UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 18, 2020. EVRAZ Holding is planning on setting up a new rail wheel production facility in Titanium Valley Special Economic Zone in Sverdlovsk Region, EVRAZ Holding Ural’s Corporate Communications Center reports. ‘OOO Allegro, a joint venture run by EVRAZ and OOO Rail Service (a holding that owns a railcar-repair business), will be in charge of both the construction and the management of the wheel production facility. The project is estimated to require RUB 16 billion in investments. The new facility will be making 200,000 rail wheels a year (and up to 300,000 wheels

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 17, 2020. The construction of a tram link between Yekaterinburg and Verkhnyaya Pyshma will be over by December 15, 2020, Head of Capital Construction in Yekaterinburg Igor Kungurtsev said during his press tour today. So far, the necessary infrastructure has been renovated, the obstructing greenery has been removed, and some 250 meters of rails going both ways have been built. According to Kungurtsev, the foundation for Meridionalnaya 2 St and the foundation for a power substation necessary for the tram service have both been prepared. Additionally,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 17, 2020. The Russian Government’s air travel ban extending to the Republic of Uzbekistan led to Ural Airlines temporarily cancelling a number of flights starting March 16, 2020. The air carrier’s website states the following international flights have been cancelled: U62773/2774, U6-2611/2612 (Domodedovo-Namangan-Domodedovo) on March 16-31, 2020 U62457/2458 (Zhukovsky-Qarshi-Zhukovsky) on March 17-31, 2020 U62961/2962 (Yekaterinburg-Tashkent-Yekaterinburg) on March 17-31, 2020 U62509/2510 (Saint Petersburg-Namangan-Saint Petersburg) on March 16-31, 2020 U62959/2960

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, March 17, 2020. Director-General at Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) Pavel Shilyayev took part in a recent meeting chaired by Plenipotentiary Representative of Russian Federation President in Ural Federal District Nikolai Tsukanov; the meeting was dedicated to the implementation of National Environment Project in Ural Federal District. According to MMK’s Information & PR Department, Shilyayev gave a talk on how the company manages to reduce its environmental impact and thus to improve Magnitogorsk’s environment. ‘MMK’s ten-year development strategy (adopted in

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 17, 2020. The local round of the Open Innovations Startup Tour opened in Yekaterinburg on March 16, the event coordinators report. The first day of the Startup Tour will be dedicated to digitization, with a panel discussion on non-capital Russian constituencies as the basis for switching to a digital economy; government officials, members of business community, and industry and academia experts will all contribute to the discussion. Speakers from Skolkovo Foundation and other development-focused organizations will coordinate master classes and give talks on ways to

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 16, 2020. Brusnika Development is now selling a number of apartment buildings with custom-designed spaces. The developer offers its customers 25+ floor plans to choose from. Currently on the market are duplexes with large walking terraces, roof terraces, roof windows, and floor-to-ceiling windows on the ground and top floors. The apartment buildings in question are under construction at Shishimskaya Gorka and Severny Kvartal. All duplexes feature an extra source of natural light such as roof windows, a double row of windows, or a (partially) removed top floor

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 16, 2020. RosSet’s Federal Grid Company Untied Energy Systems (FGC UES) added 38 new special-purpose vehicles to its fleet of vehicles used in the company’s Western Siberia division. According to the company’s press service, these are car lifts, cross-country vehicles, multiple-passenger high-mobility vehicles, and snow and swamp-going vehicle. The vehicles are meant to make sure the staff can stay mobile regardless of the season and to ensure a more reliable power supply to end users as well as better access to the company’s energy facilities even in Western

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 16, 2020. The Urals’ first digital service demo-platform opened in Yekaterinburg. The place offers mobile access to a work desk and also features stationary workplaces, MegaFon Ural’s press service reports. ‘We created a space where customers can get acquainted with the latest digital solutions in the most comparable and demonstrative manner there is. Our Business Opportunities Center presents a digital service ecosystem with solutions that help business, production, and government authorities manage their processes more efficiently. You can also consult MegaFon

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, March 16, 2020. MMK Group’s MMK-InformService designed and launched an e-document flow system at MMK Group’s member enterprises, Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) Information & PR Department reports. ‘The system makes paperwork (drafting, approval/revision, signing, issuing assignments, and control over how assignments get worked on) automatic. The solution speeds up a company’s information flows, creates a single information environment, and saves employees’ time. The system’s primary advantages are its clear, intuitive interface, high speed, and mobile-device

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 13, 2020. Ural Airlines will introduce more Yekaterinburg-Almaty flights starting March 29, the air carrier’s press service reports. Flight U6 2893 (Yekaterinburg-Almaty) will get operated every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. Flight U6 2894 (Almaty-Yekaterinburg) will get operated every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. In winter, Yekaterinburg-Almaty-Yekaterinburg flights are only available twice a week. ‘Prices start from RUB 5,822/€71 (one way) and from RUB 10,824/€132 (there and back). You can also save money by joining Ural Airlines’ Wings Club

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, March 13, 2020. Head of RPA & Innovations at MMK Group’s MMK-InformService Mikhail Verisov gave a talk at Back to the Future Conference on RPA solutions at Deloitte’s Moscow headquarters, MMK’s Information & PR Department reports. Verisov spoke about the RPA solutions that Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) currently relies on. ‘Robotic process automation is one of the advanced technologies that change our daily lives. In the last few years, RPA has turned completion of routine tasks into a much faster process; helped improve product quality; and enabled us

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 13, 2020. Thanks to SKB-Bank’s new payment service, the commission for payments made to Sinara Charity Foundation will be five times less than before, the bank’s press service reports. Now SKB-Bank and DeloBank enabled QR code payments through the national Faster Payments System (FPS). ‘You can now make a donation to Sinara Charity Foundation using a QR code and thus support a children’s clinic and, in the near future, more projects. The new technology, known as QR-ing, will allow the foundation to reduce the transfer fee by five times,’ the press service says. To

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 13, 2020. EVRAZ Holding helped coordinate Children’s Foresight Strategic Sessions in the new season, EVRAZ Holding Ural’s Corporate Communications Center reports. 200 schoolchildren and 50 teachers from fifteen schools in Nizhniy Tagil and seven schools and children’s art studios in Kachkanar are taking part in Foresight 2020. During the first strategic session, the teams involved came up with 27 preliminary projects on urban improvements in their home towns. The children suggested building zebra crossings, holding an environmental festival, making urban

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 13, 2020. RosSet’s Federal Grid Company United Energy Systems (FGC UES) cleared 116 hectares of electric mains responsible for power transfer between Chelyabinsk Region and its neighbor constituencies from excessive bulrush growth; the clearing process touched upon nineteen 100-500 kV mains. According to FGC UES’s Ural division’s PR & media group, the warm winter the Urals enjoyed this year resulted in swampy areas not turning into proper solid ice, which is why swamp buggies and snow tractors had to get used for the clearing jobs. The vehicles were applied at

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 12, 2020. Yekaterinburg’s urban transit authorities are coordinating an auction to purchase nine passenger buses, the government purchase website states. The opening bid has been set at RUB 102.6 million. Under the terms of the proposed purchase, all nine buses have to be low-floor ones and painted green. They also need to be fitted with air conditioning and CCTV appliances as well as 3G- and wireless-enabled communication/navigation terminals. The buses must be big enough for at least 25 seats and 90 standees and need to be produced before the end of this year. The

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 12, 2020. Sverdlovsk Region’s inflation rate came to 2.3% in February 2020 compared with February 2019, Sverdlovskstat reports. Food prices rose by 0.5% in the course of one year, while the price of non-food items and services increased by 2.3% and 4.5%, respectively. Alcohol, on the other hand, grew 0.4% less expensive. Compared with January 2020, February’s inflation rate came to 0.2%.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 12, 2020. Following the Board of Directors’ ruling, former Vice Chair of the Board Konstantin Levushkin got appointed acting Chair of the Board at NEYVA Bank starting March 11, 2020. According to the bank’s press service, after the usual round of approvals from the Bank of Russia, Levushkin will get appointed Chair of the Board at NEYVA Bank. The bank’s representatives inform UrBC that ‘the rotation is meant to introduce positive change in the bank’s management structure and to make the implementation of the bank’s development strategy more efficient.’ ‘Konstantin

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, March 12, 2020. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) provided a venue for RPA Connect 4.0 Conference this month, MMK’s Information & PR Department reports. Chelyabinsk Region’s first conference on robotic process automation was coordinated by Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works and MMK Group’s MMK-InformService. Major national and international IT/digitization leaders such as UiPath, Gartner, Deloitte, GazInformService, and Dbrain, as well as Severstal, Mechel, EVRAZ, TMK, Russian Railways, and members of the banking sector all joined the event as partners and/or

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 12, 2020. 1,295,619 people have flown with Ural Airlines since the start of the year, which exceeds the figures for one year earlier by 16%. ‘662,948 passengers went on the airline’s domestic flights and 632,671 people flew internationally. The air carrier has operated 9,305 flights since the start of the year (up 14% on the year 2019), including 4,806 domestic ones and 4,499 international ones. The company’s passenger turnover rose by 14%, reaching 3,143,700,000 passenger-kilometers,’ the air carrier’s press service says. In February 2020, 602,048 passengers chose

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 11, 2020. The Ural bankers inform their customers about the risks of investing in foreign currency given the ongoing major sales on the global finance markets. It was reported earlier that Russia backing out of the OPEC+ deal resulted in major stock quote fluctuations. Analysts say the oil cartel players failed to agree on the terms of the deal to reduce their oil output for the first time since 2016. As a result, Brent crude oil futures contracts for May 2020 depreciated by 20%, down to $36.2 per barrel on March 9; Light futures contracts for April also lost 19.4%