UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 15, 2019. Sverdlovsk Region Government and the Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) agreed to work together on the National Digital Economy Program; the agreement to this effect was signed at Russian Investment Forum in Sochi on February 14, the bank’s press service reports. Under the terms of the agreement, the bank will cooperate with Sverdlovsk Region’s authorities to develop and launch advanced technologies in production sector, social welfare sector, and urban development sector; for one, the UBRD will contribute to the creation of certain

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, February 15, 2019. ChelPipe Group’s shareholder Andrei Komarov took part in Tatarstan’s Industry & Trade Ministry and Tatarstan’s Economy Ministry’s recent joint meeting upon President of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov’s invitation. Komarov made a report on the Group’s experience of setting up a continuous professional development system within the framework of a public-private partnership program, the Group’s press service reports. Andrei Komarov spoke about the current performance of and development plans for Tatarstan’s College of The Future, an

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 15, 2019. EVRAZ Nizhny Tagil Metallurgical Plant (EVRAZ NTMK) chose the suppliers to deliver the equipment required for its Blast Furnace 6 upgrades, EVRAZ Holding Ural’s Corporate Relations Center reports. ‘We signed a number of contracts for the delivery of technological equipment and automation appliances for the furnace. The blast furnace is expected to get re-launched in October 2020. The entire retooling project will require $150m in investments,’ the Center says. The better part of the tech equipment will get supplied by PAUL WURTH S.A., the global leader

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 15, 2019. Chair of the Board at Federal Grid Company United Energy Systems (FGC UES) Andrei Murov signed an agreement with Russian Copper Company’s ore-mining division at Russian Investment Forum (RIF 2019) this week. Under the terms of the contract, RCC’s gold/copper/porphyry Malmyzhsky Deposit should get connected to the Unified National Power Grid, FGC UES Western Siberia’s PR & Media Group reports. The agreement also sets out the terms for the two parties to work together to ensure reliable power supply to Russian Copper Company’s existing facilities and

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, February 15, 2019. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) extended the bank guarantees available to its Chelyabinsk-based partner company GiraffeCranes (GIRAFFE) to RUB 448 million. According to the bank’s press service, they are willing to back up the company’s obligations towards Rosatom State Corporation (GiraffeCranes must supply a number of unique cranes to the construction site of Kurskaya Nuclear Power Plant 2 in Kurchatovsky, Kursk Region). The cranes will be used to put up the walls of power-generating units in the reactor section of the plant.

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, February 14, 2019. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK)-supported Metallurg Charity Foundation coordinated the Board’s meeting this month. The Board adopted the program for the year and the budget plan for 2019, MMK’s press service reports. The foundation got established three decades ago last year; Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works has remained the organization’s primary benefactor the whole time. The foundation focuses on supporting old-age pensioners, families with three or more children, families with children with disabilities, and so on. This year, Metallurg

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 14, 2019. Ural Airlines are now selling tickets for direct and scheduled Zhukovsky-Nice-Zhukovsky flights (operation begins May 1, 2019), the air carrier’s press service reports. Flight U6797/6798 will be available twice a week, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Departure (Zhukovsky): 8:35 AM, Departure (Nice): 5:25 PM. Prices start from RUB 4,549 (one way), which is arguably the lowest price available for this connection. ‘Nice has been popular with Russian travelers since the middle of the nineteenth century. The city’s mediterranean climate is perfect in any

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 14, 2019. ChelPipe Group’s pipe-manufacturing member enterprises Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling Plant and Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant sold 1,920,000,000 kg of pipes to their customers last year, which was 3.6% less than in the year 2017, the Group’s press service reports. ‘The slight drop in sales has to do with the fact that we’d completed all of our shipments of large-diameter pipes to Nord Stream 2,’ the Group explains. ChelPipe Group’s Russian market sales rose by 1.2% in 2018 and came to 1,420,000,000 kg. The company shipped 430,700,000 LDPs to customers in

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 14, 2019. MegaFon’s telecom engineers expanded the ISP’s 4G coverage by an extra 70 meters in Yekaterinburg, which sped up the local users’ Internet connection by 1.5 times, the company’s press service reports. ‘Kuibyshev St, Lenin Ave, Malyshev St, Vosmoye Marta St, Moskovskaya St, and Mashinostroiteley St are now mobile congestion-free. Both local users and visitors to Yekaterinburg can now enjoy ‘speeding’ online even during the rush hours,’ the press service says. The improvements were made possible due to the launch os LTE 1 800 at the telecom company’s base

UrBC, Moscow, February 14, 2019. The Central Bank of Russia adjusted its forecast of the annual trend inflation rate from 5.4% in December 2018 to 5.61% in January 2019, the bank’s website states. According to the trend inflation assessment methodology, the forecast can get adjusted every now and then in response to temporary factors affecting price dynamics, the bank explains. Among such temporary factors is the VAT increase, for example, which results in increase in prices of goods and services that are used as the basis for assessing the trend inflation. This is the primary factor behind

UrBC, Moscow, February 13, 2019. Russia’s net capital outflow reached $10.4bn in January 2019, Central Bank of Russia’s data indicate. A year earlier, the figure was estimated at $7.1bn. It is reported that the ‘surplus in the current account of the balance of payments stipulated a certain slowing of net lending of the rest of the world by the private sector’ in January compared with the last quarter of 2018. ‘In January 2019 balance on private sector’s financial transactions was estimated by the Bank of Russia at $10.4 billion,’ the bank’s website states. The net capital outflow from the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 13, 2019. The new Consul-General of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland in Yekaterinburg Richard Dewell assumed office this week, Russia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry’s Yekaterinburg representation reports. The British Consulate-General Ekaterinburg, now headed by Richard Dewell, caters to applicants based in all of Ural Federal District’s constituencies, Perm Territory, Bashkortostan, Udmurtia, and Orenburg Region. Prior to this new appointment, Consul Dewell was Deputy Head of Mission at the British Embassy in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan; he also

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 13, 2019. Students on ChelPipe Group’s Future of White-Coated Metallurgy Training Program are taking part in the 7th WorldSkills Russia blue-collar skills championship in Sverdlovsk Region on February 11-15, 2019, the Group’s press service reports. Twenty would-be ‘white-coated metallurgists’ are competing in eight categories: Reverse Engineering, Industrial Robotics, Prototyping, CAD Engineering, NC Mill Turning, Industrial Automation, Industrial Mechanics and Assembly, and Wiring. The championship gets hosted by fifteen different sites, including ChelPipe

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 13, 2019. EVRAZ Holding signed a socioeconomic cooperation agreement with Kachkanar Council, EVRAZ Holding Ural’s Corporate Relations Center reports. EVRAZ Vice President and Head of EVRAZ Holding Ural Denis Novozhenov, Managing Director of Kachkanarsky Ore Mining and Processing Enterprise (EVRAZ KGOK) and EVRAZ Nizhny Tagil Metallurgical Plant (EVRAZ NTMK) Alexei Kushnarev, and Mayor of Kachkanar Andrei Yaroslavtsev signed the agreement in the presence of First Vice Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Alexei Orlov. The agreement sets our the terms and conditions on

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, February 13, 2019. Oracle Modern Business Forum 2019 took place in Moscow on February 7, 2019; Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) contributed with a talk on the company’s experience with Oracle Sourcing-based e-trading platform. According to MMK’s Information & PR Department, the report was made by Senior Analyst from MMK’s Category-Based Purchases Department Evgeny Trakhtengerz and Senior Expert from MMK Informservis’s Supply Department Andrei Suvorkov. MMK introduced its own Oracle EBS-based e-trading platform in November 2007. The platform has been open to

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 12, 2019. 604,072 people flew with Ural Airlines in the first month of 2019 (+7% on a year earlier), the air carrier’s press service reports. 317,249 people went on the airline’s domestic flights, 121,112 people flew internationally, and 165,711 people went to and from the CIS member states. The airline operated 4,423 flights in January 2019 (+4% on January 2018), including 2,301 domestic ones, 860 international ones, and 1,262 flights to and from the CIS member states. The company’s passenger turnover rose by 9% and reached 1,485,160,000 passenger-kilometers.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 12, 2019. Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Boris Dubrovsky and Chelyabinsk Region’s Human Rights Commissioner Margarita Pavlova presented special medals to twenty locals to acknowledge their bravery, valor, and selfless efforts to help others. Among the awardees were members of rescue teams who helped deal with the explosion at an apartment building in Magnitogorsk, MMK’s press service reports. The solemn awarding ceremony took place at the Governor’s residence. The entire event was mostly dedicated to the aftermath of the explosion at 164 Karl Marx St. It was to

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, February 12, 2019. ChelPipe Group’s shareholder and Chair of the Board of Directors Alexander Fedorov received Priznaniye, a prize awarded to people and companies involved in charity. The solemn awarding ceremony took place at Chelyabinsk World Trade Center this week. According to the Group’s press service, an exclusively designed figurine that symbolizes the prize was given to Alexander Fedorov by provisional Mayor of Chelyabinsk Vladimir Yelistratov. ‘I’d like to thank the prize committee and the town council for the acknowledgement of our charity efforts. It’s worth

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 12, 2019. Ural Airlines are putting their flights to more than two hundred summertime destinations on sale; the offer holds on February 11-24, 2019; the flights will get operated between April 1 and October 31, 2019. According to the air carrier’s press service, you can get up to 40% off. The tickets are available at the airline’s booking offices, on the company website www.uralairlines.com, on Ural Airlines mobile app, and over the phone +7-800-7700-262. Wings Club bonus points apply and can get added to the overall discount. This is a limited offer. Ural

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 12, 2019. RSG-Akademicheskoye found a contractor for the construction of a storm water drainage system in Quarter 26 in District Akademicheskiy, Yekaterinburg, the developer’s press service reports. The tender committee chose OOO StroyMontazh as the winner and OOO Standart stroy as the semi-finalist. The contractor will have to do everything related to the construction of a storm water drainage system in Quarter 26 (Blocks 26.1, 26.5, 26.7, and 26.9) in District Akademicheskiy, Yekaterinburg between the day the contract gets signed and July 2019. The opening bid