Moody's Investors Service (the international rating agency) gave SKB-Bank the long-term B2 and the short-term NP ratings in terms of foreign currency accounts and E+ rating in terms of financial stability. At the same time, Moscow-based Moody's Interfax Rating Agency (wholly controlled by Moody’s) assessed the bank on the national long-term Baal.ru scale. SKB-Bank was rated Russia’s 79th largest bank assets-wise in the third quarter of 2006 and Sverdlovsk Region’s third largest bank. SKB-Bank offers its services to both individuals and businesses or organizations and tries to set up

Acting Head of Sverdlovsk Region Government Galina Kovaleva coordinated a cabinet meeting devoted to implementation of the President’s address to the Federal Assembly in the first quarter of 2007. One of the reports was presented by First Deputy Minister for Economics and Labor Nikolai Bespamyatnikh, who said Sverdlovsk Region was doing quite well in terms of economic development. The region’s industrial production index went up 8.4% compared to a year earlier; so did the amount of investments (28%) that now comes to 9.5 billion RUR. The average pay rose by 32.2% against January 2006 and now

All the divisions of Nizhniy Tagil customs processed 2,600 freight declarations in March 2007, which exceeds the figures for the previous March by 21.3%, reports the spokesperson for Ural Customs Administration. Foreign trade turnover within the area of Nizhniy Tagil customs amounted to $255.7 million, which is 20.2% better than a year earlier, with 82.7% of goods transferred to and from the far abroad and 17.3% shipped to and from the countries of the CIS. The import/export ratio was estimated at 12.5% to 87.5%. The freight turnover amounted to more than 407,000 tons, with 238,500 tons of

Online Bank24.ru registered its 4,500th client on April 16, 2007. This was Uniland Yekaterinburg, one of Sverdlovsk Region’s largest wholesale supermarkets. The winning customer was awarded with six months of free service. ‘I chose Bank24.ru because of a user-friendly interface and excellent operative qualities. The system allows you to create new documents easily since it supports quite a few specialized reference books. Besides, I was pleased to find out that the bank now accepts all the non-cash payments until 6 PM. It’s a great perk for Uniland, as wholesale trading involves suppliers and

SKB-Bank offered its clients 229 mortgages in January-March 2007 compared with 207 a year earlier and only 159 in the first quarter of 2005. 32 mortgages were actually given to borrowers wishing to invest in apartments currently under construction. SKB-Bank’s mortgages are now available not only to people living in Yekaterinburg but also to dwellers of other cities who can visit the bank’s subsidiaries located all over Sverdlovsk Region, Chelyabinsk Region, Volgograd Region, and Rostov Region; one third of mortgages provided in the first quarter of 2007 was issued outside Yekaterinburg. ‘This

Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel met head of the regional division of Highway Administration Vladimir Plishkin to discuss the highway extension proposal for Yekaterinburg-Koltsovo airport route. This is planned to become a four- to six-lane highway; 11.2 kilometers of road will undergo reconstruction using 3,000 tons of cement and more than 100,000 tons of asphalt concrete. The project is expected to be completed in May 2009.

Ural Airlines has recently reported that the carrier is fully prepared for the summer season. The company is still the regional leader in terms of Egypt- and Turkey-bound flights, and the number of passengers is expected to grow even further this summer. Chartered flights to Saloniki, Cyprus, and Bulgaria are going to be introduced in the very near future. Some new destinations will also become available in Chelyabinsk and some other cities, says the company’s press officer. Speaking of Chelyabinsk, there are three chartered flights to Antalya consolidated by Coral and More Travel this year;

Federal Antimonopoly Service has been trying to reveal any cases of collective domination on the regional retail oil markets. The law says that any three bodies possessing an over 50% share of the market, or any five bodies possessing more than 70% of the market (provided each player has at least 8%), can be classed as an instance of collective domination; such cases have been found in 38 Russian Regions, namely: Bashkortostan, Altai, Karachaevo-Cherkessia, Karelia, Tatarstan, Udmurtia, Chuvashia, Krasnodar Region, Perm Region, Stavropol Region, Amur Region, Arkhangelsk Region, Astrakhan

‘The state of Sverdlovsk Region Railways is deplorable and, as a matter of fact, this is the most poorly functioning section in Russia. The losses amounted to 13 million RUR last year; to make matters worse, the company failed to achieve the target performance figures for the first quarter of 2007,’ President of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin announced at a meeting with the company representatives today. ‘The safety level was obviously shameful last year; there were cases of setoffs, five instances of derailing, and damaging of goods. Anyone has a right to err, but if this person’s mistake

Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel held a meeting with Koltsovo airport management on April 13, 2007 to discuss the summer aviation season, reports the spokesperson for the Governor. The meeting was attended by Head of the Governor’s Administration Alexander Levin, acting Head of Sverdlovsk Region Government Galina Kovaleva, Ural Airlines CEO Sergey Skuratov, and General Director of Koltsovo airport Mikhail Maximov. The meeting participants had to discuss changes in the schedule of summer south-bound flights. Koltsovo suggested changing Ural Airlines’ traditional flight departure

The planning project of the first section of Academic district of Yekaterinburg was approved by the Mayor. This project is the key document to be used in the further construction process that determines the boundaries of the district, general characteristics, and engineering particularities. The builders can now start getting things ready in terms of engineering and power-supplying facilities. ‘The overarching idea behind the project is creating a residential area with good quality, comfortable living space that could include the River Patrushikha and some forests; it is going to be a city

United Company RUSAL was registered in Cyprus, says Chairman of the Board Viktor Vekselberg. Most assets will still be classed as Russian, he explains; the registration in Cyprus is needed, however, to enter the global market. The new company unites a number of aluminum plants (Bratsk, Krasnoyarsk, Novokuznetsk, Sayanogorsk, Khakas Aluminum Smelters, Achinsk Alumina Plant, Nikolaev and Boksitogorsk Alumina Refineries, Friguia Alumina Plant (Guinea), Compagnie des Bauxites de Kindia (Guinea), Bauxite Company of Guyana, a stake in the Queensland Alumina Refinery (Australia), as well as ARMENAL,

‘The number of Russian air carriers tends to go down: there were only 182 operating airlines at the beginning of 2007 against 252 companies in 2002. About half of the former players had to leave since they failed to meet the certification requirements; another half had to close down for economic reasons,’ head of Ural division of Federal Transport Surveillance Agency Anatoly Telegin said at the 4th air travel conference Urals’ Open Sky 2007 on April 13, 2007. ‘95% of all domestic flights are performed by the country’s top 30 air carriers (including Ural Airlines), the remaining 5% of flights

The final tour of Russia’s Best Banker contest has recently taken place in Moscow. The event was coordinated by the Association of Regional Banks of Russia, the Association of Russian Banks, and the Finance Academy under the Government of the Russian Federation Some leading Russian bankers, including First Deputy Chairman of the Bank of Russia Georgiy Luntovskiy, First Executive Vice President of Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs Alexander Murychev, President of the Association of Russian Banks Garegin Tosunian, President of the Association of Regional Banks of Russia Anatoly

‘The city council compiled a database of people who invested their money in housing construction in Yekaterinburg but appear to have been deceived by the builders. In addition, a special investor file has been created that is used to compile the database. What is more, an ad hoc committee is now trying to sort out these people’s problems,’ chairman of Right to a Dwelling Vasiliy Ganzhin said to UrBC. ‘Among other things, the committee will look into affairs of Noviy Grad, the local developer; it is now considering withdrawing their misused land allotments in Artelniy Lane and

The city council hosted a meeting of the logistics committee devoted to final preparations for the 3d Small Business Congress; the meeting was chaired by First Vice Mayor Alexander Yakob. The forum will take place in the Big Hall of the town house on April 17, 2007, with over 200 local entrepreneurs and 100 guests expected to attend the event. Sverdlovsk Region is reported to be Russia’s No. 3 in terms of small business development; Yekaterinburg, hosting 72% of all regional small and medium-scale enterprises, leads the way. These businesses produce about 18% of everything made in

The law-enforcement agencies of Ural Federal District had been inspecting most of the local civil services for the last three months to find out that enormous number of civil servants violated the law by concealing their entrepreneurial activity, failing to produce accurate income statements or to hold impartial tenders for goods and services rendered for state and municipal purposes. Over 800 violations were revealed altogether, including 200 offenses in Tyumen Region and more than 170 in Sverdlovsk Region. In order to respond accordingly, the district’s public prosecution authorities

According to the spokesperson for the Administration of Russian Federation Public Prosecution Authorities in Ural Federal District, over 4,200 instances of violating a citizen’s right to a timely salary have been revealed since the beginning of the year. Over 445 illegitimate acts have been impugned, 358 executives were officially warned, and 2,200 prosecutor’s claims were placed with courts as a result. Administrative suits have been filed against 635 repeated offenders, with 14 perpetrators probably to be disqualified. Seven such cases have already been heard in court. N. Filatova (director

MegaFon Ural, the mobile operator, has recently introduced a new, totally unlimited tariff suitable for communication in any spot of Russia. Territory, as it is known, thus provides virtually endless opportunities for business interaction. The fixed monthly fee covers all the outgoing calls to both mobile and landline phones in Russia provided the user is located within the coverage area of MegaFon Ural; all the ingoing and outgoing calls to mobile and landline phones in Russia provided the user is located within MegaFon’s on-network roaming zone. Territory is the best tariff scheme for

Deputy Minister for Economics and Labor of Sverdlovsk Region Anatoly Ogloblin coordinated the meeting of the committee for development and implementation of Sverdlovsk Region productive forces in 2006-2015. This time, the committee tried to analyze the banking sector development, look into small business dynamics, and estimate the potential of the region’s scientific research centers. According to First Deputy Minister for Economics and Labor Nikolai Bespamyatnikh, most of the goals defined in the developmental schemes for last year were achieved. Moreover, most of the target figures were