Kazakhstan-based Air Astana is thinking of introducing a direct scheduled flight connecting Alma-Ata, Astana, and Yekaterinburg, the company’s Moscow representation’s director Evgeniy Krutov reported to Deputy Minister for International and Foreign Economic Relations of Sverdlovsk Region Boris Shipitsin. Evgeniy Krutov said the Kazakh air carrier operated scheduled flights to India, Thailand, China, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and a number of other destinations, so the company’s potential partners might be interested in their transit traffic services. Boris Shipitsin remarked the

Czech korunas can now be freely bought or sold at Sberbank’s Ural branch’s division in Bashkortostan, namely, at three Ufa-based offices at 5 Richard Sorge St., 14 Akademik Korolev St., and 16 Pervomayskaya St. This currency is very popular with tourists traveling to the Czech Republic, so buying korunas in Russia saves a lot of time and money needed to get some korunas in exchange for euros or U.S. dollars when in the Czech Republic, the bank’s press officer reports. Apart from this, Sberbank’s offices in Ufa also handle the UK pounds sterling, Canadian dollars, Swiss francs, and Swedish

According to Interfax-Center for Economic Analysis (Interfax-CEA), nine banks located in Ural Federal District were featured in their Russia’s Top 100 list compiled on the basis of data on the banks’ pre-tax profit in the first half of 2008. Fifty-eight out of fifty-nine Ural Federal District-based banks presented in the total rating were able to make some profit in January-June 2008, while fifteen of them made more than 100 million RUR worth of profit, the bank’s press officer reports. SKB-Bank’s revenues, for instance, reached 301 million RUR in the first half of 2008. Besides, SKB-Bank was

ChTPZ Complex Pipe Systems (part of Rimera, ChTPZ Group’s O&G maintenance division) completed the delivery of pipe spools needed for the Kazakhstan-China portion of Kenkiyak-Kumkol oil trunk pipeline to NGSK KazStroyService. ‘The delivery agreement resulted from a tender KazStroyService organized for the applicants. The agreement provided for the delivery of 22-inch pipe spools produced by Chelyabinsk-based SOT, a company dealing in production of pipeline bends and part of Rimera through ChTPZ Complex Pipe Systems’ representation in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Everything was manufactured

‘The current interest in this or that way of attracting investment depends on the existing market opportunities. At the moment, foreign financial resources grow increasingly expensive, so the number of companies which can afford to use them is dropping. As a result, more and more banks find themselves focusing on the household savings and private customers’ liabilities once again,’ URSA Bank’s Ural branch’s Vice President Alexei Sannikov said to an UrBC reporter. The bank executive feels the banks’ efforts in this field are quite obvious: ‘One cannot help noticing the surge of advertising

Saint Petersburg-based Primexpo announced it was about to enter Sverdlovsk Region’s exhibition and fair market with its IndustryExpo project scheduled for November 2008. ‘Our company realized we needed to enter Russian provinces long time ago. There is a whole range of companies which take part in our industrial exhibitions in Moscow and Saint Petersburg and are very eager to participate in the provincial fairs that could be very useful for them. The Urals are among Russia’s fastest-developing regions, which is why both Russian and foreign companies are interested in entering this new market

Standard & Poor’s International Services, Inc. might reassess Sverdlovsk Region’s credit rating, the spokesperson for the region’s Ministry of Economics and Labor reports. The agency’s representative hinted at this possibility in the course of meeting the regional government officials. The meeting was also attended by representatives of Yekaterinburg municipal council and some executives of Reftinskaya poultry plant, Oblkommunenergo, and Sverdlovsk Region Mortgage Lending Agency. The meeting was devoted to the examination and evaluation of reports on the region’s economic development that

Moody’s Investors Service, the international rating agency, confirmed URSA Bank’s BFSR at D- and its foreign currency deposit rating at Ba3/NP, with Stable Rating Outlook for both rating types. Moody’s analysts report the bank’s current rating is based on the business’s stable position on its key Ural and Siberian markets; besides, URSA Bank keeps on developing rapidly and takes pride in good profitability and funding structure. Moody’s also commented upon the bank’s ‘telling financial and efficiency indicators’ and ‘good-level capital adequacy’.

Krasnaya Shapochka mine belonging to United Company RUSAL’s Severouralsk bauxite mine (SUBR) underwent the annual multipurpose industrial safety examination by Rostechnadzor (the state environmental, technological, and nuclear safety watchdog). The inspectors looked into the enterprise’s documents, checked the company’s compliance with the surface work and subsurface mining technologies, and tested the workers’ knowledge of the necessary emergency actions and labor protection requirements. Each site on the mine’s premises had been inspected for at least a day. Chief state inspector Oleg

‘The state invested some $121bn in the U.S. mortgage agencies’ bonds at the beginning of the year. Less than $50bn is left of this now, which means we’ve spent about $70bn, while the ROI only came to $1bn, or approximately 1.5%. The profit of 1.5% to 2% a year is nothing to be proud of; these investments turned out to be even less lucrative than the agencies’ bonds themselves: these yielded about 4.5% a year in 2007,’ says Accord Invest’s Deputy GD Konstantin Selyanin. During his conference with the State Duma’s Spravedlivaya Rossiya group, Deputy Head of Russian Federation Government and

Rus Rating came up with the Russian banks’ credibility rating as of August 14, 2008. SKB-Bank’s rating was confirmed at BB-, with the Stable rating outlook. The rating agency’s experts explain the bank’s nice rating results from SKB-Bank’s good growth rate, great developmental potential, and extensive subsidiary network, the bank’s press officer reports. Rus Rating believes SKB-Bank can also boast an ample customer base consisting of large and medium-scale enterprises; what is more, the bank has been able to win and retain an impressive share of Sverdlovsk Region’s market and aspires to

Vladivostok Avia’s Board of Directors decided to set up the company’s representations in Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Region, and Kemerovo, Kemerov Region.

A round table discussion on crisis management through public relations was coordinated in Yekaterinburg by the local division of Russia’s Corporate Media Association, OPTIMA COMMUNICATION, Mayor’s Library, and UralBusinessConsulting Agency of Information and Analytics. The discussion was moderated by UralBusinessConsulting’s General Director, economic and political PR consultant, and Russian PR Association Fellow Evgeniy Potapov. In his opening address, Evgeniy Potapov said there were no clear-cut and generally accepted crisis PR theories at the moment, so people involved in the field just

Hungarian Consulate-General in Yekaterinburg has been entitled to issuing Schengen visas to Latvia beginning from August 15, 2008 after the corresponding bilateral agreement was signed by the Republic of Hungary and the Republic of Latvia’s governments. ‘The list of documents the applicants must provide for their Schengen visas to Latvia and the consular fees are exactly the same as the ones you need to submit and pay to enter any country of the Schengen area,’ the spokesperson for the Ministry for International and Foreign Economic Relations of Sverdlovsk Region reports.

Mechel will have to pay 5% of its turnover, or 790 million RUR, in fine after having been found guilty of violating the legislation on the protection of competition on the baking coal market, says Head of the Russian Federation Federal Antimonopoly Service Igor Artemiev. ‘The Federal Antimonopoly Service completed the case involving the company’s activity on the baking coal market. Tomorrow, the enterprise will receive the administrative violation report comprising both orders and sanctions,’ Igor Artemiev notes. ‘Mechel was rather cooperative when it came to the Federal Antimonopoly

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of private individuals’ deposits in UniCreditBank valid for 31 to 90 days dropped by 62.04% (from 2,264,783,000 RUR to 859,703,000 RUR) in January-July 2008.

URSA Bank offered a credit line worth 350 million RUR to Chelyabinsk-based Stroytek. The offer will be valid for five years; the borrower intends to spend the money on refinancing the expenses occasioned by the construction of Holiday Inn Chelyabinsk-Riverside Hotel. Stroytek is both the general contractor for the project and the hotel’s proprietor. At the moment, the company is negotiating with the Holiday Inn trademark owners for the construction of an extension to the hotel. Holiday Inn Chelyabinsk-Riverside is a member of Holiday Inn international chain consisting of over 1,500 hotels and

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by UralFinPromBank to private individuals for 1 to 3 years went down by 19.48% (from 256.842 million RUR to 206.788 million RUR) in January-July 2008.

RichBrokerService Board of Directors decided to call an extraordinary general meeting on September 16, 2008. On August 14, 2008, the Federal Financial Market Service annulled the company’s licenses entitling them to dealership and brokerage operations as well as portfolio management. The decision was taken after RichBrokerService had violated the existing securities legislation and the law on prevention of money-laundering and financing of terrorist activity several times during one year.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of for-profit self-regulatory organizations’ deposits in Pervouralsk Joint Stock Commercial Bank valid for 1 to 3 years went down by 76% (from 10 million RUR to 2.4 million RUR) in January-July 2008.