February 22, 2013. On February 20, Revdinsky Investigative Department of Russia’s Internal Affairs Ministry instituted criminal proceedings related to a vitriol spill on the premises of Sredneuralsky Copper-Smelting Plant in Revda; the charges are based on Article 254 (part 1) of the Russian Federation Criminal Code (Poisoning, contamination, or other damage to the soil through negligent storage, treatment, use or transportation of hazardous chemicals resulting in damage to human health or the environment), the spokesperson for Sverdlovsk Region public prosecution authorities reports. It was

February 22, 2013. The communal housing services managing companies based in Sverdlovsk Region and Yekaterinburg decided to direct a group of their employees to Chelyabinsk Region to help with clearing off all the damage caused by the recent meteorite shower, Sverdlovsk Region’s Press Service & Information Department reports. The region’s Energy & Communal Housing Services Ministry reports that a team of twenty rescuers was sent to the neighboring Chelyabinsk Region today. These people will take part in re-installing window panes in the apartment buildings and socially important

February 21, 2013. ChTPZ Group directed 724m RUR to the implementation of CSR programs in Chelyabinsk and Pervouralsk last year, the company’s press service reports. In addition to the obligatory welfare benefits and payments that the Russian law states employers must pay, the workers of Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant and Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant were offered an additional benefits package which included medical insurance (with services provided by the company’s medical unit), non-state retirement insurance, and vacation and healthcare options (available through the health resorts and

February 21, 2013. Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ) employees are sending their second set of five B-12 bulldozers to Vietnam. This shipment is part of a contract for the delivery of ten bulldozers to the Southeast Asian state that was landed at the end of last year, Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation reports. The 40ft sea shipping containers have been supplied to the plant’s assembly shop so that the B-12 bulldozers could be packed in there. The vehicles get dismantled into modules first, then they are re-painted and prepared carefully for the long trip. Before the end of

February 21, 2013. At the moment, the construction site for Polyarnaya Heat & Power Plant is busy 24/7, and all the necessary steps are taken to make sure the station’s first launching facility is commissioned on time (that is, at the end of 2013), the Development Corporation’s Deputy Director-General Sergey Shindyalov reports. More than 300 people and about 80 construction vehicles are currently being used in the construction process. All the jobs related to preparing the foundation for the main building are nearly finished: by now, 80% of the necessary poles have been installed. The

February 21, 2013. A group of Sverdlovsk Region delegates headed by Governor Evgeny Kuivashev are now on a business trip in Japan, and this is expected to ensure the successful fulfillment of the Land of the Rising Sun’s plans to establish a bilateral partnership with Russia. This was discussed at the Governor’s meeting with Takayuki Ueda, the director general of the manufacturing industries bureau of Japan's Trade Ministry, the Governor’s Information Policies Department reports. The Japanese party sees the year 2013 as that of great expectations and feels this is the start of a new era

February 21, 2013. Electric power will get accumulated at night time and used during the peak load hours in Yekaterinburg’s Academic District, the spokesperson for Renova-StroyGroup Akademicheskoye reports. The electric power accumulating system has the capacity of 150 kilowatts and will be installed in one of the buildings in Academic in the summer of 2013. ‘As the electricity rates are growing, so is the need for such kind of equipment. In addition to the intelligent energy control, the accumulating device can also ensure smooth end user supply even in case of a voltage jump and switch to

February 20, 2013. A group of delegates from Russia presented its Russia Arms EXPO-2013 (the 9th international arms, military vehicles, and ammunition exhibition to be held in Nizhniy Tagil on September 25-28) to the international experts and reporters at IDEX 2013. The exhibition is coordinated by Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation, Uralvagonzavod’s press service reports. The presentation included featuring the Nizhniy Tagil show’s new logo, based on a diamond shape this time. This symbol actually has a special meaning in the military sphere and is used to designate a

February 20, 2013. A delegation comprising the representatives of such diesel engine manufacturing enterprises as the German FEV GmbH and Ural Diesel Motor Plant (a member of Sinara Transport Machines) paid a visit to Lyudinovsky Locomotive-Making Plant (a member of Sinara Transport Machines). The visitors took a look at the company’s production departments and got acquainted with the process of the machines’ technological assembly and diesel installation. The FEV GmbH and Ural Diesel Motor Plant representatives also expressed an interest in the new carriage rolling stock designs elaborated

February 20, 2013. All the project documentation for Mikheevsky Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise has been approved by a board of state experts, which means this large-scale investment project can be now implemented in full, Russian Copper Company’s PR Administration reports. On January 11, 2013, Mikheevsky Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise was given an approval of Russia’s Glavgosekspertiza in terms of its project documentation and the findings of the engineering surveys on Mikheevsky Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise’s open-pit mine. On February 4, 2013, a state board of

February 20, 2013. 476,974 lawsuits were submitted to Sverdlovsk Region-based courts in 2012; this figure does not account for complaints and other types of papers, Sverdlovsk Region Court’s Press Office reports. According to the Press Office, the number of criminal lawsuits placed with the courts is in direct relation to the positive trends in the region’s crime rate at the moment. Last year, the number of such suits decreased by nearly 10% (33,767) in both the district and the municipal courts; in the magistrate courts, the figure dropped by over 11%. In addition, the number of the accused

February 19, 2013. Child dancers from Poisk, a drama club from Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant’s Palace of Culture run by Olga Osnovina, won in the international children’s art contest called On the Banks of the Neva. The children were given first prizes in two categories: folk and stage dance, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press office reports. The young first-time performers aged six to nine had to compete quite fiercely with the more experienced contestants from Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Samara, and other large Russian cities. However, the board of jurors found it quite fair to award two first

February 19, 2013. Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation presented its most advanced developments in the field of terrestrial and artillery weapons at IDEX, an international defense exhibition that took off in Abu Dhabi on February 17. The Russian pavilion’s solemn opening ceremony was conducted by Russia’s Industry & Trade Minister Denis Manturov. He commented on the upgraded T-90C tank and Terminator, a fire support combat vehicle designed by Uralvagonzavod for the combat in an urban setting; the vehicle can boast powerful multiple channel weaponry and strong

February 19, 2013. Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation and a group of companies headed by Zarechnaya Coal Company (of which a Mr. Nusenkis, a Russian entrepreneur, is a proprietor) announced they are about to set up a joint venture called Russian Industrial Corporation. The prospective JV will probably comprise some of Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s assets; the corporation will also get some stakes in Zarechnaya Coal Company, Yurga Machine-Building Plant, Germany-based Esser, the Czech Republic-based T-machinery, U-Trans Transportation Company, and the Baltic Coal Terminal.

February 19, 2013. An agreement on setting up a joint venture was signed in Japan on February 18 within the framework of a visit by a a group of Sverdlovsk Region officials headed by Governor Evgeny Kuivashev, the Governor’s Information Policies Department reports. During the Governor’s meeting with the mayor of Kitakyushu, both parties expressed an interest in mutual cooperation. About fifty Japanese companies sent their representatives to the presentation on Sverdlovsk Region coordinated by the Russian delegates, and some of these representatives said they would like to have a private

February 19, 2013. It has been estimated that Yekaterinburg will need around 161.121bn RUR to prepare for the World Football Championship of 2018, the federal press center of an organization called Physical Education & Sports Development in the Russian Federation. This figure represents the funds that the federal and the regional budgets as well as a number of private investors are willing to provide. The sum was announced by Sverdlovsk Region authorities at a presentation dedicated to the concept for holding World Cup 2018 matches in Yekaterinburg. The project’s most money-consuming

February 18, 2013. Ural Airlines is launching a new scheduled flight from Moscow to Bishkek. The flight will be operated every Saturday starting February 23. The timetable has been designed in the most convenient way possible: the planes leave Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport at 10 AM and arrive in Bishkek at 4:05 PM; the return flight’s departure time is 5:05 PM, arrival time is 7:40PM; the flight lasts four and a half hours. The flight will be operated on the modern European concern Airbus’s aircraft, the airline’s press officer reports. Now Ural Airlines also offers scheduled flights bound for

February 18, 2013. The military vehicles manufactured by Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation arrived in the United Arab Emirates for IDEZ, the international defense exhibition. The features and potential of Terminator, the fire support combat vehicle, and of the upgraded T-90C painted a new color, as well as of some life-size samples and models from Uralvagonzavod’s special vehicles division will be displayed in Abu Dhabi on February 17-21, Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s press service says. Uralvagonzavod is a regular participant at the prestigious

February 18, 2013. In 2012, 159bn RUR, or 72% of Sverdlovsk Region’s tax revenues, were paid by the enterprises involved in the basic economic activities (processing enterprises, retail and wholesale traders, the transportation industry, the real estate sector, and the electricity, natural gas, and water production and distribution segment), Sverdlovsk Region division of Russia’s Federal Tax Service reports. The processing enterprises paid 62bn RUR, thus providing 28% of all the tax revenues. The retail and wholesale trading businesses as well as the car mechanics and white goods repairing

February 18, 2013. A draft bill on doing away with the notion of roaming within Russia was considered at the State Duma’s Information Policies, IT, & Communications Committee on February 14. The mobile carriers do not think it impossible that, should the bill be adopted, the mobile communication rates might go up. The changes in the Communications Act are supposed to get rid of the payments charged for roaming within Russia. The carriers are expected to process the outside subscribers’ traffic through their own network, which will reduce the price of a phone call. Deputy Communications