‘Any flaws that a car might have can only be handled through the dealer network. In case the problem originated at the plant, the dealer must contact the plant through the maintenance department and find a solution,’ Taganrog car factory’s Marketing Director Marina Zavolzhenskaya said to UrBC. In the meantime, one of Yekaterinburg-based Okami Vostok’s customers bought a Hyundai Accent with an air conditioner in March 2008; as soon as the hot summer days came, it became clear that the conditioner was not working. The car owner believes that despite the pre-sale preparation, the car sold by the

‘Okami Vostok should have checked whether the air conditioner was working during their pre-sale preparation,’ Autosun car center reports. One of Yekaterinburg-based Okami Vostok’s customers bought a Hyundai Accent with an air conditioner in March 2008; as soon as the hot summer days came, it became clear that the conditioner was not working. The car owner believes that despite the pre-sale preparation, the car sold by the dealer was initially defective. Okami’s experts think the faulty condition emerged in the process of manufacturing the car. According to the unhappy customer, Okami Vostok

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by UniCreditBank to nonresident legal entities for 181 days to 1 year dropped by 72.49% (from 1,684,827,000 RUR to 463,483,000 RUR) in January-May 2008.

Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development Finance (a daughter enterprise fully owned by the Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development) declared the interest rates on the 9th, 10th, 11th, and 12th coupons of its second three-year bond issues. The coupon rates will thus come to 12.5% a year, or 31.16 RUR per each 1,000-ruble bond. The issuer will have to pay a total of 31.16 million RUR on each coupon period. After the 8th coupon payments are made on July 3, 2008, an offer will be provided for the bondholders. The bonds are to be fully retired on July 2, 2009. The bondholders will receive

‘We used to think of the Academic construction project as a future ambition, but it is now becoming a part of our present,’ says Yekaterinburg’s Deputy Mayor for Capital Construction and Land Use Vladimir Kritskiy. RENOVA-StroyGroup’s top executives and Vladimir Kritskiy recently met to discuss the city’s future district. Project manager Stanislav Pridvizhkin assured the officials that everything was being done in accordance with the schedule. ‘To make sure all the schedules can be adhered to, we need to handle the issues related to engineering infrastructure and road construction first of

According to URSA Bank’s unaudited financial statement (drawn up in compliance with the Russian accounting standards), the bank’s assets reached $7.5bn in January-March 2008, which is 1.5 times better than a year earlier; at the same time, URSA Bank’s net profit came to over $66m, the bank’s press officer reports.

Uralmash Machine-Building Corporation (consisting of Yekaterinburg-based Uralmashzavod and Orsk-based ORMETO-YUMZ) exhibited its oil rigs, pipes, and winches that the company is manufacturing at the moment on June 17-18, 2008. The event was attended by Eurasia, Rosneft-Bureniye, Ukrgazdobycha, Orenburgneft, Belarusneft, and a number of other O&G companies. Visitors to the presentation could see the design of the third generation drilling units; today’s customers want more durable and more multifunctional equipment, which is why this is what the new units are going to be like. They can be

SKB-Bank set up its new branches in Kaliningrad and Krasnodar in order to render banking services to small and medium-scale businesses, the bank’s press officer reports. ‘The office is located in the old town, right inside the so-called Fish Exchange (a business center). In fact, we found ourselves within a stone’s throw of a great cathedral and the grave of the renowned philosopher Immanuel Kant,’ says SKB-Bank’s Kaliningrad branch’s director Dmitriy Tyurikov. SKB-Bank has already introduced its offices in twenty Russian Regions and is planning to go on to Khabarovsk, Yakutsk, Kazan, and

According to one Yekaterinburg dweller, Okami Vostok sells faulty Hyundai cars. Okami’s customer bought a Hyundai Accent with an air conditioner in March 2008; as soon as the hot summer days came, it became clear that the conditioner was not working. The car owner believes that despite the pre-sale preparation, the car sold by the dealer was initially defective. Okami Vostok explained to the unhappy customer that the delivery and installation of the part needed to fix the problem would take between fourteen and forty-five days within applying for repairs. Okami car centers are the official

Expert-Ural came up with a new rating assessing the Ural banks’ activity in the first quarter of 2008. The results of the magazine’s survey indicated that the Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development keeps growing rapidly in all financial respects. The bank’s net assets rose by 16% within the first quarter of the year, securing it the top rating position among Sverdlovsk Region’s banks. The bank’s loan portfolio went up by 15%, its own funds increased by 10%, its profits rose by 12%. ‘As a matter of fact, we usually prove to be Sverdlovsk Region’s number one bank in terms of private

Rimera (ChTPZ Group’s O&G maintenance division) bought 100% of Taimyrnefterazvedka, Taimyr Autonomous Region’s largest drilling enterprise. Taimyrnefterazvedka can currently boast a 70% share of Taimyr’s exploration drilling market; the enterprise sets up well sites in complicated mining and geological conditions where the rock pressure can be either anomalously high or low. Since 1964, Taimyrnefterazvedka has been able to launch oil and gas wells in fifty areas around Yenisei-Khatangskaya, Anabaro-Khatangskaya, Severo-Tungusskaya, and Pur-Tazovskaya oil-and-gas bearing provinces. All in

‘Poor legal protection of creditors (i.e. no legal instruments to help them get their loans back) is one of the indicators of an unstable consumer lending market. Illegal salaries that remain untaxed are another indicator: in case the bad debt suit gets to court, the money will be deducted from the borrower’s legal salary (which is much less than what the person actually makes),’ Sberbank of Russia’s Ural branch’s Private Customer Lending Director Vyacheslav Reshetnikov announced in the course of a round table discussion devoted to ways of enhancing Russia’s consumer lending market’s

Starting June 19, 2008, MegaFon’s customers subscribed to United tariff scheme can use the new Guest option. The offer can save money to customers who have relatives or business partners in different parts of Russia or abroad. The price of a phone call anywhere within Russia will cost you 3.9 RUR; international calls will cost you 6 RUR (VAT included). Depending on the scheme you choose (Long-Distance or International), your outgoing calls to Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, Moldavia, Byelorussia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, China, Vietnam,

A conference on financial risk management and today’s approaches and innovational solutions in this field was held at the center for exhibition technologies in Yekaterinburg. The event was coordinated by the center itself, as well as Congress-Bureau of Yekaterinburg and Elite Corporate Conduct Club, and sponsored by Europe-Asia Information and Consulting Center. The conference was attended by businesses’ CEOs and proprietors, investors, experts from companies dealing in financial risk management, officials from the state-run public authorities, and employees of various legal and planning and

‘The ways and means of counterfeiting banknotes that fraudsters employ are extremely varied. At the same time, plenty of different ways to protect the notes have been designed and implemented by now. Yet people themselves also need to be careful when handling large portions of cash and large denomination banknotes. One has to know how to tell genuine money from counterfeit notes and has to put this knowledge to practice, while transactions involving a lot of money are better off when dealt with by banks,’ says SKB-Bank’s Operating Department’s Director Larisa Larionova. In the meantime,

Ural Federal District’s division of Rostechnadzor inspected the local ceramic goods plant for its compliance with the environmental legislation and revealed seventeen violations as a result. This includes management of hazardous waste and environmental decision-making performed by people without the necessary qualifications. Then, some unauthorized ceramic waste dumps (scrap tiles and the like) and bits of construction waste were illegally located on the company’s premises. To make matters worse, the plant deals in industrial and consumption waste treatment without proper licenses allowing it

SKB-Bank would be glad to see all the local reporters at the Q & A session chaired by the bank’s Chairman of the Board of Directors Mikhail Khodorovskiy; apart from the press briefing, some insights into the bank’s headquarters’ day-to-day operation will be provided. Visitors to the bank will get acquainted with SKB-Bank’s Elite-Bank (a VIP customer service division) and will also have a look at the bank’s safety vault and archives located in the basement as well as at the top executives’ offices. Then, a presentation of dealing rooms, cash-desk units, the data processing center, the

Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant’s stadium is currently hosting the preliminary stage of the city Leather Ball tournament, organized to celebrate the Metallurgist’s Day. Twelve children’s teams, including backyard clubs from Magnitka, Talitsa, and (for the first time this year) Bilimbai are competing for the place in the semi-final. The preliminary games will last for four days, with three backyard clubs playing each day. In the end, four strongest teams have to be selected, with valuable prizes for the winners. The Leather Ball’s semifinal and final games are to be played at the new sports-playing

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Ural Innovational Commercial Bank to private individuals for 181 days to 1 year dropped by 87.32% (from 9.206 million RUR to 1.167 million RUR) in January-May 2008.

While checking Tyumen customs’ compliance with the current legislation, Ural Federal District’s public prosecution authorities dealing in transport-related issues revealed that 201 TGM-4 track-laying vehicles from Ukraine went through the customs clearance between March 2004 and December 2007. The vehicles had the Russian Federation Ministry of Defense’s permits. The spokesperson for the public prosecution authorities reports the permits said that the vehicles should not be classed as military goods, as they had been subject to demilitarization and were fit for civilian use. ‘We requested the