Ural Airlines signed a leasing agreement regarding their use of three Airbus 320 planes during the year 2007 in an air show in France. This was done within the framework of the carrier’s air fleet renovation program. The company’s press officer reports they have been negotiating for additional new Airbus planes; the final number of the aircrafts acquired is to be announced in the near future. The need for more new planes emerged when Rostransnadzor (the state transport safety watchdog) and Rosaviation declared it would no longer be legal for four Russian carriers to fly to the EU beginning

'KPMG - the company we’ve chosen to audit our consolidated accounts in 2006 - is one of the largest globally recognized enterprises,’ SKB-Bank’s Chief Accountant Oleg Morozov says. 'KPMG’s audit report confirms that the bank and its leasing division’s assets amounted to 18.747 billion RUR on December 31, 2006. SKB-Bank’s capital came to 1.34 billion RUR, its profit reached 231.7 million RUR. Our assets went up by 61% (based on IAS), our net profit by over 80%,’ Mr. Morozov notes. 'This audit report can be used as the bank’s official financial statement. We mainly reveal these

A claim laid against Aviaprad Airlines by Federal Antimonopoly Service in Sverdlovsk Region is to be heard in Sverdlovsk Region Court of Arbitration on June 19, 2007. Last year, the Service handled the case of Koltsovo airport related to overpriced aviation kerosene and thus had to send queries to all the carriers who cooperated with the airport, asking them to provide data on the purchasing prices. Aviaprad never answered this query, the spokesperson for Federal Antimonopoly Service in Sverdlovsk Region said to UrBC. 'Each carrier must give us certain data for us to be able to analyze

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of natural persons’ deposits in METCOMBANK valid for 91 days to 181 days went down 17% (from 44.765 million RUR to 36.786 million RUR) in January-April 2007.

Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel appointed Minister for International and Foreign Economic Relations of Sverdlovsk Region Viktor Koksharov Head of Sverdlovsk Region Government; Mr. Koksharov will therefore have to leave his current ministerial office. This appointment was unanimously supported by Sverdlovsk Region Duma deputies on June 19, 2007.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Ural Interregional Bank to natural persons for a term of over 3 years went down 7% (from 14.693 million RUR to 13.552 million RUR) in January-May 2007.

Evraz Group, Russia’s leading steelmaker, was declared the world’s 12th largest producer by experts from the International Cast Iron and Steel Institute. The list comprises 80 companies altogether, the spokesperson for Evraz Group reports. Evraz Group produced 16.1 million tons of steel last year, which exceeded the figures for 2005 by 2.2 million tons. The Institute reports the global production of steel reached yet another record (1.224 billion tons) for the eighth time in a row in 2006.

URSA Bank’s Ural branch has already provided its customers with 1 billion RUR worth of car loans. 'Our bank uses a whole range of car loan schemes, so every would-be borrower can find something to his or her liking. One can buy a Russian or a foreign automobile, a passenger car or a truck. Our customers can have a loan for only 10.99% a year; moreover, one does not have to worry about the first installment or monthly commissions. You can even have your loan cover the cost of additional equipment for the car,’ the bank’s press release states. 'We’ve been working with hundreds of the

Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel received a letter from the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Kingdom of Denmark to Russia Per Karlsen; Mr. Karlsen informed the Governor that the Danish Government decided to set up a trade mission in Yekaterinburg, the spokesperson for the Governor reports. The decision was made in response to the increasing interest the Danish business community has been taking in their prospective cooperation with Sverdlovsk Region entrepreneurs.

Sverdlovsk Gubernskiy Bank’s own resources went down by 1% in January-May 2007; this information was published by Severnaya Kazna on the corporate website as part of a report on performance of the largest banks based in Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, Tyumen, and Perm Regions in five months of 2007.

Ural Airlines flew 92,473 passengers in May 2007, which is 27% better than a year earlier. These figures include 52,701 people who used the carrier’s domestic flights and 30,303 passengers who used international scheduled and chartered flights, which exceeds the figures for May 2006 by 23%. 9,469 people flew to the NIS, which exceeds the figures for a year earlier by 177%. The passenger load ratio reached 71%, the company’s press officer reports. The carrier’s passenger turnover amounted to 225,789,000 passenger-kilometers, which is 22% better than in May 2006. The ton-kilometer figures went

'Turkey is the most poplar holiday destination among local tourists at the moment; travelers are enticed by low prices for all kinds of customers, and this country is going to be most travel agents’ top priority through late September,’ Deputy Director of Bosfor Travel Agency Alexei Petrov said to UrBC. 'Traveling to Egypt is also very widespread; on average, it only costs between 15,000 RUR to 20,000 RUR per person to go to either of the two countries. Beginning from September, people will once again start going to the so-called ‘winter’ destinations, that is, Thailand, the

'The public hearings related to the prospective set of regulations regarding land management and construction in Yekaterinburg resulted in 57 comments and proposals. Our committee is going to keep working on the project, with the final bill presented to Yekaterinburg Municipal Duma in September and probably adopted in September or October 2007,’ Duma Deputy and the ad hoc committee member Nikolai Lantukh said to UrBC. The participants of the public hearings held in the building of the city council suggested that the draft bill should be accepted as a springboard for further elaboration.

'SKB-Bank came up with growth figures as of June 1, 2007, and these figures appear to be very impressive. The bank’s net assets, for instance, rose to 21.1 billion RUR, which is 2.6 billion RUR better than on January 1, 2007 and 8.5 billion RUR better than on June 1, 2006,’ SKB-Bank’s press release says. The bank’s loan portfolio has gone up by 3.6 billion RUR since the beginning of the year and now comes to more than 13.8 billion RUR. The portfolio looks well-balanced and appears to have a low risk ratio. The volume of natural persons’ investments reached 6.2 billion RUR on June 1, 2007

Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel agreed to the resignation of Alexei Vorobiev, who decided to leave his position of Head of Sverdlovsk Region Government, the spokesperson for the Governor reports. First Deputy Head of Government and Minister for Economics and Labor Galina Kovaleva is going to be acting Head of Sverdlovsk Region Government until the new Head has been appointed.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Uralincombank to natural persons for 181 days to 1 year went down 37% (from 2.183 million RUR to 1.356 million RUR) in January-April 2007.

West Siberian Metallurgical Industrial Complex (part of Evraz Group) has successfully undergone the scheduled audit procedure conducted by a representative of Lloyd Register, the British corporation. The audit covered the obligatory elements of the company’s quality management system and the implementation of this system in the section-rolling, roll-turning, and thermal shops as well as in the coking plant section, the repair and maintenance shop, the personnel development center, the labor and wages coordinating department, and in the training and production department. 'At the end of a

Ural Airlines complemented its set of Yekaterinburg-Moscow flights with a new U6 264 one. According to the company’s press officer, this was done in response to great demand this destination has been enjoying. The flight is performed using TU 154 planes every Monday, since this is the day of the week traditionally used for holding workshops, conferences, and business meetings of all kinds. The carrier’s press officer reports the first U6 264 flight was performed on Monday, June 18, 2007. The passenger load ratio reached 50%.

64 people were wounded as a result of Chelyabinsk-Simferopol train 279 colliding with a freight train. 12 people (including one child) had to be taken to hospital. The accident occurred between Liski, Voronezh Region, and Valuyki, Belgorod Region, on June 17, 2007. Russian Railways originally announced that the passenger train engine crashed into the last carriage attached to the freight train and made it come off. The issue is being investigated by an ad hoc committee headed by Vice President of Russian Railways Public Company Viktor Popov.

Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Petr Sumin invested 12.9 million RUR in toxicological clinics and traumatology centers in the region. Last year, six toxicological clinics were set up in Chelyabinsk Region, namely, in Zlatoust, Kyshtym, Magnitogorsk, Troitsk, and Chelyabinsk. In addition, six traumatology centers were introduced in Argayashskiy, Varnenskiy, Etkulsky, Troitsky, and Uyskiy districts. Almost 8 million RUR were invested in the newly founded medical establishments in 2006. This money was spent on cardio monitors, sets of surgical equipment, implants, sets of splints, and equipment