December 16, 2013. Ural Airlines announced the launch of its new online booking service called Amadeus e-Retail, the carrier’s press service reports. ‘The service allows customers to book and buy tickets via the company’s airline and plan connecting flights with the benefits of all the partner and interline agreements with other air carriers. The launch of the new module is another step within the company’s policy of introducing all the options of the new Amadeus Altea platform,’ the message states. Amadeus e-Retail is a ready technological platform that is both easy and user-friendly to

December 16, 2013. Yekaterinburg is ready for the Olympic Torch Relay – the torch was delivered to the Urals’ capital on Friday. The Olympic Torch was taken from the railway station to the Russian Railways Museum and then to Nizhniy Tagil. Yekaterinburg actually only welcomed the Torch on Friday, the relay itself was scheduled for December 14. During the relay, roads were cleared off vehicles, special marks were made on the roads and about 300 signs forbidding parking were located along the route. What is more, a lot of snow-cleaning vehicles were employed to prepare the route for the relay

December 16, 2013. Bitcoin, the virtual money, can now serve as the official legal tender in Yekaterinburg. The discount bar chain Killfish (with HQ in Saint Petersburg) now officially allows one to pay the check with bitcoins in all of its cafes, including the ones in the Urals’ capital. The chain announced the check could be paid with the help of a customer card, and the bitcoins get transferred into this card account via one’s electronic account on the bar chain’s website. Killfish is the first registered organization in Russia to accept bitcoins as legal tender. In late November, the

December 13, 2013. The assembly of the 65А90F1-11 mill-drill-bore machine is about to be completed at Foundry Department 3 of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation's head plant. The machine costs 11m RUR, the corporation's press service reports. 'The 65А90F1-11 machine was manufactured in Russia and is meant for the primary processing of die tooling and for repair and manufacturing of new parts for the press-forging plant. Uralvagonzavod's Foundry Department 3 makes spare parts and joints for the carriage-making and mechanical assembly facilities, and 95%

December 13, 2013. A new city council-run kindergarten fit for 135 children will very soon appear in Novy Svet, a residential district that Sinara Development is putting up in Soviet District of Volgograd. The construction of a kindergarten will solve the problem of local kindergarten shortage, the company's press service says. The new kindergarten is expected to be put up next to the first section of a housing block in Malinovsky St that was commissioned in July 2013. By the end of 2014, four more nine-storey apartment buildings with apartments for 600 Volgograd families will be

December 13, 2013. The shareholders of EVRAZ Kachkanar Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise (EVRAZ KGOK) are going to consider terminating the authority of the company's BOD before the end of the term on February 21, 2014, the issuer's official statement goes. On the same day, the company owners will have to decide on the number of new BOD members and elect the members.

December 13, 2013. Transport Machine-Building Design Office (KBTM, a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) took part in the 15th International Forum Cement, Concrete, and Dry Mix 2013 (ExpoCem). The forum was held in Moscow on November 26-28, 2013, Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation's press service reports. 'KBTM presented its foundry department's produce, as it is this produce that is particularly interesting for the cement-making plants. The company makes a wide range of metallurgical goods for quite a few industrial sectors. Every month, KBTM

December 13, 2013. VSMPO-Electro, controlled by VSMPO-Avisma Corporation, got liquidated, the issuer's official statement says. An entry to this extent was made in the United State Register of Legal Entities. VSMPO-Electro was registered on March 20, 2006 and dealt in wholesale trading of electric and heating power though agents.

December 12, 2013. Over 250 upgraded T-72B3 tanks have been delivered to the Armed Forces of Western and Eastern Military Districts, and 20 more tanks will be delivered before the end of the year, Interfax –AVN refers to Russian Defense Ministry Press Service Representative for Ground Forces Major Kirill Kiselev as saying, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press officer reports. ‘Some of the new vehicles have already been put in operation and assigned to certain crews. Prior to the start of the operation, the tank divisions teams were retrained to operate the new types of vehicles at Omsk division

December 12, 2013. Austria’s law-enforcement authorities are going to extradite a banker named Alexander Gitelison, who is on the international ‘wanted’ list, upon the demand of the Russian Federation General Prosecutor’s Office. The man was placed on this list because of charges relating to nearly 2bn RUR embezzlement of Leningrad Region Government’s funds, the spokesperson for the authorities reports. Gitelson was BOD Chairman of Inkasbank (a member enterprise of East European Financial Corporation (VEFK)). He was also BOD Chairman of Bank VEFK-Ural that went bankrupt in 2009. The man is

December 12, 2013. Ural Airlines is celebrating the upcoming New Year 2014 by launching a prize-winning lottery called ‘Moscow as New Year Present!’ The winner will be given two round trip tickets from a Russian city to Moscow and back, the airline’s press service reports. Anyone willing to do so can fly with Ural Airlines and be treated to a nice New Year gift for two: one only needs to book a plane ticket to any destination using the air carrier’s website www.uralairlines.com on December 11-25, 2013. For more details on the rules of the lottery, go to the special section at the company

December 12, 2013. The construction of the first launch system at Akademicheskaya Power Station in Yekaterinburg is now complete. This system will provide the city’s central heating system with a new unit with the capacity of 120 gigacalories per hour, TGK-9’s press service reports. The boiler house underwent all the tests and trials successfully. The facility produced 7,500 gigacalories in the test mode, and the official launch will take place before the end of the year. The new unit will ensure the necessary hydraulic controls, will enhance the reliability of heat supply in the

December 12, 2013. Russia’s Transport Ministry drew up some amendments to the Federal Special Purpose Program (FTsP) called ‘Russia’s Transportation System Development in 2010-2020’; under these amendments, an additional 51m RUR will be allocated from the federal budget to help Yekaterinburg prepare for the FIFA World Football Championship of 2018, Izvestiya reports. The ministry also explains that the amendments to the program are based on the Budget Plan 2014 that was adopted in December, and on the plans for 2014-2016 as well as on the Government’s decree on preparation for the World Cup.

December 11, 2013. The 11th charity event for children called Snezhnost was finished off with Once upon a Time, a comedy by Tyumen Drama Theater. The festival is held by ChTPZ Group every year with some help from Chelyabinsk Region and Sverdlovsk Region Governments, the company’s press service reports. ‘Every year, the company’s good tradition gathers together increasingly more little friends: some 14,000 young spectators got to see twenty happy-ending shows in Chelyabinsk and Pervouralsk (where ChTPZ Group’s member enterprise Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant is located) while the 11th Snezhnost

December 11, 2013. The volume of investments in Sverdlovsk Region’s fixed capital amounted to 190.7bn RUR in January-September 2013. This is 5.8% less than a year earlier in comparable figures, Sverdlovsk Region Economics Ministry’s press service reports. ‘About a half (48.8%) of the companies’ investments is directed to industrial development. This is followed by real estate, housing operation and management, scientific research and development, and the tertiary sector, which get 19.3% of all investments. Then comes the transportation and communications sector (16.7% of all investments by

December 11, 2013. Electromachine, a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation, is looking into the results of its upgrade program that was carried out on a particularly large scale this year. The technological upgrades were financed from two investment sources: the national programs and the company’s own funds. By now, the company’s own investment funds have been used up by 60%. Two Sodick EDM units, Amada band machine, and a spot welding unit have already been purchased and installed at various departments. The permanent mold casting section has been

December 11, 2013. Head of Yekaterinburg Administration Alexander Yakob thanked the residents of the city for their support in the competition for the right to host the World Universal Exhibition EXPO 2020, the official city portal states. ‘In the course of this two-year-long challenging and strenuous competition, Yekaterinburg outstripped some very strong rivals and was only beaten by Dubai in the final round. The city’s application campaign was carried out on a great level primarily because the idea of holding the World Exhibition was supported by both country leaders and the city residents

December 11, 2013. Heads of the cities that will be included in the Urals’ Precious Stones Ring as well as ministers of Sverdlovsk Region Cabinet conducted a meeting to discuss the steps to create the necessary infrastructure for a tourist route, Sverdlovsk Region Government’s Press Service & Information Department reports. The Urals’ Precious Stones Ring is 647km long and circles through Yekaterinburg, Berezovsky, Rezh, Artemovsky, Irbit, Alapayevsk, Murzinka, Nizhniy Tagil, and Nevyansk. This route unites most of the local landmark and is expected to become a new economic growth point

December 10, 2013. The second professional and performance skills contest for young workers called Woman of Labor was held at Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s head plant, the corporation’s press service reports. ‘This year, twelve young women working as crane operators, lab assistants, engineers, electricians, assemblers, and so on competed for the title of the most gifted and charming employee. All of them went through the two selection rounds and took choreography and acting classes for a month with the best teachers from I.V. Okunev Palace of Culture; they also

December 10, 2013. In the first half of 2013, the public prosecutors for transportation detected 1,491 bribery-related offenses in the Urals during a number of inspections. According to the spokesperson for Ural public prosecution authorities for transportation, 251 warrants were issued and 63 administrative lawsuits were instituted to deal with these violations of the law; 333 executives had to face disciplinary and administrative liability. What is more, 83 criminal lawsuits were instituted this year, with charges related to bribe-taking. In 2012-2013, the public prosecution authorities for