March 31, 2013. Yekaterinburg proved Russia’s third best-paying city in terms of IT Directors’ salaries. The senior managers involved in the IT field make 125,000 RUR a month on average in Yekaterinburg, with about 17.2 job applications submitted for every vacancy, Superjob’s research indicates. On average, IT Directors based in large Russian cities make 80,000 RUR a month (in Volgograd) to 185,000 RUR a month (in Moscow). The most experienced senior managers might make up to 200,000 RUR a month in places like Kazan and Omsk, up to 320,000 RUR in Saint Petersburg, and up to 400,000 RUR in

March 31, 2013. Ural Airlines launched a new version of its website at www.uralairlines.com. The website design has been changed, the navigation got even easier and more practical, and the structure is now more easily accessible and user-friendly. The new version of the website was devised in close cooperation with the airline’s passengers, some valuable feedback was obtained and taken into consideration (including the one on the desired new functions). For one, all the site users will be able to enjoy the new online store selling Ural Airlines’ branded products in the nearest future, the air

January 30, 2013. Sverdlovsk Region authorities still cannot find a new investor for Russian Magnesium, an ambitious investment project that is now on the brink of bankruptcy, Governor Evgeny Kuivashev told reporters in the course of a briefing. Kuivashev reminded them that the project’s main weakness lay in the poor competitiveness of the production technology, as its cost was too high for the price at which magnesium is currently being sold at stock exchanges. ‘If the technology gets changed or an investor is found, the project will definitely be implemented,’ the Governor said. According

January 30, 2013. Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation came up with a report on the company’s improvements and innovations efforts in 2012 and looked at the prospects of this field in the year 2013. The second round table discussion on the improvements in inventor and innovator efforts at the corporation’s enterprises took place in Nizhniy Tagil, the corporation’s press service reports. The representatives of nine Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation employees took part in the discussion: Uralvagonzavod proper, Yekaterinburg-based Uraltransmash and Plant 9,

January 30, 2013. This year, Yekaterinburg is to witness a number of special events dedicated to promoting the city as a candidate for hosting the world exhibition EXPO 2020, Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Evgeny Kuivashev said at a press conference on January 28. Kuivashev explained that inspectors were supposed to arrive in March to fact-check all the data presented in Yekaterinburg’s EXPO 2020 application portfolio. The regional authorities will have to answer the inspectors’ questions, show them the sites for the future EXPO Park, and talk on the future infrastructure and transportation

January 30, 2013. A meeting chaired by Sverdlovsk Region Prime Minister Denis Pasler was dedicated to the possibility of locating industrial parks in the towns of Beloyarsky, Revda, and Degtyarsk; it was also suggested that another site should be set up in the vicinity of Yekaterinburg next to Novosverdlovskaya Power Station, Sverdlovsk Region Government’s Press Service & Information Department reports. ‘It behooves us as the region’s government to create resident-friendly sites with good transport links and developed infrastructure,’ Denis Pasler said. Mayor of Beloyarsky Alexander

January 30, 2013. Yekaterinburg got on the list of Russia’s top ten cities where online booking is the most wide-spread way of making a hotel reservation. These data are available from the Russian online hotel booking service Oktogo.ru. Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Sochi, Kaliningrad, Kazan, Novosibirsk, Pskov, Nizhniy Novgorod, and Krasnodar were also on the list of the top ten, with 80% of all the e-bookings made from Moscow and Saint Petersburg, as far as last year was concerned. As for the federal constituencies, Moscow Region, Leningrad Region, Krasnodar Territory (Sochi, Anapa, Krasnodar),

January 29, 2013. Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ) shipped its first portion of their upgraded caterpillar belts to Surgutneftegaz; this shipment is part of a one-year contract for the delivery of spare parts for the road-building vehicles, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service reports. The O&G company will have received 50 caterpillar belts for B-10 tractors and diesel-electric bulldozers (all of them produced by ChTZ) by the end of January. This order is worth about 8m RUR and will be followed by more shipments in the coming months. These upgraded caterpillar belts ordered by

January 29, 2013. Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant’s (ChTPZ) educational project known as The Future of White Metallurgy that was aimed at training blue- and white-collar metallurgical workers might win the prestigious HR Brand 2012 Prize, the company’s press service reports. The Future of White Metallurgy is a unique educational program implemented within the framework of a public-private partnership involving ChTPZ, Sverdlovsk Region Government, and Pervouralsk Metallurgical School. The program is targeted at training highly skilled workers whose qualifications would meet today’s

January 29, 2013. In January through December 2012, 1,867,600 sq m worth of housing was built in Sverdlovsk Region, which exceeded the figures for 2011 by 2.5%. All in all, 24,228 apartments were built against 22,584 apartments a year earlier, SverdlovskStat reports. Private individuals had 682,700 sq m worth of housing built in 2012 using their own savings and borrowed funds. This was 3.5% less than in 2011. The share of private housing came to 36.6% of the total amount (compared with 38.8% in 2011).

January 29, 2013. SKB-Bank is going to take part in the 13th International Forum iFin-2013 on Electronic Financial Services & Technologies that will be held in Moscow on February 5-6, 2013. The forum is coordinated by the web portal iFin.ru, with some support from the Association of Russian Banks (ARB) and NAUFOR, the Russian National Association of Securities Market Participants, SKB-Bank’s press service reports. The iFin-2013 forum is Russia’s major event on electronic finance services and technologies. The agenda of the forum covers presentations on the most advanced technologies and

January 29, 2013. As of January 28, 2013, the communal housing services providers based in Sverdlovsk Region failed to pay a total of 4.606bn RUR worth of natural gas bills, Uralsevergaz’s press officer reports. ‘Not only do the companies fail to pay off their earlier debts, but they also haven’t been paying for their current natural gas consumption. For one, Uralsevergaz only received 367.8m RUR in terms of December payments; this only comes to 31.7% of the total sum. The December supply was to have been paid for by January 25,’ the company says. YekaterinburgEnergo, with its total of 560m

January 28, 2013. On January 24, 2013, a cooperation memorandum was signed by the Republic of Bashkortostan and the founders of Honghua Group CIS: Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation, VTB Leasing, and Sichuan-based Honghua Group. The signature took place within the framework of Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s Director-General Oleg Sienko’s business trip to Bashkortostan, the corporation’s press service reports. The two parties will work on setting up a drill-rigs manufacturing enterprise; the rigs will be meant for exploring and developing oil and natural gas deposits. What is

January 28, 2013. Yekaterinburg’s retail trade turnover came to 610bn RUR in 2012. For the first time in the city’s history, the 600-bn RUR figure was actually exceeded. This sum comes to as many as twenty annual budgets of the city, the official city web portal states. The retail trade turnover rose by 8.8% against 2011. Over the course of one year, 537 new retail outlets were opened in Yekaterinburg, and 100 of those were actually built from scratch. The trading network expanded by 298 new facilities, including 100 grocery shops and 166 stores selling non-food items, the portal announcement

January 28, 2013. The first mechatronics WorldSkills Russia championship came to an end in Pervouralsk. Students from Pervouralsk Metallurgical College, who scored the maximum number of points (82), were declared the winners in the contest, Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant’s press service reports. The championship was held on January 22-24 at ChTPZ Group’s training center whose facilities meet all the mechatornics championship standards. Seven teams from five parts of Russia (Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Chelyabinsk Region, Sverdlovsk Region, and Khanty-Mansiysky Autonomous Region) took part in

January 28, 2013. Sverdlovsk Commuting Company is launching a pilot project on cashless fare payment in January 2013. The service will be available on the commuter trains traveling within Sverdlovsk Region and is a part of the company’s customer service enhancement program, Sverdlovsk Commuting Company’s press officer reports. Passengers can enjoy the benefits of the cashless payment on the electric trains using the stationary POS terminals at the booking offices. All the tellers have already been trained and can help passengers pay with a bank card if necessary. At the end of this cashless

January 28, 2013. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development was successfully certified for compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) recently. Visa and MasterCard have already confirmed that the UBRD’s cards meet the international standard, which can be proved by the certificate the bank was given on December 31, 2012. The PCIDSS certificate proves that the security and protection during the processing and storage of the UBRD cardholders’ personal data meets the highest international standards. ‘This great level of security was made possible due to

January 25, 2013. This year, Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant’s personnel training center is planning to have 3,800 employees undergo professional development programs. This is a record-setting number, as last year, only 3,600 workers were trained; in 2011, the figure was 3,150, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service reports. The number of workers who improved on their professional skills rose from 11% to 17% of all the staff. So now the metal casters, press operators, pump unit operators and other workers who underwent production and technical development programs have been entitled to higher

January 25, 2013. In 2013, 5.242bn RUR will be invested in Sverdlovsk Region’s agricultural industry, the regional government’s Press Service & Information Administration reports. 2.67bn RUR will be directed to issuing short-term loans needed to do all the seasonal agricultural jobs and to process the agricultural raw materials; 1.97bn RUR will be used for investment loans needed to buy vehicles and machinery, to build, re-build, and upgrade the crop-raising and animal husbandry facilities and to develop the infrastructure and logistics for the crop and animal produce markets, including

January 25, 2013. In 2012, 97,348 new cars were sold in Yekaterinburg last year, which was 14%, or 12,278 cars more than in 2011. In December 2012, 8,277 vehicles were sold, which fell short of the number for December 2011 by 3% or 209 cars, Auto-Dealer Yekaterinburg reports. Lada is still the best-selling car on the market, even though its sales actually declined by 56 automobiles compared to a year earlier. As a result, the share of Russian cars on the Yekaterinburg market came to 15% in 2012 compared with 21% in 2010 and 17% in 2011. Once again, Chevrolet proved the most popular foreign