The hot-rolling mill 2000 automatic control system is being restored at Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK). The spokesperson for the enterprise says upgrading the automatic control system is part of the complex modernization process of the hot rolling mill itself. The system is two-fold: the basic equipment responsible for immediate control of various mechanisms was made by Siemens, while the second-level numerical schemes were designed by AGIKA (Italy). The first-level equipment has been almost fully replaced by now; the schemes will have been upgraded by May 2008 - and all this

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of for-profit self-regulatory organizations’ deposits in UralFinPromBank valid for 1 to 3 years went down by 95.14% (from 5.14 million RUR to 250,000 RUR) in January-September 2007.

The Association of Russian Builders and the National Association of Mortgage Market Players held a meeting on October 22, 2007 in order to discuss the state of events at the international financial markets and the way the U.S. mortgage crisis could affect this country’s mortgage lending market. Reports were made by Vladimir Ponomarev and Nikolai Koshman, who had just come back from the States, and by Russian Mortgage Accepting Company’s Deputy General Director for Legal Issues Alexander Kazakov and Deputy General Director for Analytics Sergey Kaduk. 'In the West, the legal issues, things

Head of the Russian Federation Federal Customs Service Andrei Emelyanov suggested cancelling import duties imposed on primary commodities until the end of 2007. He believes this is going to expand the range of goods available as well as make prices go down, E-Craft reports. In the meantime, essential food prices keep growing. This growth mainly involved vegetable oil (13.5%), pasteurized milk (9.4%), dairy products (7.9%), and cottage cheese (7.4%-7.5%). The government is trying to handle the problem through freezing of prices and decreasing the import duties (these dropped from 15% to 5% on

The Russian government should try to stabilize the prices rather than freeze them, Vice Prime Minister and Russian Federation Minister of Finances Alexei Kudrin says. The Minister believes the government must try to fight the trend and prevent the 40% increases in food prices through negotiating with the business community. Mr. Kudrin says prices serve as an indicator for the food producers, who infer that the demand has increased and therefore they can produce more foods. ‘In this sense, prices are a natural and necessary part of the market. However, we do need to prevent the price peaks and

Ural Airlines’ developmental experts summed up the results of the airline’s online ticket sales. The e-booking office available at www.uralairlines.com started operating in February 2006. The site was made as user-friendly as possible, and the booking procedure is even demonstrated with the help of a video clip. Payments are made electronically as well using Visa Classic, Visa Gold, MasterCard/EuroCard, Diners Club, JCB, WebMoney, E-port, Credit Pilot, and very soon, Yandex Money; alternatively, a customer can always book online and pay for the ticket in any of the carrier’s booking offices.

Sverdlovsk Region’s retail trade turnover went up by 23% in September 2007 and reached 35 billion RUR. The regional statisticians report the catering companies’ turnover amounted to 1.9 billion RUR in September 2007, which is 21% better than a year earlier. The volume of paid services rose by 8% and came to 9.5 billion RUR. The catering companies’ turnover and the volume of paid services rendered to the population in January-September 2007 amounted to 140 billion RUR and 79 billion RUR respectively, while the region’s industrial production index rose by 20% against September 2006.

The Best Annual Report contest has been organized in Yekaterinburg for the third time this year. There were two main categories: The Best Annual Report of a Bank and The Best Annual Report of a Company, Ural Treasures Bank’s press officer reports. The annual reports were assessed by a board of experts; prior to the contest, the bank’s Marketing Director Alexander Nistranskiy took part in a round table discussion devoted to the ends and means behind an annual report on a competitive market. The awarding ceremony took place on October 17, 2007. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development

It was reported at the region’s public prosecution authorities’ meeting that over 15,500 reports on missing persons were made to the region’s militia in January-September 2007. The location of nearly 5,300 people is still unknown, and some serious problems with the organization of the search as well as grave violations of legitimacy are believed to be the reason for this. Prosecutors disclosed numerous instances of unnecessary bureaucracy, negligence, and beadledom among the militiamen and lack of proper control from their supervisors. Very often, officers would refuse to file a criminal suit

Some employees of Ural Turbine Plant participated in the 12th International EnergyExpo-2007 exhibition in Minsk on October 16-19, 2007. The plant presented its well-known steam turbine equipment as well as some new projects developed for combined-cycle plants, the spokesperson for the company said to UrBC. 'Gas-vapor technologies are considered to be the most efficient ones to date, and our plant, alongside with our Russian and foreign partners, is ready to offer our customers the most advanced equipment,’ says Ural Turbine Plant’s GD Vladimir Ermolaev. This year, the plant is expected

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Uralprivatbank to natural persons for 31 to 90 days went down by 100% (from 759,000 RUR to zero) in January-September 2007.

'UralTransBank and a number of local insurers signed an agreement that appears to violate the competition protection law in the field of insurance services,’ Stepan Krasheninnikov from Sverdlovsk Region division of Federal Antimonopoly Service said to UrBC. 'The bank chose some trustworthy insurance companies and signed agreements with them, which means that the insurance services might grow somewhat more expensive. We are not talking about a very large sum of money here, but it will still affect the customers. In fact, the bank is limiting their choice by allowing them to use only

The Expert magazine summed up the results of Russian factoring market development in January-June 2007. SKB-Bank was rated Russia’s 12th largest factoring company in terms of the money yielded, the bank’s press officer reports. According to the results of the factoring market research, the total volume of money yielded to Russian actors reached $7.3bn. The share of large businesses dropped from 44.2% in 2006 to 40.9% in 2007, whereas the shares of small and medium-scale businesses went up and reached 16.1% and 43% respectively against 14.4% and 41.5% in 2006. The Expert magazine reports the

'The issue of dishonest business practices is becoming more and more acute and dishonesty is even sometimes seen as an entrepreneurial tool; so we thought of setting up an organization that could file all the instances of unfair play on the market,’ General Director of Intellect-C Evgeniy Shestakov announced at a press conference on October 23, 2007. 'A non-profit partnership will have been registered by the end of the year, and any firm willing to do so will be allowed to join. We are currently working on this organization’s charter. We feel it’s necessary to disclose the names of

'Our region’s travel organizations were awarded with the People’s Tourist Prizes on October 22, 2007. Not a single representative of Neva Yekaterinburg showed up at the ceremony, so the old rubber boot (a ‘prize’ given to the worst travel agent) will be sent to the company by post,’ President of Sverdlovsk Region Tourist Information Center Vadim Viner said to UrBC. In the meantime, Director of Neva Yekaterinburg Andrei Pidzhakov says he’s never heard of the People’s Tourist Prize and is not going to attend any events of such sort. 'Neva Yekaterinburg was declared the worst travel

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of self-regulatory financial organizations’ deposits in VUZ Bank valid for 91 to 180 days went down by 100% (from 1 million RUR to zero) in January-September 2007.

Rusipoteka.ru, the information and analytics portal on mortgage lending and securitization, published some data on the largest Russian banks’ activity on October 22, 2007. These banks have issued at least 750,000 mortgages to their customers by July 1, 2007. The state-run Sberbank is definitely the most powerful player in this field, as it is responsible for two-thirds of all mortgages offered to borrowers in this country. On the other hand, some smaller regional banks have been fairly successful as well. SKB-Bank, for instance, was rated Russia’s 25th largest mortgage-giver. 'The

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by UralTransBank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for 181 days to 1 year went down by 79.87% (from 308,000 RUR to 62,000 RUR) in January-August 2007.

Ural Airlines has recently introduced five new ticket tariffs for its Yekaterinburg-Moscow-Yekaterinburg flights. The tariffs are shaped so as to meet the needs of five different types of customers. People living in Kurgan and Tyumen Regions can book and buy a ticket for Yekaterinburg-Moscow flight for 1,235 RUR. If any passenger books a ticket at least twenty-five and fourteen days in advance, it will cost 1,335 RUR or 3,435 RUR, respectively. Then, there is a special tariff for people with disabilities and those who accompany them during the flight. These people can buy a ticket for 2,800

Severnaya Kazna Insurance Company sold a portion of shares of Severnaya Kazna, thus reducing its share in the bank’s authorized capital from .953% to .2%, or by 79%. This information was published in compliance with the demand that any issuer and/or a joint stock investment fund must promptly reveal any essential information that could influence its stock price.