14 October 201109:33

Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 Sales Launched in Russia

Samsung Electronics, the world’s leading mobile technologies company, and the telecommunications provider MegaFon announced the price and the selling details of their Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9 sold exclusively at the mobile operator’s Russia-based outlets. The innovational pad with an installed 3G cell communication unit hit the shelves of MegaFon’s stores on October 15, 2011. The device will be sold for 22,900 RUR – this is the price of the 16Gb-memory make. An ‘older’ 32-Gb make will be available for 26,990 RUR starting late October. The device comes in two colors, black and white.
13 October 201109:53

Sony Calls off 1.6m Bravia TV Sets

The Japanese Corporation announced it was going to call off 1.6m LCD Bravia TV sets after customers started taking them back to the store for repairs; the general complaint was that ‘the TV sets are smoldering’. According to Reuters, this ‘special effect’ has to do with the fact that some parts of the TV sets happen to melt, producing smoke and an unpleasant smell. The TV sets will be called off all over the world, the agency says.
13 October 201109:52

Ural Airlines to Buy Only Long-Haul Aircraft, DG Says

Ural Airlines gave up on the idea of purchasing medium-distance planes and is only going to buy long-haul aircraft in the future, the company’s Director-General Sergey Skuratov told reporters in the course of the recent Russia-EU summit. We gave up on buying those [medium-distance planes. – Editors’ note.],’ he said, explaining that the airline was initially planning on buying medium-distance ATR 42 planes. Starting 2013, we intend to buy long-haul aircraft,’ RIA Novosti quotes Skuratov as saying. The executive said that the company was to increase its A320 fleet of vehicles up to
13 October 201109:52

FAS Suspects MTS of Price Colluding

Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service took criminal action against the telecommunications providers MTS and Vympelcom, accusing the two companies of a price collusion related to their sales of iPhones. Now Apple reports that its wholesale prices have not changed, nor has the company offered any advice on the price of smartphones in Russia or controlled the pricing policy of either Vympelcom or MTS. Nevertheless, most points of sale offered these mobile phones at identical prices everywhere. The FAS believes this stems from the fact that the two importers secretly agreed on giving up
13 October 201109:51

Ural Customs Administration: Fake Vertu Sales Do Nokia 66m RUR Worth of Damage

Yekaterinburg police and customs officers stopped the sales of counterfeit mobile phones in the city. The damage done to Nokia Corporation’s intellectual property is estimated at over 66m RUR, Ural Customs Administration’s press service reports. Now the officers inspected one of the sales outlets in a Yekaterinburg-based well-known shopping mall, confiscating 153 Vertu Ferrari A-00258 Special Edition phones, 81 Vertu Ferrari A-000369 Limited Edition phones, and 9 Vertu Boucheron phones. The files of the conducted inspection contain the proof of the sales being illegitimate and the data on the
12 October 201110:45

MMK Undergoes Audit by Ford

Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) underwent external audit by Ford Motor Company a short while ago; the audit was focused on the company’s automobile body sheets production. Nearly all the departments were involved in the audit procedures. Ford Motor Company representatives visited MMK’s oxygen converter shop, the coatings shop, and sheet-rolling shops No. 5, 10, and 11 that are involved in the automobile body sheet production. A presentation on MMK produce’s potential and the company’s production possibilities was also made. Besides, Ford’s experts got acquainted with the particulars
12 October 201110:23

Yekaterinburg Customs: Metals, Metal Goods Make Up Most of Export

Most of exported items (that is, over 40% of the total export volume) that Yekaterinburg Customs must handle are still metals and metal goods; chemical produce makes up 42% of all the export shipments; machinery, equipment, and vehicles make up 5.5%, while timber and pulp products make up 2.5% of export shipments. As for the import of goods around Yekaterinburg Customs area, this came to $1.6bn, with 86.6% of imported goods’ worth coming from the countries of the far abroad ($1.bn) and 13.4% of imported goods’ worth coming from the CIS ($213.3m). The physical volume of imported cargo amounted
12 October 201110:22

Ural Airlines Quits Using Tu 154M Planes

Ural Airlines will no longer be using the Tu 154M airplanes in the future. This plane will operate its last flight to Yekaterinburg-based Koltsovo Airport on October 16, 2011, the airline’s press service reports. Tu 154 aircraft were traditionally the basis of Sverdlovsk Region’s united fleet of vehicles that was later to become Ural Airlines. The first such plane was purchased in 1974. In 1995, the airline bought the first improved Tu 154M. The company kept using four Tu 154M planes over the last few years; these planes were fitted with the most advanced equipment and allowed to operate in
12 October 201110:22

Russia’s Copper and Nickel Exports Go Down

Russia’s copper export plummeted by 73.5% in January-August 2011 compared with January-August 2010; the figure amounted to 83,200 tons, Russia’s Federal Customs Service’s press service reports. The physical volume of nickel export decreased by 41.6% and reached 89,300 tons over the given period. The value of copper shipments declined from $2.15bn in January-August 2010 down to $770.2m a year later; that of nickel plunged from $3.218bn down to $2,29bn. Remarkably, nearly all of copper and nickel shipments were directed to the countries of the far abroad this year.
11 October 201110:58

Nizhnevartovsk, Chelyabinsk, Perm Airport to Raise Jet Fuel Prices

Jet fuel prices keep going up in Russia. Twenty airports in the country are going to launch price increases ranging between 1.5% and 9% over the next few days. All in all, the price of jet fuel has gone up by nearly 40% since the beginning of the year. This has to do with the fuel shortage, as the market is estimated to be lacking at least 10% to 15% of the amount needed. If RosReserve provided the 180,000 tons of fuel promised by the government, this could solve the problem, but such a decision has not been made yet, Kommersant reports. As for Moscow-based airports, jet fuel prices increased
11 October 201110:58

Ural Airlines Launches Online Call Center

Ural Airlines keeps improving its online services, so now any visitor to the air carrier’s website can make a free call to the customer support center online and get answers to any questions related to the company’s performance, the airline’s press service reports. The new service makes it possible to contact the company’s information center right from one’s computer using the Call button. All one needs is headphones/speakers and a microphone. A user can press the Call button on any page of Ural Airlines’ website, upon which an automatic connection with the call center employee will be
11 October 201110:57

Avianova Stops Operating

Avianova stopped operating due to financial and economic problems, Interfax reports. Starting 12:01 AM Moscow time on October 10, 2011, the company swill stop operating due to financial and economic troubles,’ the airline reported earlier. The air carrier announced on Friday that Avianova had rendered its services to 11,926 passengers on October 3-7, 2011; the figure covers all the destinations available to the company. The initial target figure for the period was 27,000 passengers.
11 October 201110:57

Deputy Trade Ministry Leaves Uralvagonzavod

An independent expert Evgeny Shkolov was recently elected BOD Chairman of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation. Shkolov thus replaced Deputy Industry & Trade Minister Denis Manturov, the Kremlin website reports. Prior to this new appointment, Evgeny Shkolov was Deputy Minister of the Interior. He was asked to resign after a certification audit. The Internal Affairs Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev explained that some of his deputies, including Shkolov, would get new appointments after the completion of the audit, RIA Novosti says.
11 October 201110:57

Russian Copper Company Gets Award at MINEX

Russian Copper Company received a nominee diploma at MINEX Russia 2011, the 7th Mining and Exploration forum and expo. The award is mainly aimed at promoting competition spirit and advertising the companies’ best achievements in the development of Russia’s mineral resource base. Russian Copper Company was nominated as The Investor of the Year, since it is one of the market’s leading companies that makes a lot of investments in the branch. The company was awarded for its large-scale investment in the purchase and development of Mikheevsky and Tominsky ore mining & processing enterprises
10 October 201116:27

Reftinskaya Power Station Remains Main Polluter in Region, Ministry Says

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, October 7, 2011. The amount of air pollutants emitted by Sverdlovsk Region-based industrial enterprises went up in 2010 compared with a year earlier. For one, the chemical companies and those involved in the production of rubber and plastic goods increased their share of emissions by 3.1%, the share of other non-metal mineral products manufacturers soared by 56.5%, the share of cast iron, ferrous alloys, steel, hot- and cold-rolled sheets manufacturers went up by 6.9%, the share of the automobile and machinery makers rose by 15.3%. These data are available from the public