Central Bank of Russia reports volume of for-profit self-regulatory organizations’ deposits in SberInvestBank valid for 1 to 3 years went down by 12.38% (from 21 million RUR to 18.4 million RUR) in January-December 2007.

'The recent 19% downfall of RTS index was followed by a 7.5% rise, whereupon it dropped again by over 6%, which resembles a saw-like pattern,’ SKB-Bank’s Trading Operations Director Evgeniy Batuyev said to UrBC. 'I would expect the market to gain only slightly positive dynamics in the nearest future, since a lot of experts believe events will be influenced by the current imperfect state of the U.S. economy (an economy that influences global affairs a lot). There is no reason to panic, however, recession is not very likely,’ he added. 'It’s also true, though, that the Federal

Uralfinprombank raised the down payment on the mortgages it offers from 10% to 30% of the whole sum in January 2008, the bank’s Borrowing Capacity Assessment Department reports. Uralfinprombank explains this has to do with the recent changes adopted by the Mortgage Lending Agency that came into effect on February 1, 2008. The Mortgage Lending Agency modified the standards of offering, refinancing, and servicing of mortgage loans. For instance, mortgages provided by banks after January 31, 2008, aren’t subject to refinancing given that the sum of the loan exceeds 1.5 million RUR and the down

This year, one of Nizhniy Tagil Iron & Steel Works’ converters is expected to reach its full capacity thanks to the reconstruction of the oxygen converter shop, the spokesperson for Evraz Group said to UrBC. Throughout the year, the company is planning to upgrade two more steel-smelting unit. The first one will probably be shut down for reconstruction as early as March 2008, while the equipment for the second converter is already being shipped by European and Russian machine-building enterprises and the converter shop is being prepared for the reconstruction process. The improved

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Universal Bank to natural persons for 181 days to 1 year went down by 43.74% (from 23.436 million RUR to 13.186 million RUR) in January-December 2007.

According to the ranking of unit investment trusts as of January 30, 2008, the share price of Alfa Capital Sbalansirovanniy (Alfa Capital Management Company) went down by 5.16% between January 1, 2008 and January 30, 2008.

United Company RUSAL invested about $1.6bn in business diversification and production facilities development in 2007, the company’s spokesperson reports. Last year, RUSAL acquired 25% plus one share of Norilsk Nickel ore mining and processing enterprise from ONEKSIM Group in order to lay the foundation for Russia’s first global diversified mining and metallurgical enterprise. In addition, the company bought the controlling shareholding of Alscon aluminum plant in Nigeria. All the necessary equipment has been installed and is now being tested. The plant will probably have been launched in

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Pervouralsk Joint Stock Commercial Bank to natural persons for 91 to 180 days dropped by 56.99% (from 193,000 RUR to 83,000 RUR) in January-December 2007.

A number of chain stores (including Eldorado, Technosila, and M.Video) dealing in home appliances and consumer electronics are suffering losses at the moment as they are unable to offer any new products for sale. Most of their assortment is four to six weeks old, even though most of the goods in stock were sold during the winter holiday season. According to UrBC’s own sources, the stores are experiencing some problems with the range of products due to the fact that the goods (imported from abroad) can’t seem to pass through the customs.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of for-profit self-regulatory organizations’ deposits in VUZ Bank valid for 1 to 3 years plummeted by 97.45% (from 38.5 million RUR to 980,000 RUR) in January-December 2007.

'A lot of criminal suits involving United FX — Traders Group have been filed recently upon the numerous applications of the company’s victims,’ acting deputy head of Sverdlovsk Region Department of Internal Affairs Sergey Kupratsevitch said to UrBC. This Saint-Petersburg-based company, with branches in Moscow, Yekaterinburg, and a number of other cities, dealt in trading operations on Forex foreign exchange market using the money of private investors, who had to bet between $1,000 and $100,000 to get the promised 30% to 200% in terms of annual interest. The company made the market

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by SberInvestBank to sole traders for 181 days to 1 year went down by 100% (from 10.95 million RUR to zero).

'Kupets, the supermarket chain store operating in Yekaterinburg, is willing to sell up to 50% of its shares to a portfolio investor,’ Falcon Advisers’ Managing Partner Igor Kovanov said to UrBC. 'We intend to find the potential buyer before the end of March 2008, while the transaction we believe is likely to go through by the end of June 2008,’ he added. 'We cannot come up with any precise evaluation of the share price yet, but I’d say something between $150-$220 sounds pretty close,’ Mr. Kovanov observed.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by UniCreditBank to natural persons for 91 to 180 days went down by 86.27% (from 8.07 million RUR to 1.108 million RUR).

'One of Sberbank of Russia’s strategic goals is to make banking services more accessible to the general public, which is why we kept on expanding our subsidiary network last year as well as tried to make the existing outlets more efficient,’ the spokesperson for Sberbank’s Ural branch reports. In 2007, the bank’s Ural division set up the record number of new offices, that is, twenty-four outlets, so the total number of offices reached 1,701. These included specialized small business support centers, mortgage lending centers, centers dealing in loans to private individuals, and a

'The bank’s direct financial losses stemming from one of its traders’ fraud have been estimated at 5bn. In addition, the fact that the bank lost one of its credit rating positions means it will grow .25% to .75% more expensive for them to borrow on the bonds market,’ Finam investment bank’s analyst Vladimir Sergievskiy said to UrBC. Societe Generale, France’s second largest bank, lost Ï4.9bn ($7.1bn) due to one of its traders’ gerrymandering related to European stock exchanges’ indices futures. An 80% decrease in the bank’s annual profit is expected. The bank owns a daughter enterprise

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of for-profit self-regulatory organizations’ deposits in UralTransBank valid for 1 to 3 years dropped by 29.49% (from 450.965 million RUR to 317.983 million RUR).

Nizhniy Tagil Iron & Steel Works (part of Evraz Group) managed to lower its industrial accidents rate by 24% in January-December 2007, while the frequency of accidents went down by 19%. There was not a single fatal accident, either. These data were provided at the special extended meeting devoted to the company’s labor protection activity in 2007. The meeting was attended by executives from all of the enterprise’s departments. The spokesperson for Nizhniy Tagil Iron & Steel Works reports these improvements were possible due to meeting all the industrial safety regulations and

Ural Treasures Bank’s balance sheet total rose by 30% last year and reached 10,650 million RUR on January 1, 2008. The bank’s own funds grew by 30% as well and reached 811 million RUR on January 1, 2008. Their balance sheet profit came to 120.8 million RUR, which exceeds the figures for a year earlier by 1.5 times, the bank’s press officer reports. According to the Profile magazine’s 48th issue published on December 24, 2007, Ural Treasures Bank was one of Russia’s Top 200 banks in terms of net assets and was given the 162nd position in the rating. The bank has plenty of nice offers for both

The value of net assets of Energy – Mixed Investments (the unit investment trust) managed by Eurogreen Management Company Ltd. went down by 2.44% between January 25, 2008 and January 28, 2008. According to Eurogreen’s website, the company’s net assets decreased from 3,048,357.46 RUR on January 25, 2008 to 2,973,827.82 RUR on January 28, 2008.