November 21, 2012. According to the Ural Real Estate Chamber, the supply on the countryside real estate market decreased by 20% in the three quarters of 2012. Things look even bleaker in the townhouse sector, as the supply dropped by 30%. At the same time, the supply, the construction output, and prices on the existing homes market went back to their pre-recession figure of 48,000 RUR per sq m. At the moment, about 80% of the country estate market is constituted by non-contracted land allotments; cottage settlements make up about 10%, whereas in 2008, the share of land allotments was only

November 21, 2012. As of November 1, 2012, Russian enterprises outside the small business scope owe a total of 2,290m RUR in terms of wage arrears, which is 56m RUR, or 2.5% more than on October 1, 2012, Rosstat’s press service reports. The arrears of wages resulting from the companies lacking their own funds amounted to 2,198m RUR on November 1, 2012. This comes to 96% of the total amount of debt. This is also 4m RUR or 0.2% more than on October 1, 2012. Debts resulting from the untimely transfer of money from the budget resources at all levels reached 92m RUR and rose by 52m RUR, or by 2.3

November 20, 2012. An operation & maintenance center was set up at Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s head plant. The enterprise’s new division aims to centralize planning, analyze the equipment, buildings, and facilities maintenance expenses, come up with repairs schedules in order to avoid emergency stoppages, and cut down on the prime cost of projects, Uralvagonzavod’s press service reports. The center comprises the Chief Mechanic and the Chief Electrician’s divisions as well as some subdivisions of the Chief Energy Engineer’s division, the department for

November 20, 2012. A memorandum of understanding was signed by Siemens and Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) Corporation at the conference called Solutions for Cities. This conference was coordinated with the Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel holding intergovernmental sessions with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the corporation’s press service reports. The paper was signed by UVZ Director-General Oleg Sienko and Siemens AG President and Chairman of the Supervisory Board Peter Loescher. The memorandum will lay the foundation for the two parties’ mutually beneficial cooperation when launching the

November 20, 2012. Yekaterinburg Electrical Network analysts started their scheduled measuring the current burden on its electrical mains equipment at this time of the year’s maximum workload, the company’s press service reports. Thanks to this annual monitoring, the company experts can determine the actual burden on the distribution network equipment as well as assess the annual increase in the workload and analyze the degree of current burden during the fall/winter period for next year. The data obtained in the course of these measurements are taken into account when the company elaborates

November 20, 2012. Grain prices resumed going up on the markets of the Urals and Siberia last week after a month of stable prices occasioned by commodity interventions, the economic news agency Prime refers to the National Union of Grain Producers as reporting. In Ural Federal District, both fodder wheat and barley grew more expensive, with the price of the latter rising by 350 RUR over one week. All in all, 367,800 tons of 3d-grade wheat and 73,800 tons of 4th-grade wheat have been sold in the course of commodity interventions in Ural, Siberian, and Far Eastern Federal Districts since

November 20, 2012. The fact that the municipal authorities have proved as good as their word in terms of implementing the federal special program for supporting towns with only one primary employer means that Kamensk-Uralsky can get additional funding for working on a pipe cluster on the basis of Sinara Pipe Plant and on other projects targeted at diversifying the town’s economy, Governor Evgeny Kuivashev said at the opening ceremony of the new pipeline in the northern part of Kamensk-Uralsky; the pipeline was put up within the framework of the Sinara Pipe Plant-based pipe cluster project,

November 17, 2012. A new cafeteria fit for sixty people opened at Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s head plant recently. The project cost about 20m RUR to complete; the reconstruction of the canteen helped both to improve the quality of food serve and to make the cooks and janitors’ work easier, the corporation’s press service reports. The overhaul included replacing the main structures, plumbing and ventilations fixtures, and the electric power supply devices that are located in the cafeteria. Under the new sanitary norms and regulations, the area of the food court was

November 17, 2012. The region’s government is planning to elaborate a specialized industry development program for Sverdlovsk Region. This program will primarily be aimed at developing intra- and interregional cooperation. In fact, this will be the main topic for discussion at the round table meeting with the representatives of the regional defense enterprises in December, Governor Evgeny Kuivashev said today at a conference called ‘The Greater Urals Economic Growth Points,’ the Governor’s Information Policy Department reports. ‘Ironic as it may seem, Sverdlovsk Region, which can boast a

November 17, 2012. Yekaterinburg was given the 4th position in the general rating of Russian cities for 2011; this rating was compiled by the Russian Union of Engineers. The first three positions were given to Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Novosibirsk, the Union’s report states. Yekaterinburg got 20 points altogether, which was only 0.7 points less than what Novosibirsk got. For one, the capital of the Urals is behind the capital of Siberia in terms of affordability of housing, innovational activity, and quality of cadre. Yet Yekaterinburg does better in terms of residents’ welfare, societal

November 17, 2012. OAO Sinara-Development is currently putting up Novy Svet, a new district in Volgograd, well ahead of schedule. By now, the frames of 50% of the buildings are already at the 4th floor level, and the internal and external walls are being built on the first floors, Sinara Group’s PR Center reports. ‘This construction tempo leads us to predict that the four new five-storey apartment buildings in Novy Svet will be commissioned before the target date (the fourth quarter of 2013),’ says the developer company’s Director-General Timur Ufimtsev. Novy Svet District, which is located

November 17, 2012. According to Head of State Labor Inspectorate Fedor Kravtsov, the overall number of inspections and orders issued against legal entities and sole traders has gone down recently; so has the total number of accidents at work, says the press center of Sverdlovsk Region Executive Branch Federal Authorities’ local divisions under the Chief Federal Inspector for Sverdlovsk Region. On Wednesday, November 14, Chief Federal Inspector for Sverdlovsk Region Boris Kirillov met with the Head of State Labor Inspectorate for Sverdlovsk Region to talk about such important issues as

November 16, 2012. The new core-making division was launched at Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s head plant recently. This launch signifies a large-scale modernization of the whole department that will also involve the assembling of a powder-mixing section and a molding line, the corporation’s press service reports. The modern, robotized core-making facility supplied by the German company Laempe has been estimated to result in 25,000 car sets a year. Thanks to its launch, the process of core making will become faster, more precise, and more stable. The facility

November 16, 2012. Even though a lot of new office buildings are being commissioned in Yekaterinburg at the moment, rent is not expected to go down, RED Management Company reports. ‘Over 100,000 sq m of office space was commissioned in the first half of 2012 alone. A few more buildings are currently being put up. Nevertheless, not only has the average rent failed to go down, but it actually keeps on growing,’ says the company’s Director-General Alexei Klimenko. According to the analysis of the office space presented by Ural Chamber of Real Estate, the rent for Class B+ office comes to 1,190

November 16, 2012. Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Evgeny Kuivashev is to chair the Mid-Urals Development Corporation (KRSU) BOD, he announced at the Sverdlovsk Region Investment Committee meeting today. ‘KRSU is now facing some very daring challenges and need a powerful lobbyist. It would only make sense if the Governor chaired it,’ said the current Chairman Alexei Bagaryakov. ‘Unless there is a legal obstacle to this, I intend to chair the Board of Directors,’ Kuivashev said. KRSU is to solve the problem of kindergartens shortage in the region; this will be done with the help of borrowed

November 16, 2012. RBC Rating analysts carried the rating of Russia’s largest banks in the nine months of 2012. The rating traditionally features a few Ural banks that have actually improved their positions on last year. For one, Bank Koltso Urala was given the 112th position in the rating based on its asset volume as of October 1, 2012, the bank reports. According to RBC analysts, the bank’s net assets exceeded 30.5bn RUR on the said date, which is 1.2bn RUR more than on January 1, 2012 and 9.7bn RUR more than a year earlier. This growth has meant that the lending institution moved from the

November 16, 2012. VSMPO-Avisma Corporation claims that the steam gas mixture explosion that occurred at the company’s plant in Berezniki, Perm Territory, is not dangerous for the locals. The department where the leakage has occurred keeps on working as usual, the corporation’s press release states. The leakage of the steam gas mixture from the chlorinating facility took place at the company’s chemical & metallurgical shop in Berezniki, Perm Territory, on November 14, 2012. Three workers were killed, with nine more poisoned and hospitalized. The rest of the workers on this shift are

November 15, 2012. ChTPZ Group’s corporate video called ‘White Metallurgy. The Key to Success’ won as many as three prizes in the Best Video competition held among the metallurgical enterprises of Russia and the CIS. Metal-Vision’2012 is held within the framework of MetalExpo 2012, the company’s press service reports. ChTPZ video was selected from 20 clips presented to the board of jurors. What is more, it also won in the Best Directing and the Best Cross-Cutting categories. ‘White Metallurgy. The Key to Success’ dwells upon the company’s new program on training employees for the

November 15, 2012. According to Ural Chamber of Real Estate’s Analytics Department, housing prices in Yekaterinburg have gone up by 8.4% since the beginning of the year. For the last three months, prices have been growing by about 0.2% a week. On November 12, 2012, the median price of a square meter of flats offered for sale on the existing homes market amounted to 69,187 RUR, Ural Chamber of Real Estate’s press service reports. At the same time, the supply has tended to grow steadily over the last two months. On average, the Chamber’s database expanded by 0.5% a week. The number of flats

November 15, 2012. The stockholders of Koltsovo Airport, who are to gather at an EGM on December 3, 2012, were advised to vote for handing the authorities of the sole executive body of Koltsovo Airport over to a management company, the company reports. The agenda of the EGM also covers the issue of an early resignation of Koltsovo Airport’s Director-General Evgeny Chudnovsky and re-assigning his duties to Regions Airports Management Company. In fact, Regions Airports Management Company will also run the airports of Nizhniy Novgorod and Samara.