The new law on identification requirements for people who make bank payments came into effect on January 15, 2008. 'The Federal Law 275 that makes it obligatory for banks to supply some information on the payment-makers is not going to affect the banks’ performance or create difficulties for their customers,’ says SKB-Bank’s Commission-based Services Director Lyudmila Belyaeva. 'To start with, banks are already using a certain amount of personal data for processing payments, when they handle money orders, for instance. So, most banks’ customers are already used to having their

The value of net assets of Energy - Mixed Investments (the unit investment trust) managed by Eurogreen Management Company Ltd. went down by .02% between December 28, 2007 and December 29, 2007. According to Eurogreen’s website, the company’s net assets decreased from 3,250,719.1 RUR on December 28, 2007 to 3,250,086.5 RUR on December 29, 2007.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Tyumenenergobank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for 31 to 90 days went down by 55.81% (from 567.03 million RUR to 250.592 million RUR) in January-December 2007.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by UralFinPromBank to natural persons for 91 to 180 days decreased by 73.14% (from 4.311 million RUR to 1.158 million RUR) in January-December 2007.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Tagilbank to sole traders for 91 to 180 days went down by 69.79% (from 5.462 million RUR to 1.65 million RUR) in January-December 2007.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Uralprivatbank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for 31 to 90 days dropped by 43.66% (from 7.1 million RUR to 4 million RUR) in January-December 2007.

RusRating confirmed forty-three Russian banks’ credit ratings using the data available as of January 11, 2008. SKB-Bank’s credit rating was confirmed at BB-, which is better than the rating of many large Moscow-based banks. SKB-Bank’s rating was originally confirmed by the agency at B+ in August 2006 and was promoted to BB- in July 2007, the bank’s press officer reports. The agency’s analysts say SKB Bank’s rating is based on the fact that SKB-Bank is a medium-sized provincial bank (one of the largest in Sverdlovsk Region, though) that has been cooperating intensely with the region’s

Uralmash Machine-Building Corporation and Mikhailovskiy Ore Mining and Processing Enterprise signed an agreement regarding the delivery of a roast machine and putting up all the corresponding facilities on the premises of the enterprise’s future pellet plant. This contract resulted from a tender where Uralmash had to compete with the Finnish Outotec and the Austrian Siemens-VAI. The deal is worth more than five billion RUR, the spokesperson for Uralmash reports. The machine itself as well as the automatic process control system is to be designed by Uralmash Machine-Building Corporation and

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Bank Uralsib to sole traders for up to 30 days decreased by 20.21% (from 175.281 million RUR to 139.861 million RUR) in January-December 2007.

A flight operated by Aviaprad was delayed once again by twenty-four hours; Yak-42 coming to Yekaterinburg from Norilsk was supposed to have arrived in Yekaterinburg at 2 PM on January 11, 2008 yet the interactive timetable used in Koltsovo airport read that Aviaprad’s flight would only land on January 12, 2008 - twenty-four hours later than planned.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of deposits and other investments made by natural persons in Plato Bank valid for 91 to 180 days went down by 68.53% (from 3.61 million RUR to 1.136 million RUR) in January-December 2007.

SKB-Bank set up a correspondent dollar account in one of America’s largest banks: Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas. The bank is going to use this account for its dollar payments, the bank’s press officer reports. ‘Opening a correspondent bank account in the U.S. symbolizes the international recognition of SKB-Bank’s great financial transparency and its ability to meet the strict demands of the U.S. legislation,’ the press officer explains. In addition, SKB-Bank has already set up correspondent accounts in Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg, Commerzbank AG, VTB Bank (Deutschland) AG, Raiffeisen

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Universal Bank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for 31 to 90 days went down by 100% (from 500,000 RUR to zero) in January-December 2007.

‘Advertising agencies that deal in outdoor advertising are not going to suffer from the recent changes in the law on banning tobacco ads. The ban on advertising tobacco products outdoors was imposed as early as 2006, so they incurred all the losses back then,’ Accent’s Sales Director Nadezhda Matsenko said to UrBC. Worries have been raised by the Russian Government’s decision to join the World Health Organization’s anti-tobacco convention. This means any advertising of tobacco and any means of boosting sales or sponsoring tobacco products are fully prohibited. A country that decided to join

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by VUZ Bank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for 31 to 90 days went down by 25.78% (from 96.08 million RUR to 71.31 million RUR) in January-December 2007.

MegaFon Ural is going to adopt some changes in its Territoria tariff scheme on January 21, 2008. The subscriber’s fee is to go down from 7,500 RUR to 6,740 RUR a month (VAT included). This fee will cover an unlimited number of outgoing local calls, 3,000 minutes of long-distance calls and within-network roaming calls, as well as 300 text messages and 100 megabytes for GPRS Internet connection, the company’s press officer reports. What is more, the cost of outgoing long-distance calls will also grow less expensive: after you’ve used up your 3,000-minute limit, you will only pay 3 RUR per

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by UralTransBank to state-run for-profit organizations went down by 47.68% (from 3.15 million RUR to 1.648 million RUR) in January-December 2007.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of non-profit NGOs’ deposits in SberInvestBank valid for 1 to 3 years went down by 70% (from 20 million RUR to 6 million RUR) in January-December 2007.

MegaFon Ural processed more than 25 million calls on December 31, 2007-January 1, 2008, with all the subscribers doing over 46 million minutes worth of talking. MegaFon Ural’s network experienced the greatest workload between 10 PM on December 31, 2007 and 1 AM on January 1, 2008, the company’s press officer reports. ‘To make sure the connection stayed reliable on New Year’s Eve, MegaFon made a lot of efforts that provided the company’s subscribers with the whole range of our services,’ says Anton Scherbakov, MegaFon Ural’s Deputy GD and Technical Director. In addition, over 17 million text

Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) now has a long-term Environmental Program for 2008-2015 that provides for the use of the best existing conservation technologies in all of its divisions. The investments in the fulfillment of the Program will come to more than 14 billion RUR over the next seven years. The program came into force on January 1, 2008 after the corresponding decision has been taken by the company’s Board of Directors. The program confirms the enterprise’s basic conservational strategies and provides for compliance with the environmental regulations. Within the framework