The number of mortgages offered by Russian banks altogether in the first quarter of the year exceeded the figures for the first quarter of 2006 by 4% and reached 82.3 billion RUR. This comes to 32.9% of the target figures for 2007 (250 billion RUR). The average interest rate came to 14% for ruble loans and to 11% for foreign currency loans. The Central Bank of Russia reports Central Federal District’s share of mortgages amounted to 23.4 billion RUR, that of Siberian Federal District to 15.5 billion RUR, that of Volga Federal District to 15.1 billion RUR, that of Ural Federal District to 11.3

SKB-Bank started offering mortgages to members of building societies who would like to have a dwelling built for them. There are several loan schemes available to customers, including the one without the obligatory collateral for the construction period. ‘We’ve got a lot of experience in terms of working with the local builders; all the details and technicalities have already been made clear, so, by launching this new offer, we are giving our building societies a chance to benefit from the federal mortgage program and are expanding our own market as well,’ SKB-Bank’s Mortgage Lending Director

‘May 25, 2007 was the last day for the regional employers to apply for foreign workers they will need next year; we haven’t been able to process all the figures yet, but what I do know is that there had already been applications for 34,500 people by May 18, 2007,’ director of Sverdlovsk Region Placement Service Vyacheslav Krivel said to UrBC. ‘We’ve cancelled all the quotas for the first time this year; last year, however, 43,000 workers were applied for,’ he said. After the applications have been processed, data on the number of workers will be transferred to an interdepartmental committee

According to Sverdlovsk Region Ministry for Economics and Labor, the official unemployment level in the region reached 1.3% on May 1, 2007, with 31,445 people’s files in job centers’ databases. At the same time, regional companies and organizations asked for 41,922 employees.

Agropromcredit Bank’s top executives announced at a recent press conference that the name of their company was actually misleading as it no longer hinted at the bank’s core activities. ‘People often ask what we have to do with the country’s agriculture; the thing is, there used to be some agricultural entities among our founders, but now it’s just a name that does not mean anything in terms of our business directions,’ the bank’s BOD member Yuri Zverev said. Chairman Igor Sogin added that they were about to start a re-branding campaign.

‘The fact that the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development acquired some shares of SKB-Bank is a very good thing for the latter. Firstly, the bank is now able to successfully build on its capital; moreover, doing business with a large international financial institution is a matter of status and prestige which is bound to boost the bank’s capitalization,’ Investments Director of Management Company Alexander Metsger said to UrBC. ‘Seconldy, SKB-Bank is providing additional resources for itself and its customers, which makes it more competitive. Thirdly, the bank is definitely going to

Severnaya Kazna published an obligatory report on important news that could affect a company’s stock price on May 24, 2007. The report states the bank’s net profit amounted to 449,785,000 RUR in 2005 and to 231,710,000 RUR in 2006; this means it went down by 48.48%, or 218,075,000 RUR. The bank says it was due to less favorable market opportunities, expenses occasioned by expanding their retail services and setting up more subsidiaries, and new accounting standards related to deposit interests.

The number of apartments currently offered for sale in Yekaterinburg is bigger than ever before, and the prices stopped going up into the bargain. The average price of a square meter of dwelling now comes to 67,000 RUR; the average price of a square meter of dwelling in the center of the city comes to 80,000 RUR. Experts believe there will be even more supply in the near future, with prices remaining stable, Ural Chamber of Real Estate says.

Chelyabinsk Region Government approved of the action plan based on the President’s address to the Federal Assembly for 2007 on May 24, 2007. According to regional Minister of Economic Development Yuri Klepov, the plan covers four general trends: ensuring great economic growth, improving the living standards, empowering the local governments, and providing for national security. President Vladimir Putin said economic growth was the country’s utmost challenge, which is why Chelyabinsk Region Government intends to keep supporting small and medium-scale business, with 53.5 million RUR already

Rostourism updated its lists of successful applicants wishing to get on the United Federal Register list; only three Yekaterinburg-based companies actually managed to get all the documents needed and were registered by the agency: Ural Tourist Company Ltd., Europort Ltd., and More Travel Russian Club Ltd. No other local travel agents have managed to make it so far; in the meantime, the deadline for submitting one’s applications has been set at June 1, 2007.

‘Sverdlovsk Region banks tend to give more loans to industrial enterprises lately, given especially a certain downfall in the general public’s interest in mortgages,’ Deputy Chairman of the Union of Ural Bankers Evgeniy Bolotin announced at a press conference devoted to banks’ contribution to the country’s economy on May 24, 2007. ‘Equipment used by quite a few regional companies is in dire need of upgrading or replacement, so our industry needs substantial modernization and new technologies. At the same time, banks might find offering loans to industrial businesses even more promising than

‘The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s decision to buy a share holding of SKB-Bank is definitely a good thing for the latter. The decision was made after the EBRD looked into SKB-Bank’s investing potential, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is now going to support this Russian bank with both finances and shared expertise in the field of bank management and operational policies,’ General Director of Blagodat Securities Investment Company Vsevolod Chaschin said to UrBC. SKB-Bank reports it signed the share-selling agreement with the European Bank for

Alapaevsk Customs and Yekaterinburg Customs (both parts of Ural Customs Administration) filed a criminal suit against a group of offenders who were trying to smuggle some consumer goods, Administration’s press officer reports. As it happens, one of the regional profit-making organizations placed its cargo manifest with Yekaterinburg Customs; the cargo in question was a railway carriage going from Rezh station to Tajikistan. The paper stated that there was pine carving wood and linoleum inside. The obligatory check, however, revealed that the actual weight of the alleged linoleum was much

‘The volume of loans given by Sverdlovsk Region banks to legal entities came to approximately 200 billion RUR on April 1, 2007. Loans to sole traders amounted to 10 billion RUR, loans to individual borrowers reached 70 billion RUR,’ First Deputy Minister for Economics and Labor Nikolai Bespamyatnikh reported at a press conference devoted to banks’ contribution to the country’s economy on May 24, 2007.

Most of Russian blue chips kept going down on May 24, 2007: they were .9% to 4.1% less expensive at both RTS and MICEX as early as 10.45 AM; RTS and MICEX indices dropped down to 1,792.45 and 1,566.37 points, respectively. At MICEX, RAO UES of Russia’s shares (EESR) were sold 2.4% cheaper, those of LUKOIL (LKOH) became 1.8% less expensive, those of GazProm (GAZP) dropped by 2%, those of Norilsk Nickel (GMKN) dropped by 3.1%; the shares of SurgutNefteGas (SNGS) were sold 2.8% cheaper, the price of those of TatNeft (TATN) decreased by 1.4%, TransNeft’s shares (TRNF) went down by 4%.

Sverdlovsk Region Ministry for Physical Education, Sports and Tourism and Ural State University are holding an interregional conference known as The Greater Urals Tourist Forum on May 24-25, 2007. The event is supported by the regional government and Rostourism. ‘The agenda of the conference covers issues of foreign travelers coming to the Urals and creating and promoting the Greater Urals brand in Russia and abroad,’ Ural Airlines’ press officer says. The carrier has already come up with a few new offers to make foreigners’ visits more comfortable. The company’s English and German corporate

RENOVA Stroy Group presented its Academic Construction Project at Real Vienna 2007 International Exhibition on May 23, 2007. The exhibition usually attracts Western and Eastern Europe’s largest investment projects. The company’s press officer says the project stand was located in Messezentrum Wien Neu, the exposition’s main pavilion. At least a few hundred visitors had a look at the stand within the first few hours of the opening; these were mainly European officials and entrepreneurs, including Vienna’s Vice Mayor, Vienna’s Minister for Finances and Economic Policies Renate Brauner, and top

The regional division of the Bank of Russia registered Financial System bank management fund under the Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development. Registration number is 04657779500015. ‘The new fund will mainly invest in Russian banks’ shares; this segment was chosen because Russian banks need to develop quicker than any other sectors if we want to boost the country’s economic growth. When economy is on the rise, banking services enjoy greater demand; market capitalization and liquidity within this segment goes up as well, all of which improves the dividend payments and stock price. In

Rosselkhoznadzor (the state agricultural watchdog) reports that 31.2 million hectares of land, or 63.4% of the target figures, have been sown by May 22, 2007. This is 957,000 hectares less than a year earlier; 20.1 million hectares were used for spring crops; this comes to 64.1% of the target figures. The sowing has been delayed by eight to ten days (compared to the usual beginning of the sowing campaigns) in Ural Federal District and the Volga Region due to inclement weather; only 850,000 hectares, or 20% of the planned area, have been sown in Ural Federal District, with spring crops and

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of nongovernmental financial institutions’ deposits in Uralfinprombank valid for 3 or more years went down 100% (from 4.5 million RUR to zero) in January-April 2007.