A meeting of VSMPO AVISMA Corporation’s Board of Directors was held in Moscow at the end of August 2008. The Board of Directors appointed Vladislav Tetyukhin (the Corporation’s General Director since 1992) the company’s President. Tetyukhin’s office is expected to last from September 3, 2008 to September 2, 2013. Both the company’s President and General Director are going to report to the Board of Directors. One of Norilsk Nickel’s Zapolyarniy branch’s top executives Evgeniy Romanov is going to succeed Vladislav Tetyukhin in the position of the GD; his office is to last from September 3, 2008

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by VUZ-Bank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for up to 30 days went down by 64.64% (from 20.15 million RUR to 7.125 million RUR) in January-August 2008.

‘No matter what the market opportunities look like at the moment, an investor must bear four basic principles in mind: firstly, the investments must have a definite purpose; secondly, the investment tools must therefore be chosen accordingly; thirdly, the investment process must have clear-cut terms and stages (each of which presupposes implementation of different tools). Finally, the adequate risk assessment is simply crucial,’ says Accord Invest’s Deputy GD Konstantin Selyanin. ‘I find investing in Russian shares a good idea, despite the fact that they are currently rather underestimated

Sverdlovsk Region Court of Arbitration’s first hearing of the claim laid by Koltsovo Airport of Yekaterinburg against Domodedovo Airlines has been scheduled for October 3, 2008. Koltsovo Airport insists on getting 23.75 million RUR worth of debts the airline owes the airport for ground handing services and operations.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Sverdlovsk Gubernskiy Bank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for up to 30 days dropped by 27.81% (from 27.708 million RUR to 20 million RUR) in January-August 2008.

After the capital of Thailand found itself in the state of emergency, Russian Embassy in Bangkok suggested that Russian citizens who are currently in Thailand should be very careful, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs reports. The Embassy warned the tourists against coming to public places full of protest marchers. The Prime Minister of Thailand Samak Sundaravej declared a state of emergency in Bangkok on September 2, 2008 after the opposition and pro-government picketers clashed violently with each other, leaving one person killed and several scores wounded. The Embassy says that

Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel had a meeting with Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland during his visit to Finland. The Governor informed the Finnish official that Sverdlovsk Region hosted fifteen foreign consulates at the moment and suggested that the Finnish authorities should consider introducing a consulate in Yekaterinburg. ‘Our experience has shown that the setting up of a country’s consulate usually boosts the development of the two areas’ trade and economic relations as well as all the other forms of cooperation,’ Eduard Rossel said. The

According to RBC.Rating, SKB-Bank was featured on the list of Russian banks with greatest asset volumes in the first half of 2008. TOP 500 reports SKB-Bank’s assets rose by 51% between July 1, 2007 and July 1, 2008, while its net assets amounted to nearly 36 billion RUR by the end of June 2008, which secured the bank a five-point promotion and the 74th position in the Top 500 rating.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by SberInvestBank to nongovernmental financial organizations for 181 days to 1 year dropped by 82.12% (from 19.635 million RUR to 3.51 million RUR) in January-August 2008.

MegaFon, the major telecommunications provider, announced they have signed the official agreement with Apple Inc. regarding iPhone 3G’s sales in Russia. ‘The fist iPhones will hit the stores as soon as this year,’ the company’s press officer said to an UrBC reporter.

According to the National Managers’ League’s profitability ranking of unit investment trusts as of August 29, 2008, the share price of LUKoil Fund First (Uralsib Management Company) has gone down by 27.63% since January 1, 2008.

Moscow, September 2, 2008 – UC RUSAL, the world’s largest aluminium and alumina producer, has sent a letter to the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) requesting that the FAS take relevant measures to stop LUKOIL violating antimonopoly law and hold the company to account for this breach. Since April 2008, LUKOIL has significantly decreased the supply of oil coke to UC RUSAL’s largest aluminium smelters in violation of its obligations under existing long-term contracts. By cutting the volumes of supply without UC RUSAL’s consent, LUKOIL companies are trying to force UC RUSAL to agree to

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Bank24.ru to nongovernmental financial organizations for over 3 years plummeted by 98.1% (from 18.599 million RUR to 353,000 RUR) in January-August 2008.

Concern Kalina, the Russian cosmetics giant, published a consolidated financial report on the bank’s activity in the first half of 2008. The report was drawn up in accordance with the international financial reporting standards (IFRS) and stated that the company’s revenues and gross profit dropped by 21.42% and 30.9%, respectively, compared with the first half of 2007. At the same time, Kalina’s net profit decreased by 2.2% against a year earlier, dropping from $13.8m in January-June 2007 to $13.5m in January-June 2008.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Uralprivatbank to state-run for-profit organizations for 1 to 3 years dropped by 61.36% (from 2.2 million RUR to 850,000 RUR) in January-August 2008.

Starting September 1, 2008, Ural Airlines is going to operate an additional Yekaterinburg-Moscow flight. The plane leaves Koltsovo airport of Yekaterinburg at 7.25 AM and arrives at Domodedovo airport of Moscow at 7.40 AM. The flight will be operated on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays and is primarily targeted at business travelers whose working day in Moscow could begin as early as 9 AM. The carrier currently offers its customers up to six Moscow-bound flights a day at some rather attractive-looking fares: the cheapest single tickets are available for only 2,850 RUR. ‘We are

Auto Plus Group was unable to comment on the negotiations on the sale of their blocking shareholding it is rumored to hold with Russian Retail Growth Fund. The spokesperson for the company says some updates might be expected from the Group’s GD Pavel Shestopalov on Monday, September 1, 2008. In fact, despite the reports on alleged negotiations, neither party involved has provided any official comments so far. Auto Plus now unites car centers like Toyota Center Yekaterinburg Zapad and Lexus Yekaterinburg, a seller of used cars Auto Plus Sever, and Auto Plus Rent A Car.

Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Petr Sumin decided that 15 million RUR should be directed from the region’s budget to support the local light industry. Chelyabinsk Region’s Government has been taking such steps since 2003, subsidizing the light industry enterprises’ loans (the government makes up for 50% of the refinancing interest rate on loans taken in Russian banks). According to the terms of the support program, factories must invest the money thus saved in production development (largely greater output and creating new jobs). In fact, these enterprises can also finance production

The Moscow-based Renaissance Hotel is going to host the 7th International Retail Business Summit on September 4-6, 2008. Some representatives of Sverdlovsk Region’s business community intend to take part in the event, Kinetika’s Marketing Director Stanislav Danilchenko being one of them. All in all, at least a thousand people from fifteen different countries are expected to attend the summit. The agenda of the business forum provides for a series of plenary sessions and private sittings as well as a Moscow-World Class Retail telebridge on technological breakthroughs and innovational concepts

URSA Bank took part in an auction conducted by Saint Petersburg Currency Exchange for a state corporation dealing in housing facilities reform. The company in question was willing to select the best bank to deposit its funds with, so URSA Bank was chosen as one of the winners and was able to sign an agreement with the fund within the determined money limit. ‘The bank was put on the authorized banks list due to its impressive Russian and international ratings and thanks to the sufficient amount of core capital,’ URSA Bank’s Deputy CEO Maxim Krasnikov says.