business Support Fund held a meeting to adopt new ways of supporting SMEs in 2014. This year, the main innovation will consist in a gradual switch from subsidies to mechanisms that could provide a certain ROI. The fund will keep on issuing preferential term loans through its partner banks to finance investment projects and will keep on acting as a guarantor on the businesspeople's bank loans, Governor of Sverdlovsk Region's Information Policies Department says. In 2014, 488m RUR will be directed to equipment upgrades (172.8m RUR will come from

March 6, 2014. Motiv Telecommunications Group is going to launch 4G network in Yekaterinburg before the end of this year. The carrier is also considering the possibility of launching this new-generation network in a few other cities where the company operates, Motiv representative said at a round table discussion today. The discussion was dedicated to the development of mobile network and the Internet connection in Sverdlovsk Region. 'Before the end of this year, we are are planning on launching our fourth-generation data transfer network in a few large cities in the area where we

March 6, 2014. Ural Airlines has taken part in the international exhibition ITB 2014 once again. The event opened in Berlin today, the airline's press service says. The air carrier presented its services at the stand of Cologne Bonn Airport. Visitors to the fair will be able to get some information on the company, on the flights it operates to Germany and other parts of Europe, and on the additional services it can render its passengers. During the exhibition days, Ural Airlines will hold talks with the European tour operators who are interested in cooperating with the air carrier as

March 5, 2014. Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation will invest over 1.78bn RUR in environmental projects in Nizhniy Tagil, where the corporation's head plant is located. 'We have been working on this for a number of years now, the corporation's head plant implemented 16 environmental protection projects last year, and the plant spent 54.2m RU R on this. Among the largest projects were the reconstruction of filtering facilities with replacement of obsolete technologies for the new ones. This will both improve the environmental situation and provide

March 5, 2014. Ural Airlines announced a sale on business class tickets for Yekaterinburg-Dubai flight, the airline's press service says. 'Those who like pampering themselves with enjoyable business class trips, the price of a one-way ticket will only come to €828 (including all the fees and charges), and if you buy a round trip ticket, the price will only come to €1,657. We would also like to point out that special prices are also offered on economy class tickets for this flight. If you book more than 30 but less than 60 days before the flight, the price will be €337, if you book

March 5, 2014. Local developers are planning to commission 1m sq m worth of housing in Yekaterinburg this year, the city council's press service reports. 'As a result of commissioning norms growing stricter, the developers' planning periods extended from six months to three years. This is why, starting in 2014, Yekaterinburg Council started working systematically towards making the cooperation mechanism between developers and engineering infrastructure companies more efficient in the new reality,' the message says. The municipal water conduit company and YekaterinburgGaz

March 5, 2014. The Russian Federation Government allocated 1.42bn RUR worth of subsidies for the development of family-run livestock farms. Sverdlovsk Region is going to get 14m RUR out of this amount, the Cabinet's official website states. Under the government's decision, the money will be directed to co-financing the spending of Russian Federation constituencies related to support of family-run livestock farms. The Karachayevo-Cherkessian Republic, Yakutia, and Dagestan will get the biggest subsidies (65.26m RUR, 49.5m RUR, and 46.89m RUR, respectively). The undistributed amount

March 5, 2014. An Open Doors Day will be held in Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (PNTZ) Training Center on March 5. Following a tour of the unique Training Center (whose area actually comes to 7,500 sq m), school-leavers could appreciate all the options of these experimental training sites, the company's press service reports. The classrooms are fitted with labs, pipe-rolling mill simulators, and simulators by the German Festo and the Italian Prosoft. The students will be asked to complete a task at the Technical Arts Section and can practice with Lego robots. They will also work at

March 04, 2014. Ural Airlines will now offer its Yekaterinburg-Munich flight all the year round. The flight is operated every Saturday, the airline's press service says. A new flight from Krasnodar to Munich will also be launched on April 26, 2014. If you book more than 60 days before the flight, a round trip ticket to Munich from either Krasnodar or Yekaterinburg will cost €290 (all fees and charges included). 'Munich, one of Germany's most beautiful cities, has a lot of nice surprises to offer tourists. In the spring, Munich hosts the second largest festival (preceded only by

March 04, 2014. The amount of forestry resources use fees paid to Sverdlovsk Region budget in 2013 (including fines and awarded damages) came to 816m RUR, the local Forestry Department's press service says. According to the data that were reported at the Department meeting, the forest restoration target figures were met by 111% last year. Sverdlovsk Region also has all the standard nursery materials and seed stock to work on forest restoration in 2014. In addition, the area of forest was four times smaller in 2013 than in 2012; the percentage of forest fires that were extinguished on the

March 04, 2014. Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Viktor Nazarov and Director-General of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation Oleg Sienko signed a cooperation agreement, the corporation's press service says. The joint projects and events will be coordinated by Omsk Region Economics Ministry on behalf of Omsk Region Government and by Transport Machine-Building Design Office (KBTM) on behalf of Uralvagonzavod. The agreement provides for the two parties cooperating in various fields: exchanging information on the scientific, technological, and innovative potential of hi tech

March 04, 2014. Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (PNTZ, a member enterprise of ChTPZ Group) started getting ready for its 80th anniversary. The plant was officially set up on May 13, 1934: on this day, the first 64 pipes were drawn in the Pipe-Drawing Department, the enterprise's press service says. 'In the time we have left before this special day, we'll coordinate a number of festive events in Pervouralsk that will be open to everyone: long-service employees, plant workers, the local youth, and the youngest residents of the town. The festivities will feature sports competitions (a

March 04, 2014. The National Rating Agency affirmed the national scale rating of METCOMBANK at AA- (very high solvency, Level 3), with Positive Rating Outlook, the bank's press service says. Analysts report that the affirmation of the rating had to do with the bank's stable financial performance, its strong market positions, and a well-diversified customer base. Positive Rating Outlook was brought about by the increase in the customers' borrowing activity and could actually prove positive if the bank's lending portfolio retains its good quality and the market risks keep