SKB-Bank evaluated its performance in the first seven months of 2007. The bank’s net assets have increased by over 11.7 billion RUR and amounted to 25.1 billion RUR on August 1, 2007, the bank’s press officer reports. SKB-Bank’s loan portfolio exceeded 17 billion RUR on August 1, 2007 compared with only 9.3 billion RUR a year earlier. The volume of the finances the bank has managed to attract nearly doubled against last August and reached 22.6 billion RUR, with the better part of the money (6.8 billion RUR) coming from natural persons. SKB-Bank’s own resources came to 2.898 billion RUR and

Following the decision taken by RAO UES of Russia Board of Directors on April 27, 2007, what was formerly known as the Urals and Volga Interregional Network Company is to be named the Urals Interregional Network Company now. The company has also acquired an English name - something it did not use to have before, the spokesperson for the new enterprise reports. This means that re-structuring the whole system of the interregional power distribution networks has resulted in setting up a new large Ural company that will unite the electric networks of Chelyabinsk, Sverdlovsk, and Kurgan Regions as

RAO UES of Russia held a BOD meeting that resulted in a decision to suggest that Yekaterinburg Electrical Network Company gets reorganized through creating a separate sales agency. This was actually the first procedure related to re-structuring the company and helping it meet the requirements imposed by the Federal Law 36 as of March 26, 2003 regarding the separation of activities pertaining to natural monopolies and those that can be classed as potentially competitive, the spokesperson for Yekaterinburg Electrical Network Company reports. The new sales agency YekaterinburgEnergoSbyt is to be

The Interregional Territorial Technological and Environmental Safety Department of Rostechnadzor (the state environmental watchdog) in Ural Federal District reports their inspections revealed a number of violations in terms of Sverdlovsk Region authorities getting ready for the heating season 2007/2008. For one, Uktus Company never got a license entitling it to handle the explosion-prone productive facilities; Polevskoye and Sverdlovsk Utilities Systems (both of which are based in Polevskoy) haven’t got enough trained and certificated employees; the towns of Degtyarsk, Zarechniy, and

The Interregional Territorial Technological and Environmental Safety Department of Rostechnadzor (the state environmental watchdog) in Ural Federal District reports 99 people got hurt in industrial accidents in the first half of 2007 compared with 191 people in January-June 2006. Ten fatal accidents have been reported since the beginning of the year, as well as two accidents involving a group of people, with one victim actually getting killed. 54.5% of the victims were aged 50-59, 27.3% were 40 to 49 years old, 9.1% were aged 20-29, and 9.1% were aged 30-39. All of them were male; the job of

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Uralfinprombank to natural persons for 91 to 180 days went down by 72.5% (from 4.311 million RUR to 1.184 million RUR) in January-June 2007.

The volume of loans offered by SKB-Bank to small businesses has by now exceeded 2 billion RUR. Since the special Loans to Small- and Medium-Scale Businesses Program began one and a half years ago, SKB-Bank has already provided its customers with 5,000 loans worth approximately 2,000,000,000 RUR, the bank’s press officer reports. SKB-Bank has also been working on setting up more offices dealing in services to small and medium-scale businesses since the beginning of the year and can now boast subsidiaries in Yekaterinburg and Sverdlovsk Region as well as other parts of Russia. SKB-Bank’s loans

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of natural persons’ investments and deposits in SberInvestBank valid for 31 to 90 days went down by 64.9% (from 1.988 million RUR to 697,000 RUR) in January-July 2007.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Metcombank to profit-making self-regulatory organizations for 31 to 90 days went down by 12.4% (from 227.798 million RUR to 199.504 million RUR) in January-July 2007.

The Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by GRAN Bank to sole traders for 181 days to 1 year went down by 72.6% (from 43.16 million RUR to 11.816 million RUR) in January-July 2007.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Ural Innovational Commercial Bank to natural person for 91 days to 180 days went down by 100% (from 1.002 million to zero) in January-July 2007.

Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Petr Sumin is expected to chair a cabinet meeting on August 15, 2007. The agenda of the meeting covers issues like approving of the region’s budget for 2008, medium-term financial planning for Chelyabinsk Region in 2007-2010, and the region’s socio-economic development strategy in 2007-2020. Some changes will also be made in terms of the regional laws on the budgetary processes in Chelyabinsk Region, on guardianship practices in the region, and on the regional education. Changes in the law on Chelyabinsk Region Obligatory Medical Insurance Fund budget are

The spokesperson for Yekaterinburg Electrical Network Company reports the company has already sustained over 1 million RUR worth of losses owing to cable ruptures. Twenty instances have been recorded since the beginning of the year, with the last one occurring on August 4, 2007 and creating a major power cut in Kirovskiy district of Yekaterinburg. Yekaterinburg Electrical Network Company lays the blame upon the builders who do various construction jobs in places with large amount of cables without bothering to get an agreement from Yekaterinburg Electrical Network Company’s experts, or

Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel appointed Alexander Kharlov Minister for International and Foreign Economic Relations of Sverdlovsk Region. The spokesperson for the Governor reports Mr. Kharlov was born in 1967; he graduated from the regional Suvorov Military High School, then from Kiev Higher Combined Arms Command School, and from Ural State Technical University. After leaving military office, he was employed at the Russian Federation Ministry of Foreign Affairs representation in Yekaterinburg in 2001-2004 and was head of the International Department of the Ministry for

‘We’ve been working literally with our last bit of strength, we’re unable to meet our contract liabilities, and the company has already suffered a lot of losses,’ Director of West Granite (a management company of Asbest Macadam Plant) Valery Padmrin said to UrBC. He says Sverdlovsk Region Railways stopped transporting their macadam on July 1, 2007, nearly bringing the company to a total standstill. The plant’s Sales Department reports the company has suffered about 75 million RUR worth of losses since July 2007. ‘Sverdlovsk Region Railways says this is happening because they cancelled 50

Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant and Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (ChTPZ Group’s largest tube and pipe manufacturers) supplied their consumers with 1,138,200 tons of tubular goods in the first seven months of 2007, which is 23% better than in January-July 2006 when the figure only came to 925,600 tons. ChTPZ Group sold 632,100 tons of tubes and pipes in the first seven months of the year, which exceeds the figures for a year earlier (that is, 505,500 tons) by 25%. These figures include a 35% increase in the amount of large-diameter pipes: it came to 356,000 tons compared with only 263,700 tons of

RENOVA Stroy Group is taking part in Russia’s Construction Sector 2007 Exhibition held in Crocus Expo Center in Moscow. Among the highlights of the exhibition are some multi-faceted area development projects, with one of them (the Academic Multi-Faceted Area Development Project) presented by RENOVA. This project provides for a construction of a new residential area in the south-west of Yekaterinburg fit for 325,000 people. The construction of the future Academic district of Yekaterinburg is now in full swing, with builders getting the area ready for installation of engineering facilities and

Hospitals of Verkhnyaya Pyshma, Sverdlovsk Region, are currently taking care of 38 people diagnosed with pneumonia; three of the patients turned out not to have been infected with legionella, the spokesperson for Sverdlovsk Region Ministry of Healthcare Konstantin Shestakov said to UrBC. ‘People might be getting ill for as long as mid-August, since the incubation period for the infection lasts between 5 and 19 days. The city dwellers might have got it a few weeks ago and fall ill only now,’ he added. This outbreak of legionellosis is reported to have been caused by the water remaining in the

Another instance of cars getting derailed occurred at Sverdlovsk Region railways at 5 PM on August 8, 2007. ‘Three cars that were being transported to a depot in order to be repaired were derailed due to a technical faultiness of one of them. No people suffered; the incident poses no threat to the environment, either,’ Sverdlovsk Region Railways’ press officer Andrei Ivanov said to UrBC. As recently as a month ago (on July 11, 2007), a passenger train 354 going from Perm to Priobie was derailed. The accident occurred at the 491st kilometer of Sverdlovsk Region Railways. Nine cars were

Ural Airlines has come up with a new service again: the company’s customers are now able to get acquainted with the flight menu and order a particular meal when booking online, the carrier’s press officer reports. The e-menu is available via The site features the standard menus offered to business and economy class passengers as well as special vegetarian meals or meals for people observing different kinds of Lents. You can book a meal alongside with booking a ticket online; alternatively, you can do that in any of the booking offices or contact the airline’s Help and Information Center (tel.