The losses of Severskiy Pipe Plant (a member of Pipe Metallurgical Company/TMK) rose by 38.39% in the third quarter of 2009. The figures actually increased from 238.93 million RUR in the second quarter of the year to 330.66 million RUR in the third quarter. The company explains the increased losses have to do with their growing debt liabilities.

Alfa-Bank placed its claims against United Company RUSAL’s SUAL and RUSAL Krasnoyarsk smelter with Moscow Arbitration Court. The claims amount to $8.7m, RIA Novosti reports. Alfa-Bank’s Deputy Chairman Vladimir Tatarchuk had said earlier that the bank might consider laying claims against UC RUSAL’s two major plants; these claims would be related to fines for the loans SUAL and its loan guarantor Krasnoyarsk smelter had paid off Moscow Arbitration Court ruled on May 26, 2009 that the enterprises must pay Alfa-Bank $73.8m (their debt). The appeals instance supported the court’s ruling, so the

Nizhniy Tagil Iron & Steel Works and West Siberian Iron & Steel Plant are no longer members of Russian Steel Consortium Non-Commercial Partnership. The decisions to this extent were taken in the course of the respective extraordinary general meetings held in Nizhniy Tagil. The consortium was set up by Novolipetsk Iron & Steel Works (NLMK) and Nizhniy Tagil Iron & Steel Works (NTMK) in October 2001 to unite a number of Russian metallurgical produce manufacturers for better protection of their interests and for the implementation of some non-profit-making projects.

‘Avtoland Britannia’s dealing agreement with Land Rover and Jaguar was halted on October 15, 2009. The company is still undergoing the restructuring process and reconsidering its business plans, including the Jaguar Land Rover direction,’ Avtoland Holding’s Marketing & Advertising Director Svetlana Petrovikh said to an UrBC reporter. ‘As Jaguar Land Rover actually has another dealer in Yekaterinburg, the changes in our company will not affect the customers in any way. Besides, any dealer is allowed to reconsider its plans if some agreements get cancelled. As for the owners of Land Rovers

The Russian Federation President Dmitriy Medvedev met a number of the Russian Union of Entrepreneurs and Employers’ representatives on October 21, 2009. The BOD Chairman of Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK), member of the Union’s Board, and President of the Union’s Chelyabinsk Region division Viktor Rashnikov took part in this meeting. The agenda of this conference had to do with the country’s post-recession development. The Union representatives presented a number of proposals related to both the post-recession strategy and the current crisis-defying measures. They also spoke about

Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) can now manufacture some hot-dip-galvanised, highly durable rolled products made of duplex ferritic/martensitic NST500X steel that meets EN 10336-2007 standards and is .8-1.5mm thick and 1,000-1,250mm wide. According to MMK PR Department, the steel’s mechanical properties fully meet the EN 10336-2007 requirements. In fact, this steel’s closest counterpart is the DP500 one that meets AVTOVAZ ТТМ 1.25.1255-2007 standards and is becoming increasingly popular as a car body material. So far, MMK’s coating department has selected and prepared for shipment

Chumikov PR & Consulting International Press Club recently came up with its thorough analysis of Chelyabinsk Region’s online news resources’ performance. This research was actually part of the agency’s contract with the Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Administration. The research provided for a few ratings of online media (several single-criterion ratings and one final one) and singled out the most distinctive features of Ural Federal District and Chelyabinsk Region’s Internet-based media. The media were evaluated on a ten-point scale, with ten awarded to news resources that met the

An accident occurred in the building of UC RUSAL Bogoslovskiy smelter’s wet grinding shop at 7:05 PM on October 24, 2009. As a result, the building’s four truss frames and sixty roof slabs with the total area of 720 sq m fell hopelessly down and all the production processes had to be stopped. An ad hoc committee was set up to investigate the causes of the accident. The committee is chaired by head of Rostechnadzor Ural division’s Krasnoturinsk department V. Plotnikov; it also comprises the plant representatives, the City of Krasnoturinsk officials, and officers from Sverdlovsk Region’s

Avtoland Holding’s dealing agreements with Land Rover and Jaguar were halted on October 15, 2009. ‘This had to do with the fact that the dealing center now has a new owner,’ says Avtoland employee working in the show room at 50 Blyukher St. in Yekaterinburg. Nevertheless, the employee says, the holding keeps on selling Land Rover and Jaguar cars as well as offering the after-sales services. ‘The only possible problem is the warranty issues,’ he adds. In the meantime, the two brands’ official websites no longer mention Avtoland Holding as their official dealer. In fact, their only official

‘We might consider laying claims against two of UC RUSAL’s plants, namely, SUAL and RUSAL Krasnoyarsk smelter; these claims would be related to fines for the loans the companies had paid off; however, an out-of-court settlement is also an option,’ says Alfa-Bank’s Deputy Chairman Vladimir Tatarchuk. ‘The thing is, these companies have recently paid off their main loan debt, but they haven’t paid the fines or the fees yet,’ RIA Novosti quotes Tatarchuk as saying. In fact, Alfa-Bank has already applied to Sverdlovsk Region Arbitration Court, demanding that SAUAL be declared bankrupt, but UC

MRSK Urala Board of Directors resolved to increase the number of the Supervisory Board members from six to ten people. The Board will now comprise Deputy General Director for Corporate Management Evgeniy Popov, Deputy GD and Director of Permenergo (MRSK Urala’s subsidiary) Oleg Zhdanov, Deputy GD and Director of Chelyabenergo (MRSK Urala’s subsidiary) Igor Butakov, and Deputy GD and Director of Sverdlovenergo (MRSK Urala’s subsidiary) Oleg Moshinskiy. The electricity supplier reports the decision was taken due to the executives’ wish to consider the subsidiary directors’ opinion on the issues

The internal rules and policy of Uniastrum Bank Commercial Bank have not been approved of by the Federal Financial Market Service so as to prevent money laundering and financial support of terrorist activity.

Sverdlovsk Region Arbitration Court keeps processing Uralstroyproekt Construction Company’s bankruptcy application. In March 2006, the company was placed on the list of dishonest developers that had been compiled by the City of Yekaterinburg. The reason for this blacklisting was the fact that the developer failed to put up its buildings within deadlines. However, the company was taken off this list in August 2007. Uralstroyproekt applied for bankruptcy because its wage arrears, debts, and other obligatory payments had amounted to 111.8 million RUR and it had had no permanent assets except for

Russian President Dmitriy Medvedev signed a decree that will provide for the introduction of a number of federal-status universities in Russia. So the Russian Federation Government now has three months to set up Ural Federal University in Ural Federal District. This higher educational establishment will be founded on the basis of Boris N. Yeltsin Ural State Technical University.

The management of Pokrovskiy Passage Shopping Center can’t compensate the dwellers of an apartment building that was illegally knocked down in the center of Yekaterinburg. What actually happened was that about 50% of a two-storey building at 8/10 Rosa Luxemburg St. collapsed and slid right into the foundation pit dug up for an extension to Pokrovskiy Passage on August 6, 2009. The State Construction Surveillance Administration declared this had been due to lack of proper control on the part of the developer and violation of night-time construction regulations. The shopping center

Sverdlovsk Region Arbitration Court decided to consider the validity of Uralskiy Val’s bankruptcy application in December 2009, the spokesperson for the court informed the UrBC reporter. The consumer electronics and white goods chain store applied for bankruptcy on September 28, 2009, declaring it was unable to pay its creditors in full since its liabilities exceeded the worth of its assets. As for the company’s trustee in bankruptcy, Elena Klochko of Ural Region Self-Regulatory Organization of Trustees in Bankruptcy Noncommercial Partnership is one of the possible candidates. In fact,

Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Petr Sumin decided to allocate 100 million RUR to Chelyabgortrans so that the municipal public transport organization could pay off its debts to electricity and heating suppliers, the spokesperson for the Governor reports. ‘We can’t let Chelyabinsk dwellers freeze themselves to death while waiting for buses and trams that won’t come on time. The city’s public transport system must be failure-proof,’ Sumin said. According to the regional minister for construction, roads, and infrastructure Viktor Tupikin, the money allocated from the region’s budget will allow

‘Our luxury phones sales have dropped by 4% since the recession began,’ Evroset’s General Director Alexander Malis announced at a press conference in Yekaterinburg. ‘In fact, we had to close down our Evroset-Luxe store in Yekaterinburg because our landlord refused to reduce the rent. However, we’ll probably open another one in a different location,’ Malis added. Incidentally, the company had announced earlier that their Evroset-Boutique would resume operating in May or June 2009.

Uralvestkom (SkyLink-Yekaterinburg) announced it would no longer offer its customers subscription to Regional scheme starting November 1, 2009. What is more, the company won’t be offering some of the options previously available through Turbo scheme; then, its Business scheme will undergo some changes. On December 1, 2009, the mobile operator will stop servicing the following subscription schemes: Unlimited SOMA, Super Blitz, Alternative, Profi SkyLink, Vestkom-Sprint SL, FreeFly, Tandem, Tandem ½, Major League (Individual), Major League (Group), SkyLight, SkyEconomy, SkyComfort, SkyProfi,

The 17th Arbitration/Appeals Court ruled in favor of the Federal Antimonopoly Service’s Sverdlovsk Region division’s verdict on October 21, 2009. The FAS division had demanded that MRSK Urala stop making Uralelectromed buy their services. The FAS declared on March 26, 2009 that MRSK Urala violated Article 10 (part 1, paragraph 3) of the Federal Competition Protection Act 135-FZ as of July 26, 2006. The violation allegedly consisted in the company forcing their customer Uralelectromed to agree to the electricity supply terms that were not really suitable for the latter. Namely, the company