OAO Ural Scientific Research Technological Institute reports the company suffered considerable loss in 2009. According to the institute’s official data, its net loss reached 628,000 RUR in three quarters of 2009 and 1.24 million RUR by the end of the year. This means the company’s losses rose by 613,000 RUR, or 50.6%.

Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Alexander Misharin took part in the meeting of an ad hoc recession-fighting committee under Plenipotentiary Representative of Russian Federation President in Ural Federal District. The agenda of the meeting covered issues related to the local job market, the need to pay off the wage arrears, and the future of the district’s housing construction market. Governor Misharin reported the number of the unemployed in Sverdlovsk Region had gone down by 2,544 people; however, the number of available jobs had also dropped by 827 vacancies. Nevertheless, over 1,250 new jobs

The net profit of UniCreditBank decreased by 38.5% in 2009 and came to 6.7 billion RUR, compared with 10.9 billion RUR worth of net profit in the year 2008. These data are available from the bank’s report, drawn up in accordance with the International Accounting Standards. The bank’s assets declined by 18% last year and amounted to 482.3 billion RUR, compared with 595.8 billion RUR on December 31, 2008. This drop in asset volume was mainly caused by the shrinking lending portfolio, the bank reports. Also, UniCreditBank’s capital went down to 64.2 billion RUR (against 65 billion RUR on

The Russian Federation Government declared that a number of Yekaterinburg-based stations of Sverdlovsk Region Railways (the subsidiary of Russian Railways) are to be renamed. So Sverdlovsk-Tovarniy station is to be called Yekaterinburg-Tovarniy, Sverdlovsk-Passazhirskiy is to be named Yekaterinburg- Passazhirskiy, and Sverdlovsk-Sortirovochniy is to be named Yekaterinburg- Sortirovochniy. This will be done in accordance with the Federal Act on Geographical Names, the Russian Federation Government’s press service says. Russian Railways suggested renaming the stations in Yekaterinburg in March

The international rating agency has recently changed the Rating Outlook for long-term credit ratings of fourteen Russian banks from Negative to Stable. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development was among these banks; in addition, Standard & Poor's affirmed the bank’s credit rating at the earlier level of B- and the national scale rating at ruBBB-. ‘These changes signify that Standard & Poor's believes the situation on the Russian banking market has grown more stable. We feel the banks have already gone through the worst as far as bad debt is concerned, while the

According to Sergey Verkhoturov, Mayor of Krasnoturyinsk, Sverdlovsk Region, the town’s budget revenues were much smaller in 2009 than the year before. ‘We receive less from the town’s major enterprises, including UC RUSAL’s Bogoslovskiy smelter. The reason for this is that the plant had to shut down 35% of its aluminum production facilities and to lay off over 1,000 workers,’ the Mayor said. ‘The smelter’s aluminum production shrank by 37% last year. This year, the plant will probably keep cutting back on production and laying off employees. UC RUSAL’s Moscow headquarters won’t listen to any

Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Alexander Misharin said the top executives of Verkhnyaya Salda-based VSMPO-Avisma Corporation would have to come to a special committee meeting. Mayor of Verkhnyaya Salda Nikolai Tikhonov explained to Alexander Misharin in the course of a videoconference that the town’s own revenues for 2009 only amounted to 72% of the sum obtained in the year 2008, and the forecast for the year 2010 said the tax payments would only reach 62% of the sum received in the year 2009. The Mayor claimed the town’s dropping revenues had to do with shrinking production at VSMPO-Avisma

The customs and law-enforcement officers of Nizhniy Tagil, Sverdlovsk Region keep doing regular checks of ‘dubious’ retail outlets this year. Once the representatives of two types of authorities have joined their efforts, detection and prevention of crimes has become more effective. For example, the officers confiscated 630 pirated items from the local stores in the first quarter of 2010. This figure was three times greater than that for the first quarter of 2009. The experts who carried out an examination of the goods declared all of them were counterfeited clothing and footwear items

The Federal Financial Market Service of the Russian Federation recently halted the issue of OAO Uralvagonzavod Scientific and Production Corporation’s ordinary registered paperless shares. The plant is based in Nizhniy Tagil, Sverdlovsk Region. The share issue in question is an additional one registered on December 17, 2009. The issue consists of 9 million shares with face value of 1,000 RUR each. The additional issue’s state serial number is 1-01-55004-F-003D.

Evraz Group’s management is not ready to guarantee that the taxes the company is to pay to Sverdlovsk Region’s budget will be in any way comparable with those paid before the start of the recession, the holding’s representatives announced in the course of a videoconference. ‘Last year, Evraz’s Sverdlovsk Region-based enterprises paid about 7 billion RUR in taxes, including some 3.2 billion RUR transferred to the region’s budget. The councils of towns where the enterprises are based received over 800 million RUR, including 643 million RUR directed to the budget of Nizhniy Tagil. This year,

In order to create jobs for the unemployed, Sverdlovsk Region signed 570 agreements with 563 enterprises and thus provided 24,740 vacancies with the total pay fund of 490 million RUR this year. These data were provided to UrBC by Sverdlovsk Region’s Ministry for Economics. Among the companies that took part in the program are Ruslich (Verkhnyaya Salda-based iron works), UC RUSAL’s Polevskoy cryolith plant, Uralkhimplast, UC RUSAL’s Bogoslovskiy smelter, Serov mechanical plant, Stroymasterural, and Sukhoi Log-based plant. The companies sent 600, 415, 379, 375, 350, 301, and 254 employees,

TMK STEEL LIMITED reduced its share in Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK) down to 26.24%, TMK reports. Prior to the sale, the company used to own 33.63% of Pipe Metallurgical Company’s shares.

The net loss of Severskiy Pipe Works (asset of Pipe Metallurgical Company/TMK) exceeded 1.22 billion RUR in 2009, whereas in 2008, the company made 1.4 billion RUR in profit. The company’s loss amounted to 330.66 million RUR in the third quarter of 2009 and to 218.59 million RUR in the fourth quarter of 2009. According to the plant’s official statement, the dropping profits had to do with reduced sales revenues, which, in their turn, were caused by shrinking sales volumes and declining prices. In addition, the company had to pay more in terms of loan interest.

The creditors of Pnevmostroymashina decided that the company should undergo bankruptcy proceedings and appointed Eduard Chu the company’s trustee in bankruptcy. This decision was taken at the creditors’ first meeting. According to Pnevmostroymashina’s official representative Pavel Anokhin, the creditors, who have over 96% of the votes, supported the company management’s proposal regarding bankruptcy proceedings and having Eduard Chu as the trustee in bankruptcy. The only person to disagree with the creditors’ opinion was the representative of Bank Société Générale Vostok. The decision taken

Ural Airlines informed the Ministry for International and Foreign Economic Relations of Sverdlovsk Region that the company was going to launch a scheduled flight from Yekaterinburg to Rome and back on May 2, 2010. The flight will be operated every Sunday. The Ministry reports Italy has been one of Sverdlovsk Region’s key economic partners for the last few years, so the current business and tourist ties between the two territories are bound to secure good demand for the flight.

‘A lot of work has to be done in preparation for the Saint Petersburg Dialogue forum,’ Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Alexander Misharin said at a press conference in Yekaterinburg. This forum used to be held in Germany or Saint Petersburg, but this time it will take place in Yekaterinburg for the first time. Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and President of the Russian Federation Dmitriy Medvedev will meet to discuss issues related to education.

China Development Bank has not yet provided its loans to Sverdlovsk Region’s enterprises, Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Alexander Misharin announced at a press conference in Yekaterinburg. ‘To the best of my knowledge, the Chinese bank decided to offer six loans to Russian companies, but not a single one has been actually provided so far. Nevertheless, the decisions involving Sverdlovsk Region-based enterprises still might be positive because the intermediary for this money transfer has already been determined. This is going to be Foreign Trade Bank (VTB). This bank has already got an

The volume of loans offered by Khanty-Mansiyskiy Bank to non-state, for-profit organizations for 91 to 180 days decreased by 50.4% in February 2010. The figures declined from 1,023,230,000 RUR on February 1, 2010 to 507,360,000, RUR on March 1, 2010. These data are available from the bank’s report uploaded on the Central Bank of Russia’s official website.

Italy is going to open a visa center in Yekaterinburg on April 2, 2010. The center will process applications for tourist, business, and student visas as well as for visas needed for business trips or family reunions, Interfax reports. According to the spokesperson for Italy’s National Tourist Office in the Russian Federation, Yekaterinburg’s visa center will accept applications from the dwellers of Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, and Tyumen Regions and of Perm Territory. The center will charge every applicant 900 RUR for an application and 500 RUR to cover the transport fee; the money can be paid in

The volume of deposits opened by private individuals at Uralfinprombank for 181 days to 1 year plummeted by 100% in February 2010; the figures dropped from 2.836 million RUR on March 1, 2010 down to 0 RUR on March 1, 2010. These data are available from the bank’s report uploaded on the Central Bank of Russia’s official website.