November 12, 2013. Russian President Vladimir Putin promised at the All-Russian local governments conference that the personal income tax revenues into local budgets would be calculated for the next three years, Kommersant reports. The Mayor of Khabarovsk asked the President to instruct the Russian Government to set long-term norms and minimum figures for the tax revenues into municipal budgets, including the PIT. The President agreed that the tax revenues transferred into the local budgets by the federal constituencies should be more or less fixed and long-term, as this was the only way ‘to

November 12, 2013. Deutsche Bank AG awarded SKB-Bank for the great quality of handling foreign currency payments. In 2012, 97.4% of payments SKB-Bank took through Deutsche Bank did not need any additional processing, the bank’s press service reports. ‘Reducing payment transaction expenses and improved service are becoming increasingly important in today’s competitive environment. Deutsche Bank values its long-term relationship with SKB-Bank greatly and hopes for ongoing cooperation,’ the letter accompanying the award states. In fact, quite a few foreign correspondent banks point to the

In the National Unity Day (the 4th of November) in Krasnoufimsk Palace of Culture the first Open Regional Festival of folk Tatar Art «Traditions and customs of the Tatar people» was hold. The choice of this date was not occasional. The organizers wanted to underline that the national unity of Russia — is not only about nationalistic Russian Marches. This is a great celebration for all the citizens, no matter which nationalities they belong to. The revival of the folk art itself with concerts made by non-professional artists, with competitions between creative groups — is a worthy social

November 11, 2013. The German air carrier Lufthansa is going to stop operating direct flights from Yekaterinburg to Frankfurt. The airline’s decision had to do with the need to reduce its outgoings. Koltsovo Airport of Yekaterinburg hopes to keep this destination available and says they are already negotiating with five air carriers. Koltsovo Airport’s press secretary Dmitri Tyukhtin confirmed the airline’s decision to stop operating flights. He says the current economic situation in Europe makes it necessary for the air carrier to cut down on expenses, and a five-hour flight from

November 11, 2013. Timofey Radya, a street artist from Yekaterinburg, was put on Forbes Russia’s most promising young artists list. He is probably best known for his Stability, an installation that consists of a throne on top of a mound of police officers’ shields. ‘My works live from a few hours to a few years. It does not hurt me, though, to see them disappear, I actually like it in a way. In the end, all works by all artists will vanish at some point. Well, I get to see this for myself,’ Forbes quotes Radya as saying. The list compilers note that the main idea behind this project is to

November 11, 2013. VUZ-Bank and Life Financial Group are planning on coordinating regular meetings of the Forex Traders Club called Life Capital. All sorts of traders are welcome to these meetings, the bank’s press service reports. The traders club is expected to get together Forex players who are keen on trading, would like to improve their professional skills in this respect, and are interested in a stable income. Traders, especially beginners, are badly in need of hints and often incur losses just because they cannot stay in control of the situation. Meeting other market players and

November 11, 2013. Ural Airlines are announcing the launch of a special price offer on the tickets for Yekaterinburg-Beijing flight. The company’s press officer says that one can now pay only from ?339 and up to travel from the Urals’ capital to Beijing. The round trip price offer stands for flights operated between December 10 and December 24, 2013, and between January 9 and January 23, 2014. The fees and charges are not included, and this is actually a limited offer. All of Ural Airlines’ flights are operated using the comfortable Airbus 320 airliners that have both the economy and the

November 11, 2013. Head of Yekaterinburg Administration Alexander Yakob confirmed the city council’s Electronic Yekaterinburg Program for 2014-2016, the administration’s press service reports. The program is aimed at enhancing the efficiency of local governments through creation and development of an information and technological infrastructure and use of up-to-date information and telecommunication technologies. Under this program, the number of electronic public services offered by local governments is expected to reach 27 by 2016. By then, every one in five Yekaterinburg residents is

November 8, 2013. Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant, a member of Uralvagonzavod Corporation, will deliver 16 swamp tractors for the expeditions undertaken by Khanty-Mansiysk Geophysics, a daughter company of GeoTech Holding, Uralvagonzavod Corporation's press service says. These are mass-produced tractors with the traditional 'cold-weather package', that is, double glazing of the pit, Zenith radiator, an extra insulated case for the tractor bonnet, and Webasto starting pre-heater. As the tractors will be used for the surveying of mineral resource deposits, the customers will have

November 8, 2013. ChTPZ Group is once again taking part in the best video contest called Metal Vision 2013; the contest is held among Russia and the CIS' metallurgical sector enterprises and is usually a part of the Metal Expo exhibition. This year, ChTPZ Group is going to show a documentary dedicated to Fedor A. Danilov, who ran the team of Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant for thirty years, in 1954-1984. ChTPZ Group filmed people who personally knew Danilov quite well, and the video features the most important episodes of his life. The premiere showing will take place on the day that

November 8, 2013. Russia's Nature Ministry and Rosnedra coordinated it with Mednogorsky Copper & Sulfur Works (MMSK), a member enterprise of Ural Mining & Metallurgical Company, that the launch of Yelanskoye and Yelkinskoye nickel deposits in Voronezh Region should be postponed, Kommersant refers to its own sources in the Russian Government as saying. The newspaper says that MMSK applied to Rosnedra, asking to shift the date of the launch, as protests against the nickel development in the area actually jeopardize the company's meeting the licensing requirements. Rosnedra

November 8, 2013. The last open-hearth furnace was shut down at Taganrog Metallurgical Plant (a member enterprise of Pipe Metallurgical Company, TMK), the company's press service reports. Giving up on this obsolete production method was made possible due to the fact that TMK is now implementing a large-scale investment program on technical upgrades at its enterprises, including the plant in Taganrog. The program has already resulted in both economic and environmental yields. The implementation of the investment program has meant all the open-hearth furnaces, which were the main source of

November 8, 2013. Uralvagonzavod, the head plant of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation, fulfilled the government defense order for 2013 ahead of schedule. All the contractual obligations toward the Defense Ministry relating to the delivery of special vehicles were fulfilled as early as the end of October. All the obligations relating to supplying spare parts and components to the corporation's enterprises have been met as well. In November and December 2013, items will be delivered for the year 2014 already, Uralvagonzavod Corporation's press service reports. The

November 7, 2013. The public prosecutors of Ural Federal District detected over 4,000 cases when the order-placement procedure for work and services for state and municipal bodies was violated, the press service of Ural Federal District division of Russia’s General Prosecutor’s Office reports. To eliminate these violations, 953 warrants and 369 protests were issued and 130 claims were laid against the offenders. After the papers had been processed, 1,042 executives were made to face disciplinary liability and 473 administrative lawsuits and 20 criminal lawsuits were instituted. A criminal

November 7, 2013. Ural Airlines’ passengers can now enjoy the benefits of the new booking system: the booking procedure will save time greatly and will make all the processing steps much easier. All the necessary information is made available in a totally new and passenger-friendly way: there’s the convenient departure date navigation system, a free choice of the ticket sub-class, and the clear final sum total from the first step of the booking process that is always visible on the screen, the company’s press service reports. A second printing of the boarding pass in case the first one got

November 7, 2013. An audit meant to extent the company’s API 5L license was carried out at Chelyabinsk Tube-Rolling Plant. The license entitles the plant to deliver goods that meet the API 5L annex H (that is, pipes that are meant to be used in acid environments), the company’s press service reports. In the course of the procedure, the auditor – American Petroleum Institute (API), a non-profit international organization – looked very carefully into and analyzed the activity of the Technical Directorate’s divisions, of the departments for the production of electrically welded large-diameter

November 7, 2013. 26 young workers from Uraltransmash came to Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s head plant in Nizhniy Tagil. This is the second year in a row when young employees visit Ural Federal District-based enterprises to share and exchange experience and find innovative production solutions. This time’s delegation consisted of the first and second year students of the plant’s Vertical professional development program, including technical engineers, design engineers, foremen, and workers. The tour was coordinated by Uralvagonzavod Personnel Training Center.

November 7, 2013. Yekaterinburg budget might look 2.5bn RUR smaller in 2014 because of lowered private individuals’ income tax payments, Head of Yekaterinburg Administration Alexander Yakob said at a press conference. He explained that more than 4bn RUR could be underpaid into the city’s budget due to lack of inter-budgetary transfers; on the whole, the city budget might get 7bn RUR less next year. Now under the project of Sverdlovsk Region’s consolidated budget next year, the income is expected to rise from 156bn RUR to 166bn RUR (+6.5%). At the same time, Sverdlovsk Region Government refers

November 6, 2013. 808 cars were towed away from Yekaterinburg streets onto the auto impounds, as they had been parked in the wrong places, the city’s official website states. ‘On October 21-31, 808 improperly parked vehicles were towed away from the streets of the Urals’ capital. More than 700 drivers were fined for violating the parking regulations. It should be noted that 72 towing tractors and 94 officers were involved in the parking control,’ the message states. The city council says that the automobiles that are parked in the wrong places are a hindrance for all those in the traffic

November 6, 2013. Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK), one of the world’s major OCTG producers, united two families of premium threaded joints – TMK Premium and ULTRA – under a single brand TMK Ultra Premium (TMK UP), the company’s press service reports. Pipes with premium threaded joints are meant for use in the oil and gas wells that are difficult to operate, such as the ones in the offshore and deep-water marine areas or in the Polar North, and for development of horizontal and sloping wells. This product is highly durable and airtight, has good flexibility, and is resistant to many