Rosnedvizhimost (the state land-laws watchdog) revealed 38,000 violations of land laws in Russia in the first half of 2007, with 4,437 state inspectors responsible for the land surveillance. Over 92,000 inspections aimed at checking the compliance with the existing legislation were conducted in January-July 2007, which exceeds the figures for a year earlier by one-third. The greatest number of violations was recorded in the Republic of Bashkortostan (3,130), the Republic of Tatarstan (1,890), Krasnodar Territory (1,689), Sverdlovsk Region (1,647), Moscow Region (1,214), Samara Region (1,169),

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Tagilbank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for 181 days to 1 year went down by 40.28% (from 59.1 million RUR to 35.298 million RUR) in January-July 2007.

URSA Bank set up its seventh office in the Republic of Tatarstan on August 7, 2007. The bank has already got branches in four local cities, namely, Kazan, Naberezhnye Chelny, Zelenodolsk, and Nizhnekamsk. The new office is located at 12 Adoratskiy St. in Kazan. URSA Bank’s Tatarstan Branch Retail Business Director Vitaliy Sernov says the bank’s retail services are targeted at offering popular high-tech banking products and quality service to their customers. The city dwellers can now use the bank’s loans (including car loans) and money order services and perform foreign currency operations

The new regulations regarding the safety check and search of passengers prior to and after the flight came into force on August 27, 2007; the corresponding decree No. 104 was adopted by the Ministry of Transport on July 25, 2007, the spokesperson for Koltsovo airport of Yekaterinburg reports. The new rules provide for much stricter ways of checking the passengers’ luggage, cabin luggage, and their personal search in order to ensure greater safety aboard a plane. People traveling via Koltsovo airport can get acquainted with the list of prohibited items and substances using the airport’s

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of natural persons’ deposits and investments in GRAN Bank valid for 91 to 180 days went down by 68.96% (from 326.024 million RUR to 101.203 million RUR) in January-July 2007.

Severnaya Kazna Insurance Company Ltd sold 1.649% of Severnaya Kazna Bank’s stock, thus reducing its share in the bank’s authorized capital from 2.602% to .953%. The bank’s Chairman Vladimir Frolov acquired part of the offered shareholding, thus raising his share in the bank’s authorized capital to 25,000.

‘We are aware of existence; the emergence of this website has not resulted from our activity on the whole or from actions taken by some of our employees. We do not know the names of people who might be interested in damaging our reputation. In fact, these could really be some activists that are fighting for allegedly truthful depiction of facts about all of Yekaterinburg-based car dealers online. On the other hand, this site could have been created by our rivals,’ Krasnolesie Car Center’s Executive Director Igor Surkov said to UrBC. The website www.rfblog.ru is regularly updated with some

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Ural Innovational Commercial Bank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for 181 days to 1 year went down by 9.57% (from 194.09 million RUR to 175.533 million RUR) in January-July 2007.

The value of net assets of Energy – Mixed Investments (the unit investment trust) managed by Eurogreen Management Company Ltd. went down by 9.9% between July 20, 2007 and August 20, 2007. According to Eurogreen’s website, the company’s net assets decreased from 5,373,957.3 RUR on July 20, 2007 to 4,839,247.64 RUR on August 20, 2007.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of natural persons’ deposits and investments in Plato Bank Ltd valid for 91 to 180 days went down by 22.91% (from 3.61 million RUR to 2.783 million RUR) in January-July 2007.

‘Neither of the two car dealers is going to win anything as a result of the current public relations warfare. One of them might be able to entice a number of customers through blackening its rival at first, but in the long run, people are going to shun both companies,’ Director of Saint Petersburg-based BC Communications Olga Chernyshova said to UrBC. She believes the continuation of this mutual negative publicity campaign will affect the sales of both car centers badly. ‘The customers will simply get confused and are bound to stop trusting both companies. This means they will start buying

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Universal Commercial Bank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for 181 days to 1 year went down by 96% (from 22.65 million RUR to 900,000 RUR) in January-July 2007.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Sverdlovsk Gubernskiy Bank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations despite overdraft account went down by 24.9% (from 160.364 million RUR to 121.102 million RUR) in January-July 2007.

‘If Maxi Group actually enters the weldless pipe market, its rivals are bound to try to prevent the company from succeeding in the business,’ UralPromSnab’s Sales Manager Dmitriy Gilvanov said to UrBC. He is also inclined to think Maxi Group might experience some difficulties creating the demand for its goods. ‘Consumers are more likely to buy weldless pipes from a company with a well-established reputation, a company they have for a long time been doing business with,’ Mr. Gilvanov observed. Maxi Group has recently started putting up a weldless pipe production plant in Revda; experts tend to

‘The fact that two large Yekaterinburg-based car dealers have been campaigning against each other via mass media resources is sure to affect them both badly. If it is actually proved that the companies themselves are behind the negative publicity targeted against one another, they are simply going to lose all the credibility as far as their customers are concerned,’ Andrei Tavolzhanskiy, PR Manager of Obratnaya Svyaz Agency (based in Moscow), said to UrBC. Mr. Tavolzhanskiy believes if some bad reports on the companies appear online often enough, they will gradually seep in the potential

‘Our customers normally come to us with pre-chosen mortgage schemes from this or that bank, yet no one has ever come with an offer from URALSIB,’ Director of SV Nedvizhimost Ltd Svetlana Scherbinina said to UrBC, explaining the reason why her real estate agency is not at all aware of the bank’s mortgage offers and sees no reason for doing business with URALSIB. In the meanwhile, the number of Sverdlovsk Region-based banks that deal in mortgage lending keeps growing, and so does the variety of options. However, this has not resulted in greater numbers of given mortgages: this year, the amount

A round table discussion devoted to the new banking season was held in Yekaterinburg on August 24, 2007. A number of representatives of crediting and non-profit organizations from both Yekaterinburg and Moscow took part in the event. The main point on the agenda covered the issue of the banking crisis. Bankers claimed there was not going to be any crises in the upcoming year. ‘In fact, we expect our business to expand next year,’ SKB-Bank’s Deputy Chairman Alexander Kudryavtsev said. The banking experts support the idea of the banking sector’s stable development; some drastic political and

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by VUZ Bank to sole traders for 91 to 180 days went down by 53.44% (from 78.343 million RUR to 36.478 million RUR) in January-July 2007.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of for-profit self-regulatory organizations’ deposits in UralFinance Bank valid for 181 days to 1 year went down by 92.31 (from 32.5 million RUR to 2.5 million RUR) in January-July 2007.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Plato Bank Ltd to natural persons for a term of over three years went down by 83.84% (from 4.145 million RUR to 670,000 RUR) in January-July 2007.