January 15, 2013. Pervouralsk household solid waste recycling plant was declared bankrupt after a corresponding claim laid by the Federal Tax Service. The company will now have to undergo bankruptcy proceedings; Nikolai Kaiky was appointed the enterprise’s trustee in bankruptcy; this information is available from the case files available via Sverdlovsk Region Arbitration Court’s website. The court determined that the following creditors had their claims: Ural Transport Bank (2.839m RUR worth of debt plus 791,000 RUR worth of penalties) and the Interregional Tax Inspectorate (on behalf of

January 15, 2013. Bank Koltso Urala keeps on expanding its ATM network in the federal constituencies where the bank’s branches are run. For one, a new ATM was installed on the premises of Verkhnyaya Pyshma’s largest sports facility: UMMC Sports Palace. This means there are currently 13 cash machines in this town, the bank reports. The new ATM, located in the sports facility at 15 Ordzhonikidze St, will let the bank’s Visa and MasterCard cardholders take some cash out of their accounts, get a bank statement, pay their mobile phone or Internet bills, transfer money from one card account to

January 14, 2013. The Byelorussian Cabinet is planning to take part in the international exhibition Innoprom 2013, Governor of Sverdlovsk Region’s Information Policies Department reports. According to the Head of the Byelorussian Embassy in Russia’s Yekaterinburg branch Viktor Polyanin, this will facilitate the Republic of Byelorussia and Sverdlovsk Region’s further socioeconomic cooperation. Last year, Byelorussia created and presented its national stand at Innoprom for the very first time; the stand featured its economic, scientific, and hi tech developments. The display was over 560 sq m

January 14, 2013. Bank Koltso Urala keeps on improving its financial position. For one, its balance sheet total exceeded the 50bn RUR mark today. In August 2012, this figure was 41bn RUR, the bank reports. This dynamic increase in the bank’s balance sheet total had to do with the active business development, expanded product range, and a growing number of branches. This year, the bank’s plans are not any less ambitious. ‘The dynamic development of our business in the provincial federal constituencies, an increase in the number of customers, and improved offers for both private individuals and

January 14, 2013. The ice playground built by Sinara Pipe Plan/SinTZ (part of Pipe Metallurgical Company/TMK) was declared the best in town in the course of a municipal contest in Kamensk-Uralsky. SinTZ’s victory was made more noticeable due to a valuable prize and a thank-you letter from the mayor, TMK’s press office reports. The ice playground’s theme was Caramel Fairy Tale. The ice-covered area on the premises of the plant park was increased considerably this year and came to 8,500 sq m, which is 1,000 sq m more than a year earlier. The central New Year tree, with its safe and sturdy metal

January 14, 2013. The 3d power generating unit of Beloyarskaya Power Station will operate at reduced capacity until April 2013, Interfax refers to the station’s press center as reporting. The capacity of the power generating unit and its BN600 reactor was reduced on December 27, 2012 down to 76% of the projected one in order to work on some equipment issues. Following the station’s experts’ estimates, it was decided that these issues are best dealt with during the scheduled shut-down of the unit. The upcoming shut-down needed for fuel recharging and maintenance is expected to take place in

January 14, 2013. A German visa center will be set up in Yekaterinburg that will cut down on the visa applicants’ waiting time. The center is expected to open in February, the Association of Tour Operators in Russia’s press service reports. The German party feels this will help to get rid of a long wait before an available appointment at the consulate: on average, those applying for German visas have to wait for about two weeks before they have their appointment. According to the attache for cultural relations and press of the Consulate General of the Federal Republic Germany in Yekaterinburg

January 11, 2013. Over 670,000 automobiles are registered in Yekaterinburg as of the beginning of the year 2013; this means there are 450 cars per every 1,000 residents, which is one of Russia’s greatest figures. Last year, over 15bn RUR worth of cars were sold in the local motor shows, Yekaterinburg Council’s press office reports. The number of car owners proved actually higher in Yekaterinburg than in Moscow or Saint Petersburg, where there are no more than 400 cars per every 1,000 people. According to the experts’ estimates, the number of 900 to 950 cars per every 1,000 residents signals

January 11, 2013. The first round of SKB-Bank’s special monthly competition dubbed, ‘Discover New Element & Win an iPad was completed on January 10. The special offer was launched in October 2012, at the same time as the bank’s new advertising campaign, The Periodical Table of SKB-Bank Elements, took off. SKB-Bank gave everyone a chance to ‘discover’ his or her very own element that could become a part of the advertising campaign. The element can be created via a special webpage: one needs to think of the symbol to designate the element as well as its name, and choose a product that this

January 11, 2013. Sverdlovsk Region scored 7.5 points in the sustainability rating compiled by Peterburgskaya Politika Foundation and REGNUM Information Agency in December 2012. This result was actually 0.1 points lower than before. Nevertheless, this rating means the region can be classed as a Highly Stable one. The following factors made a positive impact on the rating: -the business community’s favorable reaction to the Governor’s calling for lowering the administrative barriers for businesses; -Yekaterinburg’s leading position on the Russian Pillars, a list of big cities with population

January 11, 2013. More than 3bn RUR was invested in the upgrades in Sverdlovsk Region’s chemical industry last year. For one, Ural Rubber Goods Plant completed the first stage of its ten-year modernization project, which required 400m RUR worth of investments, Sverdlovsk Region Government Press Service & Information Administration reports. The plant launched a hi tech calendar production line for making conveyor belts; the introduction of a new technological process allowed the company to reduce its materials spending and to halve its process losses. In 2012, the renovated biological

January 11, 2013. Sverdlovsk Region started issuing all-purpose e-cards on January 1, 2013. The cards can be obtained from the outlets in the following locations: Karpinsk, Krasnoufimsk, Irbit, Serov, Kamyshlov, Alapayevsk, Kamensk-Uralsky, Asbest, Pervouralsk, Nizhniy Tagil, and Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Region Government Press Service & Information Administration reports. In the future, these e-cards are supposed to replace printed documents, so one could check into a hospital without a paper insurance policy. This will be possible due to the special equipment that will be installed at

January 10, 2013. Ural Airlines flew 3.5m passengers last year; the airline’s record-setting passenger used its services on the company’s U6 262 (Yekaterinburg-Moscow flight) around New Year’s Eve on December 30. The lucky customer’s name was Yekaterinburg resident Vladimir Georgiyev, the air carrier’s press office reports. Now in 2011 the airline offered its services to 2.5m passengers. It’s worth noting that Ural Airlines’ passenger traffic increases year on year, but last year was special in that, for the first time in the airline’s history, the traffic rose by over 1m people in just one

January 10, 2013. Yekaterinburg residents now have the opportunity of getting their multiple Schengen visas needed for travel or for medical treatment abroad at the Czech Republic’s local consulate, the consulate’s press service reports. ‘This is to inform you that the Consulate-General of the Czech Republic in Yekaterinburg is to adjust its current Schengen visa-issuing policy starting on January 1, 2013. The visas needed for travel or for medical treatment abroad will be available in one-time-entry and multiple-entry formats,’ the consulate’s website states. The multiple Schengen visa

January 10, 2013. Ural Federal University is going to hold an international tender for the position of the Provost for Social, Economic and Management Sciences & Humanities. This decision is aimed at enhancing the university’s competitiveness, the college’s press service reports. UFU’s new Provost will have to work on integrating the university’s humanities studies into the international academic community. The number of publications in peer-reviewed journals and other cited papers is also expected to go up, as are both the number and the volume of financially backed-up international and

January 10, 2013. STM-Service (a part of Sinara Transport Machines) came up with the results of its professional contest in 2012. The company employees provide O & M services for the fleet of 231 Sinara 2ES6 Series locomotives at Sverdlovsk, South-Ural, and West-Siberian Railways. The locos are serviced at 10 O&M centers and units, the company’s press service says. The contest prizes were awarded in three categories: Best Service Division, Best Foreman, and Best Worker. The candidates for the first category were selected on the basis of the following criteria: meeting the target

January 10, 2013. Oblkommunenergo reports that New Year break proved trouble-free for the local energy sector. All the electric power supply units and the communal housing services infrastructure operated by the company worked stably during the public holidays: all the local residents’ dwellings had both heat and electric power available, the company’s press secretary says. This year’s break was much smoother than the previous year’s one. The launch of an on-call duty mode helped significantly to reduce the time spent on eliminating potential threats to the stable power supply. For one,

December 28, 2012. Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s head plant made its 120,000th car axle, which is a record for both the Nizhniy Tagil-based enterprise and the entire railway carriage-making industry. No other company either in Russia or abroad is capable of producing 30,000 car sets of axles a year. To celebrate this achievement, a solemn meeting took place at the plant’s department, the corporation’s press service reports. The standard production capacity of other such manufacturing lines comes to about 48,000 axles a year. Uralvagonzavod’s automatic line, which is

December 28, 2012. The year 2012 proved productive for all the sections of the corporation’s investment project. The Development Corporation’s energy sector activity deserves special attention, as it is in this area where the company achieved the most significant results,’ the corporation’s press office reports. First, this year the company successfully completed its project on putting up the infrastructure for the Purpe-Samotlor pipeline system. Within the framework of this project, Development Corporation commissioned two 110/10 kilowatt-substations and two 110-kilowatt electric mains for

December 28, 2012. Yekaterinburg Council’ press service reports that Mayor Alexander Yakob is expected to sign a special decree very soon that will reserve a land allotment in Vikulov St-Metallurgi St-Third Ring-Road-Verkh-Isetsky Pond for the housing of the World Universal Exhibition EXPO 2020. The area of this allotment comes to 555 hectares. The site was chosen primarily because, after the EXPO 2020 is over, this territory, with all the created engineering infrastructure, will serve for the good of the city. According to the current plant, the northern part of Tatishchev St up to the shore