October 25, 2013. The Director-General of Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) Boris Dubrovsky proposed a number of initiatives at the Economic Policy Council Meeting under the Plenipotentiary Representative of Russian Federation President in Ural Federal District. Dubrovsky said the large-scale modernization of the Russian metallurgical enterprises' production facilities over the last decade has resulted in a resource base that the Russian machine-building needs to develop. Now conditions have to be provided by the state to upgrade technological equipment and therefore to increase

October 24, 2013. Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation is going to take on between 5,000 and 14,000 people by 2020 for its Nizhniy Tagil-based facilities alone, Uralvagonzavod Managing Director Vladimir Roshchupkin said at the Plenipotentiary Representative of Russian Federation President in Ural Federal District Igor Kholmanskikh’s meeting with the representatives of metallurgical and machine-building enterprises today, the corporation’s press service reports. Plenipotentiary Representative of Russian Federation President in Ural Federal District Igor Kholmanskikh chaired a

October 24, 2013. The employees of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation spoke very highly of the speed of Nizhniy Tagil’s development. The corporation’s press service a meeting chaired by the Plenipotentiary Representative of Russian Federation President in Ural Federal District Igor Kholmanskikh in Nizhniy Tagil that was dedicated to the multi-faceted development of the city’s infrastructure. Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Evgeny Kuivashev said that the Region’s Government and the city council developed a program on the all-round development of Nizhniy Tagil in 2013-2016,

October 24, 2013. Chelyabinsk Region-based Mikheyevsky Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise is going to be launched in late 2013, Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Mikhail Yurevitch said at the Economic Council under the Plenipotentiary Representative of Russian Federation President in Ural Federal District in Yekaterinburg. According to the Governor, this enterprise is one of the most promising projects in the area, despite some signs of an economic downfall. ‘At first, Mikheyevsky is expected to produce about 60,000 to 65,000 tons of copper a year,’ Yurevitch noted. When complete, this

October 24, 2013. The losses incurred by metallurgical and machine-building companies based in Ural Federal District increased by 3.5 times in the year 2013, Plenipotentiary Representative of Russian Federation President in Ural Federal District Igor Kholmanskikh said at an Economic Policy Council meeting in Yekaterinburg today. He explained that things grew more complicated in the machine-building and the metallurgical fields as of late, so in the nine months of 2013 these branches’ production indices dropped below zero. ‘This resulted in layoffs and an increased number of unpaid leaves as

October 24, 2013. According to Sverdlovsk Region Prime Minister Denis Pasler, a whole range of state-run programs was adopted for the constituency, with retained or increased last year’s budgets. ‘All the items relating to social welfare that we have to provide in accordance with the President’s decrees and the Governor’s requests got to stay on the list. We also voted for keeping the items to do with the area development in the future: these are budget items relating to the Construction Ministry, the Communal Housing Services & Utilities Department, the Agriculture & Foods Ministry,

October 23, 2013. 2bn RUR have been allocated from Sverdlovsk Region budget for the multi-faceted development of Nizhniy Tagil in 2013, Governor of Sverdlovsk Region's Information Policy Department reports. Another 20.2m RUR will be directed from the city budget to co-finance the project. So far, three tramway stations, some tramways, and the overhead wiring grid have been repaired. In addition, three new tramway carriages and three special-purpose vehicles were bought. Also, the roads in Kalinin St, Krugovaya St, and Dneprovskaya St were repaired, and 19 road-building and cleaning

October 23, 2013. Yekaterinburg Duma deputies approved of Alexander Yakob's candidacy as the City Manager, or Head of Yekaterinburg Council. 30 people voted for him and 6 people voted against. The tender for the position was held on October 16. The committee members interviewed nine out of ten candidates and decided unanimously that the current Head Alexander Yakob should be reappointed, as he 'is at a completely different quality level'. Alexander Yakob was First Deputy Mayor in 2006-2010 and was appointed Head of Yekaterinburg Council in 2010.

October 23, 2013. The unused industrial sites at Krasnoturinsk-based enterprises will be redesigned to serve as production facilities for certain kinds of building materials and spare parts. According to Sverdlovsk Region Government's Press Service & Information Department, the launch of building facilities in Krasnoturinsk will mean the town will be able to join the Northern Industrial & Building & Logistics Cluster. The goods produced in Krasnoturinsk will be sold through a Trading House that will be set up in Sverdlovsk Region to demonstrate the potential of the local

October 23, 2013. Expert RA Rating Agency recently carried an updated research on the amount of SME corporate loan books of Russian banks in the first half of 2013. According to this ranking, Bank Koltso Urala was the country's No. 6 in terms of the rate at which its SME loan book has been growing: this year, the increase amounted to 101%. At the same time, the bank also went up from the 79th to the 72nd position in terms of outstanding debt relating to SME representatives (not accounting for the loans offered to private individuals for business purposes). By July 1, 2013, the figure was

October 23, 2013. Yekaterinburg Council came up with a number of proposals for the local stage of preparing for the World Football Championship of 2018, Yekaterinburg Council's press service reports. The list of top-priority facilities the Urals' capital needs nicely to coordinate the Mundial events comprises four major sections: sports facilities, road and transportation infrastructure items, medical establishments, and public transport. The list of sports facilities is supposed to include at least three training premises for the footballers to get ready for their games, Ural

October 22, 2013. Sverdlovsk Region’s power stations produced 3,842m kilowatt-hours of electric power in September 2013 (including the electricity produced at the industrial enterprises’ power stations), which was 14% less than in September 2012, Sverdlovsk Region UES press service reports. ‘The decrease has to do with the operating mode of the Urals’ united energy system and with the fact that Sredneuralskaya Power Station produced less electric power in September 2013 because the number of facilities under scheduled and emergency repairs was greater than a year earlier,’ the company says.

October 22, 2013. UBT-Uralvagonzavod (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation) set up a scrap metal facility at Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ), another member enterprise. Uralvagonzavod’s press service says that the Director-General of UBT-Uralvagonzavod Sergey Varziyev, the company’s First Deputy DG Igor Korkunov, Director of UBT-Ekologia Vladimir Danilkin, and a number of other important visitors were invited to cut the symbolic red ribbon in the course of the opening ceremony. ChTZ, on its part, was represented by Deputy DG for Corporate &

October 22, 2013. The Deposit Insurance Agency State Corporation determined the way payments should be settled with the former depositors of Uralfinprombank in the course of a meeting which the creditors took part in, the corporation reports. Uralfinprombank’s license was annulled on December 20, 2013 because the bank found itself with no funds of its own. On February 7, 2011, the bank was declared insolvent, and the Deposit Insurance Agency was appointed the trustee in bankruptcy for the business. The bank will start repaying the first-priority creditors, whose claims are on the creditors’

October 22, 2013. Yekaterinburg Council adopted a strategic project called the Internet & Telecommunications Options for Everyone that means that 85% of the city’s parks, cafes, and shopping malls will have a wireless Internet connection access spot by 2020. The city council’s press service also says that over 90% of the local households will have a high speed Internet connection as well. The total length of fiber optic connection cables in Yekaterinburg is expected to reach 5,600 km over the next seven years. The implementation of this strategic project will make Yekaterinburg Russia’s

October 22, 2013. Sverdlovsk Region Business Support Fund by now stopped accepting applications for upgrades and leasing subsidies. The money is allocated within the framework of the state-run SME support program that offers over 30 different support mechanisms, the Fund’s press service reports. 205 leasing subsidy applications were submitted by entrepreneurs from Yekaterinburg, Kachkanar, Kamensk-Uralsky, Verkhnyaya Pyshma, Novouralsk, and other local towns during the second selection round. Also, the fund received 102 upgrades compensation applications, most of which came from Beloyarsky,

October 21, 2013. Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation announced the results of its traditional amateur Olympics in 2013. 18,000 representative of 13 member enterprises took part in the event, including such companies as ChTZ-Uraltrac, Plant 9, Uraltransmash, UNTK, UKBTM, UVZ, and others, the corporation’s press service reports. Workers of all ages and professions took part in the competitions. 53% of participants were under 35 years old, 35% were 35 to 50 years old, and 12% were over 50. During the year, the corporation’s employees competed in running, swimming, skiing,

October 21, 2013. The Expert Magazine carried its annual rating of 400 largest companies in 2012. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) was 41st among the top 50 large businesses of the CIS in terms of labor productivity. This is the best result among all the Russian metallurgical enterprises, the company reports. In terms of sales, MMK, with its 289.9bn RUR worth of revenues (these are the consolidated data calculated in accordance with the IAS) was 27th on the list, which is one position up from last year. There are 200 major Russian companies on the list, and MMK is 34th in terms of

October 21, 2013. The workers of Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ) planted over 100 apple and lime trees and birches in the new park that is now being constructed in the north-east of Chelyabinsk Tractorozavodskoy District, says the press service of Uralvagonzavod Corporation, of which ChTPZ is a member. It was the plant’s trade union that proposed holding a large-scale planting event. The initiative was supported by activists from the plant’s various divisions. The foundry department, as well as the forging, the tool-making, the power, the engine, and the design ones directed their employees

October 21, 2013. The Chinese business community is quite familiar with Sverdlovsk Region and Yekaterinburg. For one, the constituency cooperates with Guangzhou, Guzhen, and Liaoning, Consul for Education Issues and attaché of the People’s Republic of China in Yekaterinburg Li Bin told reporters during a press breakfast. ‘Yekaterinburg is known in China as the sister city of Guangzhou, this is why the Province of Guangzhou pays special attention to its economic ties with Yekaterinburg. Guzhen and Liaoning also have very strong ties with the Mid-Urals. This is particularly true of the tourist,