URSA Bank’s pro forma asset volume (calculated in compliance with the IAS) rose by 1.6 times and reached $6.8bn in 2007, while the bank’s own funds increased by 2.1 times and came to $1.173bn. URSA Bank’s net profit for the year 2007 is expected to exceed $150m, their press officer reports.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of non-profit NGOs’ deposits in Tagilbank valid for 31 to 90 days plummeted by 100% (from 44.878 million RUR to zero) in December 2007-January 2008.

Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) took part in the conference on the zinc and polymeric coatings production in 2008-2009. A report was made by MMK’s senior manager Alexei Koptsev, who spoke on the demand the rolled products with polymeric coatings are currently enjoying and the probable growth of this demand in the future. This is why MMK decided to focus on the production of coatings and heavy-duty steels for the Russian and foreign automobile industry. Their products would include low-carbon steels, BH-effect low-carbon steels, phosphorus-alloyed steels, TRIP-effect steels, and

'RTS index missed the desirable level by a hairbreadth last week, and the stock market might find itself between the rock and the hard place very soon,’ SKB-Bank’s Trading Operations Director Evgeniy Batuev said to UrBC. 'The earlier short-term forecasts regarding RTS index reaching 2,100 points by the end of the month failed to come true, even though it was not entirely wrong. The index rose by 5.38% between February 15, 2008 and February 26, 2008 and fell short of the predicted level by .2% on February 26-27, 2008,’ he added. 'However, stock prices started going down on

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Sverdlovsk Gubernskiy Bank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for over 3 years went down by 33.08% (from 108.3 million RUR to 72.47 million RUR) in December 2007-January 2008.

Ural Federal District’s division of Rostechnadzor (the state environmental, technological, and nuclear safety watchdog) intends to inspect a number of local enterprises this March, Rostechnadzor’s press officer reports. It has been reported that the list of enterprises subject to inspection and the list of surveillance procedures have already been approved of by the Head of Ural Federal District’s division of Rostechnadzor Anatoly Sidyakin. Among these companies are Ufaleynickel, Rezhevskoy Nickel, Tyumentransgas, Cheremukhovskaya mine, VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation, Khladkombinat 3, Yuzhnaya and

'If a building is being put up on the land that has never been officially allotted to the builder, or if the construction rules and norms are violated in the process, this half-finished building is classed as unauthorized and must be pulled down by the builder,’ Intellect-C’s Legal Safety Director Roman Rechkin said to UrBC. The regional authorities might ban the construction of an apartment block at 57 Radischev St. (Yekaterinburg) currently supervised by Aston Building Company. According to Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Sverdlovsk Region’s division of the state board of experts looked into the

The value of net assets of Energy - Mixed Investments (the unit investment trust) managed by Eurogreen Management Company Ltd. went down by 1.74% between February 26, 2008 and February 27, 2008. According to Eurogreen’s website, the company’s net assets decreased from 3,066,332.46 RUR on February 26, 2008 to 3,013,037.22 RUR on February 27, 2008.

Evraz Group is planning to invest ?500m in upgrading their rail production facilities in 2008-2011, the spokesperson for Evraz Group said to UrBC referring to the company’s BOD Chairman and CEO Alexander Frolov. This means that Novokuznetsk Iron & Steel Works and Nizhniy Tagil Iron & Steel Works will be producing 750,000 tons and 950,000 tons of rails respectively by 2011. Nizhniy Tagil Iron & Steel Works will also be improving its railroad wheel production, on which Evraz Group is to spend ?107m. As it happens, the company does not consider one-year rail production contracts

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by UniCreditBank to state-run for-profit organizations for 31 to 90 days went down by 100% (from 24.5 million RUR to zero) in December 2007-January 2008.

Klyuchevsk Ferrous Alloys Works announced the company was to produce less than had been planned for the first three months of 2008. This was brought about by the delays in the supply of chrome iron ore from Kazakhstan to Russian Chrome 1915 (the enterprise which is part of RosSpetsSplav as well as Klyuchevsk Ferrous Alloys Works). According to RosSpetsSplav’s press officer, the shipments of ore will get back to normal no sooner than in mid-March 2008.

The officers of Nizhniy Tagil customs detected a number of counterfeited items of clothing bearing Nike and Adidas logos and trademarks in one of the town shops at the end of February 2008, the spokesperson for Ural Customs Administration reports. The sportswear was not accompanied by any papers that could prove the authenticity of the brands, so the sales were violating the trademark owners’ rights. 135 items of clothing worth 170,000 RUR altogether were confiscated, while the local shops were subject to further investigation.

The shareholders decided to terminate the authority of Maxi Group’s President Nikolai Maximov in the course of an extraordinary general meeting. The decision was taken due to the fact that this position was missing from the company’s new Charter (adopted in the course of the same meeting).

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of demand deposits and other demand investments made by private individuals in UIC Bank went down by 27.74% (from 27.758 million RUR to 20.058 million RUR) in December 2007-January 2008.

'Most foreign workers come to Sverdlovsk Region from Tajikistan (28%), Kazakhstan (18%), China (16%), Kyrgyzstan (13%), and Turkey (5%). They are mainly employed in fields like the building industry and the service sector (including catering business and motor shows),’ Deputy Head of Sverdlovsk Region’s division of the Federal Migration Service Sergey Kashinin announced at a press conference on February 28, 2008. 'We don’t expect the number of illegal immigrants to soar dramatically this year, since the measures we’ve taken are believed to be able to keep these figures at last

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of demand deposits and other demand investments made by private individuals in Plato Bank went down by 23.29% (from 1.747 million RUR to 1.34 million RUR) in December 2007-January 2008.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of for-profit self-regulatory organizations’ deposits in SberInvestBank valid for 181 days to 1 year plummeted by 100% (from 600,000 RUR to zero) in December 2007-January 2008.

Maxi Group elected the new General Director after the company’s Board of Directors decided to terminate the authority of former GD Alexander Loginovskikh and elected Valery Shevelev instead. Remarkably, Mr. Shevelev hasn’t got a share in the enterprise’s authorized capital.

The Minister for International and Foreign Economic Relations of Sverdlovsk Region Alexander Kharlov announced in the course of the ministry meeting that the region had received over $1.338bn worth of foreign investment altogether in 2007, which was comparable with the previous year’s level. However, the structure of these investments proved to be much better than before. Direct foreign investments, for instance, amounted to $119m, which exceeds the figures for 2006 by thirty times. Besides, this was the region’s best-ever result since 2001 when the figure came to $103m and then kept going

MOTIV, formerly one of Sverdlovsk Region’s telecommunications provider, expanded to become a telecommunications group operating in both Ural Federal District and Perm Territory at the end of 2007. Now the company offers its customers mobile communication as well as area and landline connection and Internet access. In addition, MOTIV now provides people living in Perm Territory with landline telephone connection, the company’s press officer reports. This impressive expansion in terms of both geography and technology was made possible due to a major restructuring. For one, the new