November 2, 2012. Russian Vice Premier Arkady Dvorkovitch expects Russia’s application for the world fair EXPO 2020 (to be hosted in Yekaterinburg) to win, Prime reports. Russia submitted the application featuring Yekaterinburg as the host city for EXPO 2020 in October. Among other candidate cities are Izmir (Turkey), Ayuthaya (Thailand), and So Paulo (Brazil). The decision on where to hold the exhibition will be voted on in the course of the BIE General Assembly in late 2013. ‘At the moment, we are working on one of the decisive presentations for the BIE Paris bureau. At this stage, we want

November 2, 2012. Sverdlovsk Region Energy Committee’s Board meeting resulted in the adoption of the price rates for 2013, Sverdlovsk Region Government’s Press Service & Information Administration reports. According to the forecasts, rates are expected to remain the same in the first half of 2013, so the end user prices will remain the same as in December 2012. On July 1, 2013, the rates will be adjusted in accordance with the economically justified expenses of the energy sector enterprises – within the maximum rate growth indices set for Sverdlovsk Region by the Federal Tariff Service.

November 2, 2012. OOO Bank Koltso Urala’s Business Customers Department’s analysts increased the basic annual interest rates offered on business customer 32-to-62- and 63-to-92-day deposits by 1.5%, the bank reports. The bank’s analysts say the changes affected these particular term deposits because these are the two most popular deposit periods. This means that an increase in the deposit rate is a way to meet the needs of businesspeople interested in the medium-term deposit offers. They also point out that the market opportunities are going through a transition stage at the moment, with the

October 31, 2012. By order of Nezavisimaya Gazeta, the Economic News Agency came up with a rating of political influence featuring the representatives of Russian business community. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) BOD Chairman Viktor Rashnikov was given the 17th position in the quarterly rating of Russia’s 50 Most Influential Entrepreneurs & Investors for the third quarter of 2012; his position is classed as ‘strong influence’ and is one of the highest among the Russian businesspeople in the metallurgical sector. Also, the median expert estimate has gone noticeably up in

November 1, 2012. 12 up-to-date block-modular energy efficient boiler plants were put up in Chelyabinsk Region by the experts of Development Corporation within the framework of a project targeted at enhancing the energy efficiency of the Urals. The new boilers were launched in Verkhneuralsk, Troitsk, Yasnye Polyany, Novy Mir, Goncharka, Poletayevo, Trubny, and Agapovka, Chelyabinsk Region. At the moment, the connecting networks for the boilers are being finished. The further start-up and commissioning will be heavily facilitated by the local town councils in accordance with the plan for

November 1, 2012. The workers of Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant (ChTPZ) took part in a traveling seminar coordinated by Gazprom’s daughter enterprise Gazprom Dobycha Nadym. 20 workers, whose positions in ChTPZ range from those of production department engineers to new product designers to heads of key customer liaising teams, attended the event, the plant’s press officer reports. The training program is meant to give the pipe manufacturers a very detailed idea of modern natural gas production technologies. For one, Gazprom Dobycha Nadym experts gave talks on the relevant methods of natural

November 1, 2012. On October 31, Governor Evgeny Kuivashev is going to sign an agreement with Russia’s Economic Development Ministry on support for Sverdlovsk Region’s foreign economic projects that could attract considerable investments to the area. He will also take part in the ministry panel meeting, the Governor’s Information Policies Department’s press service reports. The Russia’s Economic Development Ministry is currently trying to make the presence of Russia’s trade representations in other states more visible. The representations are supposed to focus on the promotion of specific

November 1, 2012. The number of businesses that would like to get connected to the electrical mains operated by Oblkommunenergo State Unitary Enterprise based in Sverdlovsk Region is ever-increasing. In 2012, 2,534 applications had been submitted by October 31, the company reports. Remarkably, in 2010 the figure only came to 1,271. The state communal housing services enterprise keeps making the way it works with those who want to get connected automatic. People living in as many as 19 cities and towns can already enjoy the benefits of the automated system; as recently as July, the system was

November 1, 2012. Two sections of Kamyshlov Uralisolator Plant were closed down for 60 days due to Labor Code violations, Sverdlovsk Region State Labor Inspectorate’s press service reports. A scheduled multi-faceted inspection of how the plant complied with the labor legislation requirements revealed that the emery stand in the transportation department was operating without a safety cover. What is more, the turret lathe was operated without the protective aids that shielded the operation zone at Assembly Department 5. As a result, the court ruled that Kamyshlov Uralisolator Plant was guilty

October 31, 2012. The vehicles manufactured by Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant will be supplied to Abkhazia for the first time over the last four years, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service reports. The republic’s energy sector companies bought a B-10M bulldozer with a 16-ton windlass. The bulldozer will be used for working on the energy sector facilities and infrastructure, namely, for building the supporting posts for the electric mains. The vehicle is fully prepared for delivery and can be shipped any day now.

October 31, 2012. OAO Plant No. 9 (a member of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation) celebrated its 70th anniversary recently. The festive event was attended by over a thousand workers, long-service employees, and invited guests: Sverdlovsk Region Government officials, directors of Yekaterinburg’s largest plants, and representatives of the city council and of the city’s Ordzhonikidzevsky District council as well as head of defense enterprises based in Perm, Izhevsk, and Nizhniy Novgorod. Also, workers from Uraltransmash, Uralmashzavod, Novator, and Kalinin Plant came to

October 31, 2012. Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s daughter company UBT-Uralvagonzavod is now sponsoring the 25th All-Russian basketball tournament dedicated to the USSR Master of Sports A.E. Kandel. The tournament is held in Nizhniy Tagil on October 27-November 2, 2012, the Corporation’s press officer reports. Ural Heavy-Duty Vehicles- Uralvagonzavod (UBT-Uralvagonzavod) donated 150,000 RUR to the Nizhniy Tagil-based basketball club Old Sable. The club offered its gym for the games and coordinated the contest. Teams of male (aged 12-11) and female (aged 14-13)

October 31, 2012. Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation has launched its annual flu shots campaign; this will last till mid-November, with 15,000 workers expected to go through immunization by that time. The company purchased Grippol+, a flu vaccine meant for adults. Uralvagonzavod has been using this vaccine for a few years now. For one, 10,000 workers got their shots last year, which resulted in a dramatic decrease in the number of those who went down with flu. In 2012, the total number will be 5,000 people more. Just like before, those in the risk group – the

October 31, 2012. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) representatives were declared Russia’s most skilled corporate governance experts in the annual Director of The Year Prize ranking. The solemn awarding ceremony took place in Moscow last week. According to the coordinators, the primary mission of this prize is to draw attention to the personal contribution of these businesspeople and managers to the development of corporate governance and to the introduction of high standards and the best corporate governance practices into the operating performance of Russian companies and their

October 31, 2012. The Expert-Ural magazine carried the rating of the Urals and Siberia’s 400 largest enterprises in 2011. MMK Group came fourth in the rating. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) Group, with its revenues at 273.5bn RUR (according to the IAS), was given the fourth position in the rating, which means it has retained its last year’s position. This is the best result among all metallurgical companies and businesses outside the O&G sector. The companies’ position in the rating was based on the figures for sales of produce (work, services) in the year 2011. The rating

October 30, 2012. Ural Airlines operated its ‘maiden’ flight from Rostov-on-Don to Moscow. The plane left Rostov-on-Don at 7:00 AM and arrived in the capital at 8:50 AM: the duration of the flight was 1 hour and 50 minutes, and all passengers were treated to a hot breakfast on board. During the check-in, all the passengers were given the traditional gifts from the airline, Ural Airlines’ press service reports. ‘When launching this new flight in Rostov-on-Don, we were trying to offer our passengers a convenient link between the capital of the Russian South and Moscow. The flight is rather

Renova Group founder Viktor Vekselberg outstripped Russia’s richest man Alisher Usmanov in the Bloomberg rating. Given the agreement relating to Rosneft buying TNK-BP, he is now estimated to be worth $1.5bn more, that is, $18bn, RIA Novosti reports. According to Bloomberg, Vekselberg’s assets are now worth $700m more than those of Usmanov, who was the No.1 on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index since March 5. Vekselberg’s spokesman Andrei Shtorkh told the news agency that the billionaire intended to focus on investments in the technological sector. Russia’s No.1 billionaire, Vekselberg is only

Sverdlovsk Region timber industry enterprises would like to join the priority forestry development program that provides for 5.422bn RUR worth of investments in 2012-2018. ‘We are working on a number of promising investment projects at the moment, and their implementation will facilitate the regional timber industry reaching a new technological height,’ says Sverdlovsk Region Industry & Science Ministry’s Timber Industry Director Vyacheslav Tyumentsev. He said that four projects were currently selected to be put on the priority list. The first project is a molded stock plant with the

0.2 sq m per capita worth of housing was put up in Yekaterinburg in January-August 2012, the city council’s press service reports. ‘Over a million sq m worth of housing has been commissioned in Yekaterinburg annually for the last two years. The city council sees as its main objective keeping up with this tempo and ensuring good working conditions for all the building market players. This is why over 1 million sq m worth of housing is expected to be commissioned in Yekaterinburg by the end of 2012,’ the press service says. According to forecasts, an additional 10.9m sq m worth of housing must

Bank Koltso Urala paid the coupon yield on the first coupon period of its 01 Series bonds. The bondholders were paid 57.66 RUR per bond, with the coupon interest rate set at 11.5% a year. The total coupon yield paid amounted to 57.66m RUR, the bank’s press service reports. Bank Koltso Urala went through with its first bond issue (01 Series, total face value 1bn RUR) on April 27, 2012. The bonds are to be in circulation for 2 years (1,098 days), with the offer to buy them at 100% of face value in one year’s time. Promsvyazbank acted as the underwriter for the issue. In October 2012, the bank’s