February 18, 2013. Players from Sputnik hockey team (sponsored by Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation) paid a visit to an orphanage in the village of Yuzhakovo. This was part of the team’s charity event dubbed Soft Hockey. In January, Sputnik appealed to its supporters, asking them to bring some soft toys to the match and throw them onto the ice after the game finishes. The supporters were quick and enthusiastic to react, so an incredible amount of stuffed animals was donated. The first small batch was given to a kindergarten that the junior varsity team supports. Now, five

February 15, 2013. The occupational illness rate decreased by 28.3% in Sverdlovsk Region last year compared with a year earlier, the spokesperson for the regional division of Rospotrebnadzor (the state consumer rights watchdog) reports. According to the statistical data provided by the division, 512 instances of illnesses and poisoning were registered in the region in 2012. The total number of victims came to 480 people, including 98 women; 32 out of these fell ill twice or more often (including 4 women). This comes to 2.7 cases per every 10,000 instances of an illness. Also, the number of

February 15, 2013. After the Development Corporation’s pilot project on the construction of 12 up-to-date, energy-efficient boiler houses in the South Urals has been implemented successfully, the authorities are considering putting up six more boilers with the total capacity of 20 megawatts in Troitsk, the company’s press service reports. This initiative was put forth by the town council. The proposal was considered at a meeting which the Development Corporation’s representatives attended as well. Troitsk town council officials explain that they are now busy replacing the obsolete and

February 15, 2013. 350 Sverdlovsk Region-based volunteers who are going to take part in the World Summer Student Olympics 2013 in Kazan and in the Intercontinental Ski Jumping Cup in Nizhniy Tagil this March have already undergone the necessary training. The said sports events are to become a rehearsal of the 22nd Olympics and Paralympics in Sochi in the winter of 2014f for some of the volunteers from the Urals, Sverdlovsk Region Government’s Press Service & Information Department reports. ‘Sverdlovsk Region’s volunteer center has completed yet another stage of preparing its team for

February 15, 2013. Oblkommunenergo invested more than 7m RUR in the capital repairs of electric plants in Polevskoy District this winter. These figures do not include the spending on production programs and technological hookup, the enterprise’s press service says. So far, the 0.4 kilowatt overhead transmission lines in Proletarskaya St and Mira St in Zyuzelsky and in Kirov St and Naberezhnaya St in Kenchurka have been repaired. The company is also repairing the o.4 kilowatt lines in the town of Polevskoy itself, namely, in Uralskaya St, Volodarskaya St, Lomonosov St, Pobeda St, Turgenev St,

February 15, 2013. The trade union of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s head plant made a gift to all of its workers. All the employees who are also the trade union members are now entitled to the benefits offered within the Trade Union+ discounts and benefits scheme that allows them to get an up to 12% discount in quite a few stores and entertainment venues in Nizhniy Tagil. Uralvagonzavod’s trade union is actually the largest organization of such kind in Russia’s defense industry. Every trade union member (of whom there are a total of 25,000 people) was given a

February 14, 2013. The collective agreement that is currently used at Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ) was estimated very highly by a trilateral committee comprising some regional government officials, the trade union federation representatives, and PromAss (an employers’ organization) executives, Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s press service reports. This collective agreement was declared one of the best in the course of the regional scale competition. At the end of the contest, Chelyabinsk Region Economic Development Minister Elena Murzina awarded the enterprise’s

February 14, 2013. Uralvagonzavod’s railway carriage assembly line is now fitted with the American Lincolns – 60 U.S.-manufactured welding machines that were delivered onto Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s head plant within the framework of a large-scale technical upgrades program. All in all, 120 welding units are used in this department, Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s press service says. A half of all the new machines has already been installed and used. The sets will have become fully integrated into the production process by this summer,

February 14, 2013. Ural Airlines is introducing a new service: checking in online. Online check-in is now available via the passengers support service and is a convenient option that allows a passenger who travels without any luggage to check in for Ural Airlines flights and book the seat they want without setting foot outsides their home or office. The new service comes with the Customer Support experts’ advice; these employees are ready to help a passenger go through all the stages of checking in online. To use their help, a passenger needs to call the toll-free number 8-800-2000-262 (free

February 14, 2013. This January, the flights operated by Moskoviya, VIM Avia, and Rusline were delayed much more often than others, Rosaviation reports. For one, Moskoviya delayed 18.9% of its flights (31 out of 164 flights operated in January), VIM Avia delayed 14.32% of its flights (64 out of 447 flights operated in January), and Rusline delayed 13.78% of its flights (145 out of 1,052 flights operated in January). These air carriers are followed by I Fly, which delayed 12.15% of its flights (26 out of 214 flights operated in January), Alrosa, which delayed 12.14% of its flights (42 out of

February 14, 2013. Mikheevsky Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise, which is under construction at the moment, has already become one of Chelyabinsk Region’s major employers. About 700 people are currently working on building the enterprise. Once the business has been launched, about 680 new jobs for both white- and blue-collar workers will be created, the press officer of Russian Copper Company (RMK) reports. By February 1, Mikheevsky Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise has already taken on 169 employees: miners, preparators, energy sector workers, geologists, mineral surveyors,

Tatar National Cultural Autonomy of Sverdlovsk region, governed bythe elected chairman M.M.Sharafulin, has finished the organization of expert group to develop the concept of counteraction to national strife provocation. This theme is of high actuality in the region and is traditionally associated with the religious radical extremist activities. Therefore, speaking of settling interethnic conflicts, education and tolerant religious interpretation are considered to be the first measures. Formation of the expert anti-terrorist group took autonomy managementover four years. It includes

February 13, 2013. Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation was declared the best charity provider of the year in Nizhniy Tagil in 2012 in the Industrial Enterprises category, Uralvagonzavod’s press service reports. This is the second time the corporation has won the award: in 2011, the plant was also given the same deserving title. All in all, 99 different municipal organizations and enterprises competed for the title, but only 11 of them were actually awarded the Charity Provider diplomas in various categories. All in all, Uralvagonzavod donated over 250m RUR to charity last

February 13, 2013. Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Evgeny Kuivashev was elected Chairman of the Titanium Valley Special Economic Zone’s Supervisory Board on February 12. The same meeting resulted in electing Deputy Chairman and Executive Secretary, the Governor’s Information Policies Department reports. Kuivashev’s candidacy was supported by all the Supervisory Board members present at the meeting. The attendees elected Sverdlovsk Region Vice Premier Alexei Orlov as the Deputy Chairman, while Director-General of the Titanium Valley Special Economic Zone Artemy Kyzlasov was elected Executive

February 13, 2013. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) keeps expanding into Tyumen Region. On February 11, the bank launched its fourth branch in Nefteyugansk, Khanty-Mansiysky Autonomous Region. The branch will offer its customers a full range of services for private individuals. This is actually the bank’s 13th branch in Tyumen Region, the bank’s press service says. The bank has already set up outlets in shopping centers in Tyumen, Nizhnevartovsk, Surgut, Langepas, and Noyabrsk. The UBRD is also going to open more branches in Surgut and Noyabrsk in late February as

February 13, 2013. Sravni.ru’s analysts drew up a rating of Russia’s largest banks in terms of lending to private individuals as of February 1, 2013. Only three Sverdlovsk Region-based banks made it to the top twenty, including SKB-Bank, the lending institution’s press service reports. The volume of loans offered to private individuals exceeded 60.96bn RUR, which was 47.3% more than a year earlier. However, the speed at which the bank’s lending portfolio gained in volume did not affect its quality in any way: SKB-Bank can boast a less than 3% overdue debt ratio on its consumer loans, which is

February 13, 2013. On February 4, the customs officers of Yekaterinburg’s Koltsovo Airport detained 3,900 kg of watches and foreign perfumes from a supplier who was trying to import them to Russia from the UAE without any declarations, the press officer of Ural Customs Administration reports. It was discovered during the clearance control of a freight aircraft arriving to Yekaterinburg from Al Fujairah (UAE) that some of the cargo (185 items weighing a total of 3,900 kg) was not accompanied by the necessary transportation documents. It is reported that the supplier was trying to take watches

February 12, 2013. Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ) shipped its PK-65 loading truck to Khankala, Chechnya; this was done by order of the Federal Security Service’s Frontier Administration, Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s press officer reports. The enterprise delivered its mass-produced vehicle to the North Caucasus and, at the frontiersmen division’s request, fitted it with two replaceable scoops: one of them is meant for everyday operation, the other one for working with rock mass. The loader will be used in Khankala for the usual building and loading jobs.

February 12, 2013. Over a thousand workers from Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s head plant joined the start of the traditional Ural Ski Race that was part of the 31st Open All-Russian Ski Track 2013 Race. Sputnik, a sports club, was presented by a team of professional sports players, Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s press service says. Every year, the employees of Uralvagonzavod take part in the race which, as Sverdlovsk Region Prime Minister Denis Pasler says, is a very big event; moreover, the race attracts more and more participants every

February 12, 2013. Ural Airlines announces the launch of a special price on the Yekaterinburg-Rome-Yekaterinburg flights. The round trip tickets are now available for 10,800 RUR (including all the fees). The offer is valid through departure dates between March 3 and late May, excluding the May recess, the airline’s press service reports. The Yekaterinburg-Rome flight is operated every Sunday at the convenient day time via the comfortable Airbus 320 that offers a full range of services in both the economy and the business class sections. The attractively priced tickets are already available