Bank Société Générale’s bank deposit ratings were demoted from Аа2 to Аа3. The long-term rating outlook is Negative, Moody’s reports. In 2011, Société Générale Group completed the merger of its Russia-based daughter enterprises: Bank Société Générale Vostok (BSGV) was merged with Rosbank, while retail-oriented Rusfinance Bank and mortgage-oriented DeltaCredit became its daughter enterprises.

A solemn awarding ceremony of the 7th International Prize Golden Chariot took place in the State Kremlin Palace. Ural Airlines won in one of the categories once again. A gilded figurine of a troika and a certificate of Russia’s Air Transport Leader were presented to the airline representatives by First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Transport Committee Sergey Gavrilov and Director-General of Civil Aviation Administration Directorate-General Tilko Petrov. When selecting the winners, the prize coordination committee took into account a set of criteria such as the stable and safe performance,

Sverdlovsk Region Railways (a subsidiary of Russian Railways) announced the investment program for getting rid of narrow spots on the railroads might not have sufficient financing if the Russian Government decreases freight fares, RZhD Partner reports. Some sections of Sverdlovsk Region-based railroads already have poor traffic capacity, and the problem is getting worse due to the unpredictable traffic of private fleets of freight carriages. Russian Railways cannot provide enough of its own investment funds fully to resolve the infrastructure development problems. Besides, the current

Starting today, SKB-Bank’s customers can manage their accounts and bank cards using their mobile phone thanks to the new Bank-on-the-Go service. One can now literally perform various banking transactions on the go – in the street, in one’s car, while going shopping or while having dinner at a restaurant. All one needs is a mobile phone with an Internet connection.

The 18th Arbitration Court of Appeals supported the ruling of Chelyabinsk Region division of Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service; the latter made Chelyabinsk International Airport pay a 138,500-ruble fine for setting exceedingly high prices for the short-term automobile parking services, Interfax-Ural refers to the spokesperson for the FAS’s Chelyabinsk Region division as reporting.

The bonds of the Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (totaling to 10bn RUR) can now be traded at MICEX. The bank intends to launch the BO-01 and BO-02 bonds (each series is worth 2bn RUR) and BO-03 and BO-04 bonds (each series is worth 3bn RUR) via public subscription. The bonds will be in circulation for three years, with six semiannual coupons. The funds thus obtained will be directed to financing the bank’s primary activity and to diversifying its resource base.

In order to cope with its financial troubles, the French group Société Générale intends to lay off employees of its daughter enterprises. In Russia, the group is going to make 2,000 employees of the recently merged Rosbank redundant. Rosbank chose not to provide any information as to which departments and what particular clerks will have to go.

Ural Federal University was featured in the list of the world’s top five hundred universities, a higher education research agency called Quacquarelli Symonds reports. UFU was the first among federal universities and the sixth best among Russian ones. As for the Top700 list, thirteen Russia-based universities were featured there.

The T-90C tank presented at the recent arms exhibition in Nizhniy Tagil has many faults, head of Russia’s Armed Forces General Staff Nikolai Makarov told RIA Novosti. The General feels that, so far, the only component of good quality is the tank turret. During the exhibition, the tank was examined by Head of Russian Government Vladimir Putin. The T-90 turret deserves great respect; it is comparable with the best foreign counterparts and is even better than those in some respects. The tank itself, however, is something that needs to be worked on in the nearest future. The plan intends to

Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK) shipped a batch of weldless pipes to Gazprom needed for the marine underwater pipeline of Kirinskoye natural gas deposit on the island of Sakhalin, the company reports. The delivery comprises weldless line pipes with strength class X65 (for the ground part of the pipeline) and SMLS 450 FD (for the underground part) and outer three-layer polypropylene coating made at Taganrog Metallurgical Plant and Volzhsky Pipe Plant. The produce is meant for the construction of Kirinskoye natural gas deposit that Gazprom is currently developing within the framework of

Krasnoturyinsk Court pronounced the verdict of «guilty» upon an employer M. who violated the existing labor safety regulations during construction jobs, which resulted in the death of two of his workers (Article 143 (part 2) of the Russian Federation Criminal Code). Sverdlovsk Region’s public prosecution authorities reported on the case earlier; the accident occurred at UC RUSAL Bogoslovsky smelter in Krasnoturyinsk. It was detected that on June 9, 2011, a cable hoist collapsed on the plant’s premises, killing a citizen of Tajikistan (37) and a citizen of Uzbekistan (35). The two workers fell

As far as financing is concerned, we can only count on Sverdlovsk Region’s budget, and the next year’s budget covers some expenses related to the special economic zone Titanium Valley. However, we are trying to obtain some federal funds as well,’ the Director-General of Titanium Valley Artemy Kyzlasov said in an interview to Expert-Ural. The promotion of this zone presupposes that one can already see something there, at least some temporary roads full of KamAZ trucks and bulldozers. All of the Titanium Valley potential residents that we talked to ask one and the same question: ‘Can we see the

VUZ-Bank presented four students of Ural State University of Economics with gift certificates allowing them to get their MasterCard Standard ISIC cards. The students won in the ISIC by VUZ-Bank contest that was coordinated within the Financier’s Day celebrations, the bank’s press service reports. The jury comprised of bank officials and representatives of Russia’s Federal Financial Market Service Ural Federal District Division considered ten student presentations of the ISIC program; four best presentations were selected and given the prize certificates by VUZ-Bank’s Direct Retail Sales

Russia’s Ministry for Economic Development offered to have the shares of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation privatized in 2013-1014, the Ministry’s Property Relations Director Alexei Uvarov told reporters. The official explained the enterprise was placed on the privatization list for 2012-2014, but the transaction as such was not likely to occur any earlier than after 2012. Besides, he added, the company will probably go private through an additional share issue. ‘This could be an IPO, since the company might need to obtain some outside funds,’ RIA Novosti quotes Alexei

An official delegation of Sverdlovsk Region representatives headed by Governor Alexander Misharin will come to Azerbaijan on September 19, 2011. The Governor is expected to hold talks with the heads of Azerbaijan’s government authorities regarding the promotion of the Urals-based manufacturers’ produce on the local markets and setting up joint ventures (where Sverdlovsk Region-based enterprises would be involved) in the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Officers of Nizhniy Tagil Customs confiscated 1,178 presumably counterfeited items from the local stores. 761 items did turn out to be fakes; most of them were shoes and sportswear bearing the famous Lacoste, Adidas, and Umbro logos. The damage done to the trademark holders has been estimated at 950,000 RUR. Since the start of 2011, the local customs officials and law-enforcement officers have already conducted thirty-three inspections aimed at protecting intellectual property rights.

Sverdlovsk Region Arbitration Court started the new hearing of the claim laid by Element Trade (Monetka supermarket chain) against the tax inspectorate of Yekaterinburg’s Chkalovsky District. The retailer disagrees with the defendant’s claims to 113.4m RUR worth of unpaid income tax that was allegedly to have been paid in 2006-2008. The fiscal body believes the supermarket chain signed fictional contracts with an affiliated Cyprus-based company for the purchase of Monetka trademark; the contracts amounted to 472.5m RUR, which resulted in an artificial decrease in the total profits,

A press conference dedicated to the development of the special economic zone known as the Titanium Valley was coordinated at the recent international arms exhibition in Nizhniy Tagil. Titanium Valley Management Company’s Director-General Artemiy Kyzlassov told the reporters that the construction of infrastructure, including temporary engineering networks, roads, and a small town, would begin in November. All the necessary construction jobs are expected to be completed by April or May 2012, whereupon the valley’s residents (three or four companies) will be able to start the construction of

The situation at the region’s two largest enterprises Uralvagonzavod and Kurganmashzavod looks particularly worrying. The former was able to get out of the red last year, but mainly due an increase in the output of civil produce (railway carriages). The future of tank production at the enterprise is unclear at the moment. The Defense Ministry is only planning to have its old T 72 tanks overhauled and upgraded this year,’ Plenipotentiary Representative of Russian Federation President in Ural Federal District Evgeniy Kuivashev said in his interview to Kommersant. As for Kurganmashzavod, things

Sverdlovsk Region Railways is doing its best to make sure the airports of Yekaterinburg, Tyumen, and Surgut have uninterrupted jet fuel supply, the railway company’s press service reports. Not a single halt or interruption occurred in our supply services. Quite on the contrary, if our consignors need the jet fuel to be delivered as quickly as possible, Sverdlovsk Region Railways tries to meet the oil suppliers’ needs and, upon their application, ensures express delivery by giving priority to this type of cargo and by providing dispatcher tracking over the containers in transit,’ the company