The common stock of Uralsib (USBNG) topped the depreciating shares list on August 13-17, 2007. The price dropped by 18% and came to $.0205 on the regular market and by 12.7% on the stock market. These data were provided by Russian Trading System.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of state-owned for-profit organizations’ deposits in Tyumenenergobank valid for 91 to 180 days went down by 50% (from 20 million RUR to 10 million RUR) in January-July 2007.

The interregional heating system control division of Rostechnadzor (the state environmental, technological, and nuclear safety watchdog) reported 28 industrial safety violations at Klyuchevsk Ferrous Alloys Works based in Dvurechensk, the spokesperson for Rostechnadzor in Ural Federal District reports. The enterprise never had its two smoke tubes of the steamshop examined by experts in terms of industrial safety; it did not meet the requirements imposed after the examination of the smoke tube of the water-heating boiler and did not provide the conditions necessary for extending the life of

‘We had to stop acting as the contractors for putting up the frame of the third building pertaining to Antey Business Center. All the equipment, including the crane, has been dismantled,’ Metalline Ltd’s PR manager Evgeniya Selischeva said to UrBC. ‘Upon the Court of Arbitration’s decision to sustain the claim laid against the center by Rostechnadzor (the state environmental, technological, and nuclear safety watchdog), the city’s public prosecution authorities filed an administrative suit against the general contractor and made it stop all the construction activity for 90 days. For us, three

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Plato Bank Ltd to natural persons for 1 to 3 years went down by 100% (from 2.821 million RUR to zero) in January-July 2007.

‘Even though the head of Rosaviation Evgeniy Bachurin said air fare might go up by 20% to 40% in the near future, Ural Airlines is not planning to make its tickets more expensive, the airline’s press officer reports. The change has been predicted due to the new safety check rules that provide for stricter search of passengers prior to the flight. Yet these new requirements are only likely to affect the price of the ticket very slightly. Ural Airlines has never stuck to the policy of immediate price increases when the market tends to fluctuate,’ Ural Airlines’ Air Safety Director Vladimir

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by VUZ Bank to sole traders for 31 to 90 days went down by 67.33% (from 3.48 million RUR to 1.137 million RUR) in January-July 2007.

'The models of automobiles pertaining to premium class are nearly all readily available to our customers, with very few exceptions. There are also quite a few mass market car types that you can buy right away. If you do place an order and there is no car the color you want in store, you’d have to wait between two and four months before you can actually get your vehicle,’ Autoland Holding’s Advertising and Marketing Director Natalia Nagornova said to UrBC. 'However, not all of our customers are prepared to wait that long. We get reports of people selling their place in the waiting

A company named System Operator Ltd that manages Russia’s united power engineering network came up with a list of Russian regions that might be getting less power supply this coming winter. Vedomosti newspaper refers to Mikhail Shulga of System Operator Ltd, giving names of nine regions that might experience cutbacks. These are Moscow and Moscow Region, Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Region, Krasnodar Territory, Tyumen Region, Sverdlovsk Region, Perm Region, Chelyabinsk Region, Nizhniy Novgorod Region, and the Republic of Komi. All these areas were put on the list as early as April 2007 on

URSA-Bank was able to get a two-tranche syndicated loan that totals to $225 million. The Bank of Tokyo — Mitsubishi UFJ, Standard bank, Unicredit Group, and WestLB acted as the book runners and the leading coordinators of the transaction. The interest rate, as far as the first tranche is concerned, amounts to LIBOR plus 85, that on the second portion of the loans comes to LIBOR plus 125. The money thus obtained is meant for financing commercial contracts. ‘Given the unstable state of the global financial markets, this transaction is a proof of foreign investors’ trust and their confidence in

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by GRAN Bank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for 31 to 90 days went down by 93.73% (from 112.98 million RUR to 7.88 million RUR) in January-July 2007.

Verkh-Isetskiy Court of Yekaterinburg is expected to proceed with the criminal case of Vyacheslav Borisov, head of Ural Investment and Construction Company Ltd., on August 21, 2007. Mr. Borisov is charged with large-scale fraud; he was detained in May 2007, after nearly a year of his hiding from the authorities. The first court hearing took place on June 28, 2007; the hearing was taken up by examining the first victim - one of the company’s co-investors. Then the proceedings were put off until August 21, 2007 because the judge was going on vacation. Earlier on, the trial had been put off due

SKB-Bank set up a new office in Cherkessk, the capital of Karachai-Cherkess. The bank’s press officer says the new office was designed to provide services to legal entities from 8.30 AM to 5.30 PM on weekdays. The office is located at 109 Mezhdunarodnaya St. This has become SKB-Bank’s southernmost representation, the press officer said to UrBC.

'It’s going to be very difficult for Maxi Group to break into the weldless pipe market, as it is saturated at the moment and the competition is quite fierce,’ a representative of Trubmetallkomplekt Ltd said to a UrBC reporter. 'There are three large weldless pipe makers in Sverdlovsk Region alone (one of them being Sinara Pipe Works), and plenty of intermediaries on top of that. This is why what Maxi Group wants to do is set prices that are lower than the current market ones. Otherwise their potential consumers simply won’t buy their produce, given that the quality of these goods is

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Pervouralsk Joint Stock Commercial Bank to sole traders for 181 days to 1 year went down 78.7% (from 33.743 million RUR to 7.182 million RUR) in January-July 2007.

The regional division of Rostechnadzor (the state environmental, technological, and nuclear safety watchdog) inspected a number of hydraulic facilities at Malyshevskoye Rudoupravleniye, Nizhneserginskiy Hardware Plant, and VSMPO AVISMA Corporation on August 6-17, 2007. These inspections revealed 25 safety violations, Rostechnadzor’s local press officer reports. One problem is the absence of systematic control over the way the companies put away their effluents for safekeeping. The inspectors drew up two administrative offense reports, accusing certain authorities of failing to act

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Gubernskiy Bank to state-owned for-profit organizations for 1 to 3 years went down by 29.1% (from 4.999 million RUR to 3.541 million RUR) in January-July 2007.

Ural Airlines operated its first restored scheduled flight from Yekaterinburg to Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on August 18, 2007. The carrier’s press officer says, referring to Conde Nast Traveler, that Baku is ‘one of the twenty places one should see before they lose their historic looks‘. Experts predict putting up more new buildings downtown is bound to fully exterminate the city’s unique architectural ensemble in about a couple of decades. The flight is performed every Saturday using a TU 154 M aircraft, with the plane taking off from Yekaterinburg at 2 AM and arriving in Baku at 4

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Universal Bank Ltd to non-profit NGOs for 91 to 180 days went down by 57.1% (from 24.5 million RUR to 10.5 million RUR) in January-July 2007.

Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel signed a decree on his own vacation that is expected to last from August 20, 2007 to September 7, 2007. Head of Sverdlovsk Region Government Viktor Koksharov is going to be acting Governor while Mr. Rossel is away.