UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 19, 2019. EVRAZ Holding’s Raspadskaya Coal Company’s sanitary/environmental lab now uses the atomic absorption spectrometer KVANT.Z to test water samples. According to the company’s press service, the new appliance makes it possible to determine the amount of unwanted particles in natural, shaft, and waste water with high precision; KVANT.Z also controls the maximum permissible discharge. The unit cost RUB 3.5 million to buy. The lab got audited successfully by RusAccreditation and proved its expertise and quality management system’s validity in February. Now the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 19, 2019. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) recently complemented its HR Consulting package with a new service: testing a company’s job candidates and existing employees online. According to the bank’s press service, the UBRD’s business customers looking to hire new people may now have their job candidates tested online in order to avoid subjectivity in the process and get a comprehensive evaluation of the candidates’ potential and personality traits. The tests can also get used to assess the employees already on the team. The online test

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 19, 2019. Yekaterinburg Duma deputies went to an off-site meeting at District Akademicheskiy’s children’s clinic this week. The goal of the meeting was to decide on the strategy of the social infrastructure development in Yekaterinburg’s eight administrative district, Yekaterinburg Council’s website states. Vice Mayor of Yekaterinburg for Social Policy Dmitri Baranov went over the social infrastructure facilities already operating in Akademicheskiy: kindergartens, schools, and clinics. He pointed out that additional facilities in the education, culture, and sports

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 19, 2019. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) won three international СХ World Awards; the awarding ceremony took place in Moscow on April 17, the bank’s press service reports. For one, the bank’s Quality Management System Project won as Best Customer Experience in B2C Sector/Finance: the UBRD managed to develop and introduce unified customer service standards across all of its communication channels, optimize its internal processes, and enforce a customer-oriented approach at every stage of product development — and all of this on quite a

UrBC, Moscow, April 19, 2019. The Russian State Duma adopted the so-called ‘mortgage break’ bill in the third and final reading this week, the Duma’s press service reports. ‘An amendment has been made to the legislation that allows to skip the notary authorization on mortgage contracts involving housing registered in the name of multiple owners. The amendment was necessary since, before it got adopted, the mortgage payers had to pay for the notary services both when a mortgage contract got signed and every single time their mortgage loan got restructured (the ‘mortgage break’ restructuring

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 18, 2019. Ural Airlines are launching a sale on their flights from Moscow Region’s Zhukovsky Airport to Tel Aviv and back on April 17-May 31, 2019. If you book your flight in the given period, the price of the ticket starts from as little as RUB 6,633 (Zhukovsky-Tel Aviv). The flights themselves will get operated on April 17-25, 2019 and May 7-June 30, 2019. Tickets for Tel Aviv-Zhukovsky flights start from RUB 8,913; these flights will get operated on April 22-May 8 and May 14-June 30, 2019. Reduced-price tickets are only available on the company website

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, April 18, 2019. ChelPipe Group’s Warehouse sent 300,000 kg of large-diameter pipes (LDPs) to EVRAZ Nizhny Tagil Metallurgical Plant (EVRAZ NTMK), the Group’s press service reports. The LDPs got made at the Group’s member enterprise Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling Plant (ChelPipe) and will be used for EVRAZ NTMK’s production upgrades and retooling program. The entire batch is meant for NTMK’s cast iron-making Blast Furnace 6. ‘The fact that Russia’s largest metallurgical enterprise purchases pipes for its key facility from us is an acknowledgement of the great trust NTMK has in

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 18, 2019. The number of forged ruble bills found in Russia in the first quarter of the year rose by 5.85% against one year previously, the Bank of Russia’s press service reports. 8,911 forged banknotes got identified within the country’s banking sector in January-March 2019 (493 more than one year earlier). The bank’s press service reports most of the forged banknotes are 5,000-ruble ones (6,220), 1,000-ruble ones (1,835), and 2,000-ruble ones (680). The 2,000-ruble banknotes tend, as it happens, to get faked very poorly. The number of forged foreign currency bills

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 18, 2019. EVRAZ Nizhny Tagil Metallurgical Plant (EVRAZ NTMK) now uses a 3D printer to make a range of spare parts at its Band Wheel Department, EVRAZ Holding Ural’s Corporate Relations Center reports. The parts in question are radial blocks for ultrasound testing of the bands; phase units for swing cantilever cranes; brush rig components; and protection covers for lathing units. ‘Thanks to this modern technology, our idle time reduced greatly since we always have all the necessary parts in stock. The prime cost of these parts is many times lower than that of their

UrBC, Moscow, April 18, 2019. Mercedes-Benz is calling 762 Mercedes-Benz X-CLASS (470) and Mercedes-Benz Sprinter V-Class (447) units off the Russian market due to possible airbag and automatic emergency call issues, Rosstandart reports. The product recall involves Mercedes-Benz X-CLASS (470) makes that got manufactured in January-December 2018. ‘The automobiles are being called off due to the automatic emergency call system possibly not functioning properly. This means the system might not actually make an emergency call if an accident occurs, and rescue teams/ambulance will receive no call,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 17, 2019. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) can now have its customers’ cards insured against fraud. The service is part of the multi-aspect payment safety program that is meant to protect customers against theft, the bank’s press service reports. Both debit and credit cards can get insured. Once you sign your insurance contract, you can feel safe knowing that in case your card gets stolen and money taken out of it, the entire amount will get compensated by the bank. If there's a skimming or a phishing issue, you are insured as well. One

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 17, 2019. ChelPipe Group’s Deputy Marketing & Communications Director Narine Fatykhova is going to give a talk at the B2B eCommerce Conference in Moscow, the Group’s press service reports. Fatykhova’s talk will be part of the case session on B2B Customer Experience Management; she will speak about the customer service development and online sales in Russia’s largest pipe manufacturing company. ‘The idea that customer experience needs to get managed in every instance of customer interaction is new to the B2B market; this is especially true of large production

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 17, 2019. Nikita Goryunov’s mining team (Head of Section 5: Yaroslav Yerchenko) were the first to produce 1,000,000,000 kg of coal at Uskovskaya Mine in the year 2019. This is the first time in EVRAZ Raspadskaya Coal Company’s history when the 1,000,000,000-kg benchmark gets hit in just 3.5 months, the company’s press service reports. Raspadskaya Coal Company’s Director-General and EVRAZ Holding’s Vice President Sergey Stepanov thanked the miners for their efforts and wished them every success at work. ‘Uskovskaya Mine has a great team. Next year, the miners will

UrBC, Moscow, April 17, 2019. The State Duma adopted the so-called ‘Sovereign Internet’ bill in the third and final reading this week, the Russian Parliament’s lower chamber’s website states. It is reported that a national Internet traffic routing system will get set up to ensure unfailing performance of the Russian segment of the web throughout emergencies or deliberate external cyberattacks. According to the website statement, government bodies, local governments, state unitary enterprises, municipal unitary enterprises, and state-run/town council-run organizations will now be responsible

UrBC, Moscow, April 17, 2019. Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a new decree to have the federal constituencies keep the alcohol excise duty revenues within their own local budgets. The decree will come into effect next year. Now the Russian State Duma adopted the bill in the third and final reading on April 9, 2019. As things stand now, 50% of pure alcohol excise duties and 100% of excise duty payments on other types of alcohol get transferred to Russia’s national budget. Starting 2020, the Russian constituencies are expected to retain extra RUB 500 million within their local budgets.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 16, 2019. The payment system Mir, which acts as Russia’s national football team’s official partner, is coordinating a special offer for the cardholders, the Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development’s press service reports. Mir cardholders can win a range of prizes through October 20, 2019. To become eligible for the prize-drawing, you need to use the card to pay for your shopping (minimum transaction amount: RUB 300) and register your receipts on the special promotion website. The grand prize winner will get to see one of the Russian national team’s

UrBC, Moscow, April 16, 2019. Russia’s micro-financing organizations’ accumulated loan book increased from RUB 113 billion to more than RUB 152 billion (+35%) in the course of 2018, RAEX’s press service reports. According to the rating agency’s research findings, the share of micro-loans concentrated within the country’s largest micro-financing organization went from 27% up to 32% (+RUB 20 billion); in fact, this constituted over 50% of the overall increase in the entire market’s loan book. The market shares of other large players rose as well, and smaller businesses leaving the market

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 16, 2019. There will be a ONE DAY SALE in Yekaterinburg’s Greenwich Mall on April 26, which means certain items will be 20% or more off. ONE DAY SALE covers both the usual end-of-season total sale and a number of pleasant surprises for the customers, the mall owner reports. The well-known Russian wardrobe stylist Lina Dembikova, makeup artist Serdar Kambarov, and actress Ekaterina Reshetnikova will take part in the day’s special events. If you make a purchase and register your receipt (RUB 3,000 or more), you can win one of the ten GreenBox kits created in

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 16, 2019. Harley-Davidson is calling 181 XG1motorcycles off the Russian market due to brake support issues, Rosstandart reports. The product recall touches upon all vehicles sold since January 2015. ‘The brake defect might affect the motorcycle operation safety. The brake supports might wear out in aggressive environments over time; this is particularly true of seaside locations or places where highway salt is in use. The resulting corrosion will then bring about the support sucker failure, which, when unnoticed, may lead to increased brake dragging and therefore an

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 16, 2019. EVRAZ Holding is coordinating its annual Safety Week on April 15-21 (around International Workers' Memorial Day), the company’s press service reports. ‘All of the workers at EVRAZ Holding’s Ural and Siberian member enterprises will get reminded once again of how crucial it is to follow the instructions and to stay put and be careful at work. The job safety and industrial safety champions will get awarded. The employees who managed to make the plant’s working conditions safer and to enhance the industrial safety on site last year will receive thank-you