UrBC, Moscow, July 5, 2019. According to the international research company Ookla’s recent findings, MegaFon currently offers its customers the fastest Internet connection in Russia, with its average data transfer speed exceeding that of its immediate competitor by 1.5 times, the telecom company’s press service reports. MegaFon’s average download speed comes to more than 25.94 Mb/sec and the average upload speed comes to 11.59 Mb/sec. Ookla’s independent research continues on a yearly basis; in Russia, more than 7.9m speed tests were made on more than 1.5 different mobile devices (via the

UrBC, Moscow, July 4, 2019. MegaFon operates more base stations in Russia than any other telecom company, Roskomnadzor announced at the end of May 2019. The company runs over 238,520 communication units, including 98,100 4G stations (many more than MegaFon’s competitors currently have), the company’s press service reports. In Russia on the whole, the number of 4G base stations increased by 16% in the first five months of 2019 and reached 283,400 units, Roskomnadzor’s report states. MegaFon owns more 4G base stations that any other ISP or mobile carrier: 98,100. The company’s rivals from the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 4, 2019. Andrei Komarov was re-elected Chair of the Board of Directors at Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling Plant (ChelPipe), the company’s press service reports. ‘The decision was made during the re-elected BOD’s first meeting on July 1, 2019. The new BOD, elected by shareholders in the course of the annual general meeting, now comprises Boris Kovalenkov, Andrei Komarov, Dina Mikhryukova, Alexander Fedorov, Sergey Yankovsky, and Independent Directors Vadim Makhov and Oleg Seleznev (who was accepted as an Independent Director by the BOD’s special decision based on the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 4, 2019. Atomenergomash’s member enterprise SverdNIIkhimmash Board of Directors appointed Vitaly Starikov the company’s Director-General, the company’s press service reports. SverdNIIkhimmash is one of the Russian nuclear industry’s key research institutes. As the Director-General, Starikov will have to both ensure continuity and inspire a new wave of growth on the nuclear plant equipment market and in other sectors of the national economy,’ says Director-General at Atomenergomash Andrei Nikipelov. Vitaly Starikov worked as Deputy Director-General at Consolidated NPP

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 4, 2019. Amendments have been made to Yekaterinburg Council’s urban improvement program for 2017-2020; the order was signed by Mayor Alexander Vysokinsky, the town council’s website states. The changes mainly have to do with the way inter-budgetary transfers from higher-tier budgets get accounted for in the town’s own budget. In 2019, Yekaterinburg’s urban improvement program got allocated RUB 5,924,967, including RUB 4,509,467 from Yekaterinburg’s budget, RUB 510.5m from Sverdlovsk Region’s budget, and RUB 905m from the federal budget. Besides, adjustments have been

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 4, 2019. RUB 250.45m got allocated from Yekaterinburg’s budget to design the second line of Yekaterinburg Underground. Changes to this effect have been made to the town council’s Yekaterinburg Underground Development 2014-2020 Program; the paper was signed by Mayor Alexander Vysokinsky. Under the new terms, RUB 351.41m will get directed to the subway’s development all in all. Some funds (RUB 89.4m) will also come from Sverdlovsk Region’s budget; RUB 100m will come from non-budget funds. The second line is expected to ensure a link between ZhBI and VIZ in

UrBC, Moscow, July 3, 2019. Yekaterinburg got chosen as the host for the Summer Universiade 2023; the decision was made at the Fédération Internationale du Sport Universitaire (FISU) Executive Committee meeting, TASS reports. Yekaterinburg is now expected to welcome 200,000 visitors from 150 different countries. The Summer Universiade comprises fifteen different sports: badminton, basketball, water polo, volleyball, judo, track-and-field challenges, ping-pong, swimming, springboard diving, artistic gymnastics, archery, tennis, taekwondo, fencing, and free callisthenics. Now the FISU committee

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 3, 2019. Mayor of Yekaterinburg Alexander Vysokinsky hopes Yekaterinburg will get to host the best Universiade in history, the town council’s press service reports. ‘The decision has been taken, the Universiade will take place in Yekaterinburg. This is enormous responsibility in terms of getting every facility ready and every event organized in the next three to four years. The work must certainly begin as soon as tomorrow. For Yekaterinburg, this is a very solid chance to support its status as both a sports and culture center and to prove a truly global city. Large

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 3, 2019. Ural Airlines reintroduced their Yekaterinburg-Prague-Yekaterinburg flight this month, the air carrier’s press service reports. ‘Flight U6 701 (Yekaterinburg-Prague) and Flight U6 702 (Prague-Yekaterinburg) depart with a delay on July 2 due to having to wait for the departure permit,’ the press service says. Now Ural Airlines already announced that Yekaterinburg-Prague and Zhukovsky-Prague flights would have to get halted starting July 2 after Czechia’s air travel authorities had decided to annul their entry permits issued earlier.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 3, 2019. EVRAZ United West Siberian Metallurgical Plant’s (EVRAZ ZSMK) team proved the absolute leader at EVRAZ Holding’s WorldSkills championship, winning gold medals in ten out of twelve categories, EVRAZ Holding Siberia’s Corporate Communications Center’s PR Department reports. More than three hundred workers and experts from EVRAZ’s six large enterprises (EVRAZ United West Siberian Metallurgical Plant’s (EVRAZ ZSMK), EVRAZ Nizhny Tagil Metallurgical Plant (EVRAZ NTMK), Kachkanarsky Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise, Raspadskaya Coal Comapny, EVRAZ Vanady

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 3, 2019. Starting July 1, 115 branches operated by the Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) will be able to collect customers’ biometric data, the bank’s press service reports. The procedure involves making the customer’s full-face photograph and taking a voice sample. The data will get entered into a single biometric system. Everything is done free of charge. ‘There are 46 locations in Sverdlovsk Region that have all the necessary equipment, as well as 14 in Chelyabinsk Region, 7 in Bashkortostan, 5 in Leningrad Region, 4 in Kirov Region, 4 in Perm

UrBC, Moscow, July 2, 2019. MegaFon announced the launch of its updated MegaFon CDN service this week; the product has been developed in partnership with the international provider G-Core Labs’ content delivery network, the telecom company’s press service reports. The partnership is expected to speed up the website performance and the delivery of bulky media files to end users in Russia and all over the world considerably. Thanks to collaborating with G-Core Labs, MegaFon’s customers will be able to stay active online anywhere in the world with MegaFon CDN, while G-Core Labs will expand its

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 2, 2019. Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling Plant’s (ChelPipe) annual general meeting took place on June 28, ChelPipe Group’s press service reports. The meeting got attended by the company shareholders (and/or their representatives) who own 97.2715% of the company’s shares together. Based on the results of the vote, the plant’s net profit for the year 2018 will get directed to dividend payments (RUB 4.702bn all in all/RUB 15.38 per ordinary share). ‘The AGM attendees also elected the new Board of Directors: Andrei Komarov, Alexander Fedorov, Boris Kovalenkov, Oleg Seleznev,

UrBC, Moscow, July 2, 2019. The Russian Government issued a provision that makes it obligatory for grocery stores to display regular dairy foods and surrogate ones containing dairy fat substitutes on separate shelves; the document is now available on the Cabinet’s website. Dairy products and foods containing milk or milk-based ingredients must be placed on supermarket/store shelves in a way that makes it visually possible to tell them from other food types; besides, a statement should be given that these are foods without any dairy fat substitutes,’ the provision indicates. The paper came

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 2, 2019. 8.5m credit/debit cards got issued in Sverdlovsk Region in the first quarter of the year, which exceeded the figures for one year earlier by 3%. This included 1.6m MIR cards within the national payment system (up 70% on a year earlier), the Bank of Russia’s Ural branch reports. Sverdlovsk Region-based cardholders performed RUB 553.5bn worth of transactions in the first three months of the year (15% more than in the first three months of 2018). The number of transactions rose by 25% and reached 311.4m. The share of card transactions involving paying for goods

UrBC, Moscow, July 2, 2019. The price of communal housing services rose by 2.4% in Russia on July 1, 2019. This is the second time the increase has been introduced this year so far. On January 1, prices rose by 1.7% throughout the country on average, after the VAT got raised from 18% to 20%. Now Sverdlovsk Region’s Regional Energy Commission also confirmed an increase in the price of natural gas supply service earlier; Yekaterinburg’s water and sewer company announced its prices were going up as well.

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, July 1, 2019. ChelPipe Group presented its program for cooperating with the military at Army 2019 Forum in Moscow’s Patriot Park Exhibition Center, the Group’s press service reports. The representatives of the industrial sector and members of the Russian Armed Forces spoke about the new ways business and the military could work together, about the legal issues relating to continuous education programs, and the ideal draftees of the future at a round table discussion on the army draft and job training. ChelPipe Group’s Deputy Director-General Mikhail Ivanov gave a talk on

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, July 1, 2019. First Freight Company’s Chelyabinsk branch shipped 195,000,000 kg of export/import items under its trans-border freight forwarding contracts via Yuzhno–Uralskaya (South Ural) Railway in January-May 2019; this was 15% more than one year earlier. The company’s international freight turnover came to 390,000,000 ton-kilometers, the company’s press service reports. ‘We do more than handle shipments, we actually work out the best route for our customers’ consignments, track the intermediary stages of the shipments, and cover all of the paperwork. Our key customer is

UrBC, Pervouralsk, July 1, 2019. ChelPipe Group, Sverdlovsk Region Government, and Pervouralsk Council signed a cooperation agreement to design and implement a master plan for a series of urban improvements in Pervouralsk, the company’s press service reports. The agreement was signed by ChelPipe Group’s shareholder Andrei Komarov, Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Evgeny Kuivashev, Mayor of Pervouralsk Igor Kabets, and Sergey Kapkov, head of Moscow State University School of Economics’ Culture and Urban Development Center. The public-private partnership program will cover ChelPipe Group, which

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, July 1, 2019. 19,000 kg of fake designer clothing (the imitations of Gucci, Calvin Klein, Adidas, Reebok, Nike, and Puma) got detained at Chelyabinsk Region Customs. The clothes were meant to have been sold in Perm, Ural Customs Administration reports. ‘A car loaded with goods was traveling from Leninskoye, Chuysk Region, Kyrgyzstan, and got halted at A 310 near Troitsk Customs Point. More than 8,000 fake designer items were found inside, including sportswear, footwear, socks, and T-shirts bearing famous logos. The damage done to the trademark owners has been preliminarily