The bank’s official website informs the customers that since October 3, 2007 is a public holiday in Germany, Severnaya Kazna is not going to handle any outward euro payments for one day. All the euro payments and stock trading operations will be performed on October 4, 2007, though. In the meantime, one can still sell or buy euros within the bank as well as make inward payments on October 3, 2007. In addition, it is also possible to make dollar payments and stock trading operations as usual.

The value of net assets of Energy – Mixed Investments (the unit investment trust) managed by Eurogreen Management Company Ltd. went down by .1% between September 27, 2007 and September 28, 2007. According to Eurogreen’s website, the company’s net assets decreased from 5, 037,459.08 RUR on September 27, 2007 to 5,032,395.63 RUR on September 28, 2007.

‘The recent increase in food prices has been brought about by a combination of factors like more expensive petroleum, oil, lubricants, and heat-carrying agents and this year’s massive crop failure that was experienced by a lot of countries and made the global crop prices soar immediately,’ Good Taste Meatpacking Plant CEO and Chairman of Sverdlovsk Region Meat Union Sergey Emelyanov said to UrBC. ‘These problems affected Sverdlovsk Region as well. I feel food prices are bound to keep growing this October,’ he added.

‘I am inclined to think that charging for hookup is totally wrong. Our power industry executives are trying to make up for the lack of investments they kept experiencing over the last few years, and they are doing this at the expense of new consumers rather than through the use of their profits,’ Good Taste Meatpacking Plant CEO and Chairman of Sverdlovsk Region Meat Union Sergey Emelyanov said to UrBC. ‘For one thing, a lot of large animal production units are being put up in Russia within the framework of the national program, and this means that they will have to pay for the opportunity to

‘The need for restructuring of the banks’ liabilities was more than once brought into the limelight by many leading experts and heads of central banks in plenty of large countries,’ Finam Investment Bank’s Analyst Vladimir Sergiyevskiy said to UrBC. ‘The actual chances of doing so, however, are very scarce. What is more, if the decision is forced upon the banks by the authorities, the consequences will be so grave that no politician will ever dare assume this responsibility. Besides, measures taken by the American and European monetary authorities do not provide for any natural restructuring.

The spokesperson for Sverdlovsk Region Ministry of Trade, Provision, and Service reports that food prices are really growing because of the suppliers’ new policy implemented over the last couple of weeks. ‘Milk, butter, cheese, and sausages (depending on the variety, fat contents and other factors) grew 3% to 17% more expensive in the last two weeks,’ the spokesperson says. Some independent media, however, claim the food prices went up by 10% to 20%.

On average, one square meter of a Yekaterinburg-based dwelling cost 65,398 RUR on October 2, 2007. This was .4% less expensive than four weeks earlier. Besides, no price increases were recorded in any particular districts. Dwellings became .2% less expensive in the center of the city, with the average price coming to 81,020 RUR per square meter. Prices went down by .3% in Avtovokzal, VIZ, Parkoviy, Yugo-Zapadniy, Botanicheskiy, Zarechniy, Vtuzgorodok, Shartashskiy, Yuzhniy, ZhBI, Pionerskiy, and Vokzalniy districts and came to 69,041 RUR per square meter. As for Siniye Kamni, Uralmash,

‘The issue of fires in Yekaterinburg’s skyscrapers still exists. The thing is, the highest fire motor ladder we’ve got is only 52 meters high, so it can only reach the 16th floor of a building,’ Deputy PR Director of Sverdlovsk Region division of the Ministry of Emergencies Natalia Zyranova says. ‘I hope we will be able to take measures to provide our firefighters with the appropriate equipment very soon, though,’ she notes. Yekaterinburg keeps getting more and more skyscrapers, even though the Ministry of Emergencies’ preparedness for possible fires leaves a lot to be desired.

Following the decision taken by Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Petr Sumin, all of the region’s retirees received 500 rubles as a Senior Citizen’s Day present; in addition, those living in old people’s homes were given special gifts; people from the region’s seventeen gerontological centers got new TV sets. The spokesperson for the Governor says over 333,000 senior citizens have already received 168 million RUR worth of subsidies. The total volume of subsidies meant for the elderly comes to 395 million RUR.

The 5th International Conference on Automatic Electric Drives was coordinated by State Polytechnic University in Saint Petersburg. A lot of experts from Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK), Electroremont Ltd, and Privodnaya Technika Research and Development Center presented their reports. Vyacheslav Golovin, an MMK executive, made a report on the company’s strategy in terms of introducing more AC drives. Nearly 200 reports were made altogether, including 18 reports by MMK executives and Moscow State Technical University faculty. Even though representatives of Magnitogorsk Iron &

Sverdlovsk Region-based companies signed an agreement that provides for a 2,900-ruble minimum wage. The agreement was signed by the trade unions, Sverdlovsk Region government, and the union of employers. Beginning from October 1, 2007, no worker is supposed to make less than 2,900 RUR a month. The regional Federation of Trade Unions, however, reports that a number of employers refused to comply with the agreement claiming that they are not members of the regional Union of Employers and Entrepreneurs.

‘Aluminum is the metal of the future. This metal of the twenty-first century will be used for making cars, computers, airplanes, and various gadgets as soon as 2020,’ Dr. Michio Kaku, a U.S.-based physicist announced in the course of a conference referred to as Siberia’s Aluminum in Krasnoyarsk. The conference was coordinated by United Company RUSAL. Dr. Kaku is positive that the demand for aluminum is bound to increase over the next one hundred years. ‘Firstly, millions of people in, say, China and India, are becoming middle class at the moment, and they are going to need a lot more things

Russian President Vladimir Putin has recently signed a decree on state awards. SKB-Bank’s Chairman Mikhail Khodorovskiy was made Honored Economist of the Russian Federation for his economic and financial achievements. Mr. Khodorovskiy was one of the first people to start banking activity in the Urals. In September 1994, he set up a chair of banking business in Ural State Polytechnic University and has been running it ever since. Mr. Khodorovskiy has been working in SKB-Bank since June 1996; he’s moved on from the Planning and Analysis Director to Operational Management Director to Deputy

Yekaterinburg’s public prosecution authorities and Sverdlovsk Region Ministry for Construction and Housing Maintenance and Utilities checked Mayak Corporation’s compliance with the construction norms in April 2007. The company is currently putting up two 26-storey apartment blocks in Bazoviy Lane. The inspection revealed that even though both skyscrapers were 70% complete, Mayak Corporation had no construction permit. This resulted in an administrative lawsuit and an accusation of violating the norms of construction, reconstruction, overhauls, and commissioning. Sverdlovsk Region Court of

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by VUZ Bank to sole traders despite overdraft went down by 70.22% (from 4.589 million RUR to 1.367 million RUR) in January-September 2007.

All the samples presented by Khortytsa (aka Hortiza) at the International Wine and Spirits Challenge — 2007 contest held in Great Britain were highly praised by the world’s most influential experts, the company’s press officer says. The contest, originally set up by Robert Joseph and Charles Metcalf, soon became the most respectable and large-scale strong drinks exhibition in the world. The participants compete in the International Spirits Challenge and the International Wine Challenge categories with their strong drinks and wines, respectively. There are normally 600 kinds of strong drinks

According to Finance magazine’s fourth annual rating, URSA Bank was rated 327th on Russia’s Top 500 largest companies list in terms of last year’s revenues. The bank’s proceeds amounted to 9.978 billion RUR in 2006, which exceeds the figures for 2005 by 189%. URSA Bank’s net profit rose by 192% and reached 1.464 billion RUR; its assets went up by 289% and came to 111.6 billion RUR. The bank’s equity capital increased by 426% and reached 15.021 billion RUR. The total revenues of all the five hundred companies on the list amounted to 20.3 trillion RUR, their consolidated profit came to 2.8

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by UralFinPromBank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for 31 to 90 days went down by 45.05% (from 255.187 million RUR to 140.236 million RUR) in January-September 2007.

The value of net assets of Energy – Mixed Investments (the unit investment trust) managed by Eurogreen Management Company Ltd. went down by .75% between September 24, 2007 and September 25, 2007. According to Eurogreen’s website, the company’s net assets decreased from 5,012,831.99 RUR on September 24, 2007 to 4,975,146.94 RUR on September 25, 2007.

Ural Airlines is to sign an agreement with Airbus on October 4, 2007, the carrier’s press officer reports. Upon the completion of this procedure, executives from both companies will take part in a press conference in Sverdlovsk Region Government House. These will be Ural Airlines’ General Director Sergey Skuratov and Airbus representatives from France and Moscow. Governor Eduard Rossel is expected to attend the conference as well.