‘I don’t think Maxi Group is going to reach an agreement with Gazprom in terms of the natural gas supplies they need,’ Unicom Partner Universal Investment Company Asset Management Director Vitaliy Kalugin said to UrBC. Gazprom’s refusal to provide Maxi Group with natural gas was discussed at a meeting chaired by Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel. ‘Even if they do reach an agreement after all, one should bear in mind that the prices are expected to double by 2012. Coincidentally, it is in 2012 when the arc-furnace plant Maxi Group is currently constructing is going to reach its full

Russian Railways Public Company CEO Vladimir Yakunin is going to arrive in Sverdlovsk Region on July 31, 2007, the spokesperson for Sverdlovsk Region Railways reports. According to some official reports, Mr. Yakunin is expected to take part in a meeting targeted at looking into the rail transport development strategy in 2007-2030. The meeting will be chaired by Plenipotentiary Representative of Russian Federation President in Ural Federal District Petr Latyshev. At the same time, Mr. Yakunin’s visit might also have to do with the general status quo of Sverdlovsk Region Railways. For one, a

‘Our customers have to put up with some waiting lists if they want to acquire a car. This mainly pertains to Nissan Qashqai, since this particular model enjoys greater demand than the other ones. In addition, the shortage of cars has to do with the producer’s specific policies,’ Lucky Motors Nissan Sales Manager Elena Abramova said to UrBC. ‘As for the other kinds of cars, there is no waiting list of any sort, but a customer would have to wait for about 45 days anyway. The terms of delivery also depend on the kind of kitting or the car parts used,’ she explained.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by GRAN Commercial Bank to sole traders for a term of 181 days to 1 year went down by 62.6% (from 43.16 million RUR to 16.135 million RUR) in January-June 2007.

Rossvyazohrankultura (the state communication and cultural heritage watchdog) summed up the results of tenders where mobile operators competed for licenses that would allow them to operate in seven Russian regions. The panel of assessors met on July 19, 2007 to consider applications submitted for tenders 6-РЧ/2007 and 7-РЧ/2007. According to Kommersant newspaper, the license entitling MobileTeleSystems to providing its services in Kurgan Region was withdrawn the day after the tender and passed on to a new player Summa Telecom.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by METCOMBANK to self-regulatory financial institutions for over 3 years went down by 25% (from 4 million RUR to 2.999 million RUR) in January-June 2007.

‘Bank24.ru made opening a bank account online (a service unique to both Yekaterinburg and the entire country) much easier for legal entities. These are now able to submit their applications through the bank’s corporate website,’ the company’s press release states. In order to set up an account, one only needs to fill in an electronic application form with a few standard questions (the name of one’s company, the proprietor’s/CEO’s personal data, etc.). The form is available at www.bank24.ru. Then, the bank will process the application and the customer will get all the papers needed to open an

‘Russkiy Reporter has been selling much better than Russkiy Newsweek for quite a while now. Strictly speaking, the sales of the latter haven’t dropped or anything, but they haven’t been going up, either,’ Chitai Gorod Ltd. Marketing Director Tatiana Solodnikova said to UrBC. Russkiy Reporter’s first issue saw the light in Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Rostov-on-Don, and Samara on May 17, 2007, accompanied by large-scale marketing and advertising campaigns. Experts observe it may be because of Russkiy Reporter that Russkiy Newsweek is now selling worse.

Gazprom refused to provide Maxi Group with the natural gas it needs for putting up an arc-furnace plant in Berezovskiy. This problem was discussed at a meeting chaired by Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel. Maxi Group is currently trying to construct an arc-furnace plant on the premises of The Urals Precision Alloys Plant (part of Maxi Group) in Berezovskiy; Gazprom denied them their major fuel source, saying there are no gas limits set for Sverdlovsk Region. The spokesperson for the Governor says the company needs at least 320 million cubic meters of natural gas a year to reach its

Ural Airlines offers new prices on Moscow- and Saint Petersburg-bound flights beginning from August 13, 2007. If you book and buy at least 21 days before the flight, the price will only come to 3,535 RUR for a Yekaterinburg-Moscow or Moscow-Yekaterinburg flight, to 3,115 RUR for a Saint Petersburg-Yekaterinburg or Yekaterinburg-Saint Petersburg flight, and to 3,100 RUR for a Chelyabinsk-Moscow or Moscow-Chelyabinsk flight, the airline’s press officer reports. The booking and selling are performed simultaneously, and one can buy the tickets for any day or any flight in any of Ural Airlines’

Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Petr Sumin took part in a meeting chaired by Vice Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev in the Government House in Moscow on July 24, 2007. The meeting was devoted to the implementation of regional gasification projects in the first half of the year. Gasification is one of Chelyabinsk Region’s top priority challenges: the region consumes 16 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year, with the consumption levels rising by 2.5 times between 1997 and 2006. Natural gas is now used in all the cities and districts, including even some very remote areas, that is, in 829

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of profit-making self-regulatory organizations’ deposits in Tagilbank valid for 1 to 3 years went down by 57% (from 7 million RUR to 3 million RUR) in January-June 2007.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by METCOMBANK to non-resident legal entities for 1 to 3 years went down by 59.5% (from 12.815 million RUR to 5.1871 million RUR) in January-June 2007.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of natural persons’ deposits in SberInvestBank valid for 31 to 90 days went down by 58% (from 1.988 million RUR to 838,000 RUR) in January-June 2007.

The preliminary trial of Pavel Fedulev that was supposed to have resulted in setting the date for the first court hearing was put off until July 24, 2007. Mr. Fedulev is accused of attempted fraud, falsification of evidence, forgery, and mass riots (Articles 30 (part 1), 159 (part 4), 33 (part 3), 303 (part 3), 327 (part 2), and 212 (part 1) of Russian Criminal Code). His accomplice A. Naimushin is charged with attempted fraud and mass riots (Articles 30 (part 1), 159 (part 4), and 212 (part 1) of Russian Criminal Code).

Sverdlovsk Region enterprises’ total arrears of wages amounted to 9.5 million RUR on June 1, 2007, which is 5.5% less than a year earlier, the State Statistical Service reports. As for Ural Federal District, the arrears of wages reached 43.3 million RUR, which is 20.8% less than on June 1, 2006.

IES Multiutilities were faced with a number of problems when trying to get ready for the upcoming heating season. ‘Even though the boiling facilities and the heat networks are being repaired, the equipment used within buildings is almost becoming outright dangerous to use; to make matters worse, a lot of our customers haven’t been paying their bills. These are, for instance, a management company ZHET 3 and PervouralskRemService of Pervouralsk (their debts amount to over 10 million RUR). As regards Mikhailovsk, the town’s total debt comes to 8 million RUR (with 5 million RUR owed by

Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel accepted the resignation of Boris I. Charniy, CEO of Sverdlovsk Region Territorial Obligatory Medical Insurance Fund. Mr. Charniy will be succeeded by former Deputy CEO Yuri S. Semenov, the spokesperson for the Governor reports.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by UralTransBank to profit-making self-regulatory organizations for up to 30 days went down by 54% (from 31.25 million RUR to 14.301 million RUR) in April-June 2007.

‘Even though the ban on the supply of Moldavian wines has been removed, they won’t be able to win back their share of the Russian market,’ Omega Incorporated Ltd. Commercial Director Sergey Lapkin said to UrBC. ‘Firstly, there are now only a few Moldavian suppliers who have been allowed to operate in this country. Besides, their produce is bound to be 15% to 20% more expensive than before. Secondly, their niche has already been taken over by Russian winemakers as well as producers of inexpensive wines from Spain, Italy, Chile, and Argentina,’ Mr. Lapkin explained. ‘Prior to the ban, the share