UrBC, Moscow, April 25, 2019. The number of telecom facilities run by Russia’s Big4 ISPs rose by 3% since the start of the year. There are currently 719,282 base stations in Russia that are in charge of reliable Internet and mobile connection for the local users, Roskomnadzor’s press service reports. According to Roskomnadzor’s radio frequency service, MegaFon runs the country’s largest network at the moment. The telecom company owns 232,055 base stations at the moment (33% of all the stations active in Russia). This is, in fact, 2% more than one year earlier. MTS owns 180,068 base stations,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 25, 2019. Tyumen Region Customs identified 17,000 pirated toys in Kurgan Region: according to his papers, a national of Kazakhstan was handling a shipment of children’s toys made in China for a customer in Yekaterinburg. The toys had been meant to get sold in Moscow later on, Ural Customs’ press service reports. The shipment comprised 17,000 children’s toys and phones with Talking Tom, Tobot, L.O.L., and Masha and the Bear logos on them. ‘When enquired about the product authenticity, the trademark owners confirmed the logos had been put on the toys illegally. The

UrBC, Moscow, April 25, 2019. Russia’s Central Bank says the financial pyramid schemes currently tend to migrate to the Urals and Siberia, Izvestia refers to Director of the bank’s Department for Countering Misconduct Valeriy Lyakh as stating. The schemes get tested for viability first and get transferred to larger parts of the country later, as people there tend to be less aware of fraudulent practices, Lyakh explains. 61 pyramid schemes got uncovered in Russia in the first quarter of the year all in all; 31 one of these were limited liability companies, 10 were online projects (including 3

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, April 25, 2019. 63 forged bills got identified within Chelyabinsk Region’s banking system in the first quarter of 2019, which was 2.7 times less than one year previously. According to the Bank of Russia’s Chelyabinsk Region division, they found 51 5,000-ruble bills and 10 1,000-ruble ones that had been forged. The number of the former thus dropped by 65% (2.9 times) compared with one year earlier, while the number of the latter dropped by 5 bills. ‘One reason the number of forged bills went down in Chelyabinsk Region is that the Bank of Russia had the banks’ tellers

UrBC, Moscow, April 25, 2019. Nissan Manufacturing RUS is calling 771 Nissan Terrano crossovers off the Russian market due to possible brake issues, Rosstandart reports. ‘The automobiles are subject to recall due to possibly faulty installation of the brake booster diaphragm. Improper installation might result in a vacuum leak when the car is in motion, which, in its turn, brings about some noises from the booster and might make the braking process less efficient,’ Rosstandart says. Being recalled are the automobiles sold between July 2017 and January 2018; the brake components will get

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, April 24, 2019. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) directed more than RUB 58 million to environmental programs in 2000-2018, MMK’s Information & PR Department refers to the company’s environmental report as indicating. RUB 9 million got allocated for the purpose last year alone. The plant carried its environmental report in order to provide all interested parties with detailed information on the company’s environmental safety efforts. The report dwells on MMK’s environmental policy principles, results of its green projects implemented in 2000-2018, and the key

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 24, 2019. Yekaterinburg is now the Greater Urals’ first city to get MegaFon’s NarrowBand Internet of things within the existing network segment, the telecom company’s press service reports. ‘Our NB-IoT package is fully ready for millions of meters, sensors, and other devices active within the metropolis. This is a machine- rather than human-oriented network, so this is a great solution for production process improvements. The NB-IoT allows both private companies and state-run organizations to cut down on costs with the help of smart devices; the narrow-band network

UrBC, Moscow, April 24, 2019. The Russian Accounts Chamber uncovered 9,235 instances of budget funds getting misused in 2018; this was 1.5 times more often than in the year 2017. All the instances in question amounted to RUB 772.7 billion worth of mismanaged funds (nearly twice as little as one year previously), the chamber’s report states. The chamber’s checks and investigations resulted in forty criminal lawsuits, seventy-eight cases of ongoing operational-investigative activities, and RUB 7.5 billion getting transferred back to the national budget. Last year, most of the problems had to do

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 24, 2019. 115 forged Russian ruble bills were identified within Sverdlovsk Region’s banking system in the first quarter of 2019 (total ruble amount: RUB 485,000). According to the Central Bank of Russia’s Ural division, most of the bills (91 units) are 5,000-ruble ones. 1,000-ruble bills are the second most popular choice with forgers. Also, two fake 500-ruble bills, one 50-ruble bill, two 2,000-ruble bills, and four foreign currency banknotes (U.S. dollars) got identified as well.

UrBC, Moscow, April 24, 2019. Russia’s Accounts Chamber suggested that it should become obligatory for the Russian banks to join in the Central Bank of Russia’s financial data transfer system, the Chamber’s annual report for the year 2018 states. The change is meant to prevent any halted transactions inside the national finance market and to reduce the negative impact that limited (or nonexistent) access to the international banking system might have on the Russian banking sector and the national economy, the report states. The financial data transfer system got set up in 2014 as the national

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 23, 2019. EVRAZ Holding is going to help Kachkanar Council organize the hot water supply for the local end users in the summer, which is expected to ensure reliable supply even in the remotest parts of the town and improve the locals’ living standards, EVRAZ Holding Ural’s Corporate Relations Center reports. Kachkanar Heat & Power Station will switch to a new circulation scheme for its hot water supply system for ten days at the end of this heating season. Once these ten days are over, the hot water samples will get tested to check the water quality and gauge

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 23, 2019. Degtyarsk Council and SKB-Bank signed a socioeconomic cooperation agreement so that the bank could now support the town council’s programs and projects, the bank’s press service reports. SKB-Bank will also be issuing loans and offering banking service packages to local customers. The bank already holds a socioeconomic cooperation agreement with Sverdlovsk Region Government and a number of local towns, including Nevyansk, Krasnoufimsk, Asbest, and Verkhnyaya Salda.

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, April 23, 2019. ChelPipe Group’s member enterprise Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling Plant (ChelPipe) hosted United Russia’s 1st Environmental Forum this week. The plant’s Vysota 239 Department served as a venue for the session on air emissions in industrial locations as the core of the environment vs. the economy conflicts. The talks given dwelled on air quality and on the Russian President’s Executive Order On National Goals and Strategic Objectives of the Russian Federation through to 2024, the company’s press service reports. ChelPipe’s Managing Director Evgeny Gubanov talked

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 23, 2019. The amount of beef and eggs produced in Sverdlovsk Region in January and February 2019 declined by 6% (from 41,500,000 kg down to 39,000,000 kg) and by 0.7% (from 251.9 million units down to 250.2 million units), respectively, against one year earlier, Sverdlovskstat reports. According to Sverdlovskstat, the amount of milk produced in the area rose by 1%, from 110,400,000 kg up to 11,500,000 kg. Local agribusinesses produced 6.6% less meat (with output dropping from 36,200,000 kg down to 33,800,000 kg), while their egg output decreased by 0.6% (from 249.1

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 23, 2019. Russia’s Finance Ministry suggested this week that all precious metals, precious stones, and jewelry pieces made from them should get stamped starting from 2020; the draft bill to this effect is now available online at regulation.gov.ru. Prime reports. Under the terms of the proposal, the State Integrated Information System for Precious Metals/Precious Stones Surveillance will have to get introduced as well. A number of executive bodies apportioned by the Russian Government, Russia’s Central Bank, certain other banks, businesses, and sole traders dealing

UrBC, Moscow, April 22, 2019. Russians’ factual incomes dropped by 2% in the first quarter of 2019 compared with the first quarter of 2018, Rosstat’s recent data indicate. The people’s factual take-home pay (with all the inflation adjustments in place) dropped by 2.3% in the first quarter of 2019 compared with one year previously, Rosstat states. A Russian’s monthly salary comes to RUB 45,000 on average (up 5.2% on March 2018). Since the consumer price index fluctuated by exactly the same percentage, the factual take-home pay thus remained at the same level as last March. According to the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 22, 2019. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) and SETTERS developed and launched a special advertising campaign. The campaign, dedicated to promoting the bank’s new 120-day-grace-period credit card offer, got launched on the URBD’s Instagram account on April 15. the bank’s press service reports. The creative concept for the campaign steps away from advertising the benefits of the credit card directly and focuses on Instagram communication that relies on the values the bank’s target audience supports. The resulting product is the space that

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 22, 2019. The housing developer RSG-Akademicheskoye is going to support Sverdlovsk Region’s private investors whose housing cooperatives failed to put up their homes for them. There are more than three hundred people on their list at the moment, Sverdlovsk Region’s Information Policy Department reports. RSG-Akademicheskoye will be supplied with a land allotment for a major construction project in exchange for providing housing or other kind of support for the local victims of unscrupulous housing developers. ‘RSG-Akademicheskoye now has 24,000 m2 worth of ready

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 22, 2019. Officers from Yekaterinburg Customs and Yekaterinburg division of Russia’s Internal Affairs Ministry detected a set of supposedly undeclared electronic appliances in a large international online shop for the second time in a fortnight, Ural Customs’ press service reports. 763 phones and vacuum cleaners of dubious origin already got confiscated as recently April 4. The shop kept on with the business as usual. This time, 239 photography appliances got confiscated. It has been determined preliminarily that the camera flashes and lens-cleaning robots had

UrBC, Moscow, April 22, 2019. Russian car drivers might soon be required by law to register as ‘amateurs’ (i.e. those who only have their vehicles for personal use) and ‘professionals’ (i.e. those who make a living out of it). The amendments to the Road Safety Act have recently been developed by the Transport Ministry and are now available online at regulation.gov.ru. The ministry’s legislative proposal has to do with the fact that ‘amateurs’ have to process a lot of irrelevant information at their driving schools that does not actually address road safety issues. The current Education Act,