Metallurgical Industrial Complex of Nizhniy Tagil (part of Evraz Group) won in the first European Quality Gold Medal contest. The company competed in the Russia’s Top 100 Enterprises: Environment and Environmental Management category. More than 150 companies that deal in conservational activities took part in the contest altogether. Metallurgical Industrial Complex of Nizhniy Tagil received the medal and a certificate for special achievements in the field of conservation technologies. The company’s Managing Director Alexei Kushnarev was given the honorary title of Environmentalist of the Year

According to RBC-Daily, some fraudsters from Moscow have been offering citizens of Russia and the NIS Metro Cash & Carry cards at prices varying from 650 to 1,550 RUR. The company itself claims their cards are only distributed free of charge among legal entities and sole traders and promises to block the fake ones. A company named Planet Tornado Ltd. has been sending out e-mail advertisements claiming that any natural person living in Russia or any country of the NIS can get a card provided their send them an application with passport details, in which case a sole trader Ilya Konovalov

A group of executives from Ausmelt, Austria-based industrial equipment producer, has recently visited Karabashmed (asset of Russian Copper Company), reports a spokesperson. Ausmelt executives, including Managing Director Paul Abbot, checked out the production sites and met the management of Russian Copper Company in their Yekaterinburg-based office. The visit was aimed at strengthening the business ties between the two companies that have been cooperating for quite a while.

‘The setting up of a large industrial corporation by United Machine Building Works and MetalloInvest will make use of Uralmash facilities more efficient,’ Evgeniy Sergeev, General Director of United Machine Building Works (aka OMZ (Obedinennye Mashinostroitelnye Zavody, formerly United Heavy Machinery), said to UrBC. ‘The idea behind uniting Uralmashzavod and ORMETO-YUMZ Heavy Engineering Joint Stock Co. is creating a strong and competitive Russian supplier of equipment to ore mining and metallurgical enterprises in this country and abroad, which is particularly important because of Russia’s

All Russian citizens wishing to travel to Thailand will need no entrance visa beginning from March 23, 2007, RosTourism (the Federal Tourism Agency) announced on March 6, 2007 referring to the official report of Thailand’s Embassy in Russia. The only limitation is that these tourists should stay in the country for no longer than 30 days. According to RosBusinessConsulting, the agreement providing for visa-free stays of Thai citizens in Russia and vice versa was signed in Kuala Lumpur on December 13, 2005.

Aviacon Zitotrans (part of AVS-Group) is going to keep flying to the EU, says the company’s press officer. Until the carrier fixes all the problems regarding its aircraft (all of which were revealed in the course of commissions in 2004-2006), it will have to obtain special one-time permission to perform flights to Europe. The procedure includes applying for the permission seven days before the flight and the obligatory notification of the Russian Federation aviation authorities and of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy and Transport regarding the examination of the

First Deputy Head of Sverdlovsk Region Government Galina Kovaleva conducted a meeting of interdepartmental committee devoted to assisting the local companies in entering the WTO. The agenda of the meeting covered protection of the food market and development of the infrastructure of the region’s foreign economic activity. ‘Quite a few food producers are not ready to operate on the free market. Modern equipment and advanced managerial technologies give our western counterparts a great competitive advantage, whereas Russian producers have to use some obsolete equipment (nearly half of which is

A meeting devoted to the setting up of the French consulate in Yekaterinburg was held in the Ministry for International and Foreign Economic Relations of Sverdlovsk Region. The meeting was attended by Minister Viktor Koksharov and First Secretary of the French Embassy in Russia Thierry Vautrin, reports the spokesperson for Governor of Sverdlovsk Region. According to M. Vautrin, the French party has handled a number of technical issues related to the introduction of the consulate, which will serve three purposes: giving visas, facilitating economic partnership, and building up cultural and

According to the spokesperson for SKB-Bank, First Vice Prime-Minister Dmitriy Medvedev announced at the recent online conference that he believed reducing interest rates on mortgage loans was possible. ‘We aim to make it go down to as little as 6% or 8%. This is absolutely feasible.’ ‘Reducing interest rates on mortgages naturally fits into the whole strategy of the national project known as Affordable Housing. Undoubtedly, given the favorable market opportunities (that is, the slowing inflation rate), we shall have some drops in the interest quite soon. I would say it is possible that the

‘The introduction of the visa section in German Consulate-General gives local people extra opportunities to travel to Schengen area; it’s just that one will have to spend the better part of time in Germany,’ says Olga Gular, Director of Zima-Leto Travel Agency. ‘As a matter of fact, there are quite a few ethnic Germans in Ural Federal District, so, with a chance of getting a visa in Yekaterinburg, more people will undoubtedly start traveling to Germany at the invitation of their relatives of friends. We used to send such applications to Moscow, but things got much easier now. I think we’ll

Minister for International and Foreign Economic Relations of Sverdlovsk Region Viktor Koksharov held a meeting with some British builders, reports the spokesperson for the Governor of Sverdlovsk Region. British architects, developers, legal and consulting experts arrived in Yekaterinburg to conduct a workshop devoted to multi-faceted town planning and development. Mr. Koksharov presented a report on the state of events in the city, saying that over 1,280,000 square meters of dwellings were commissioned last year, with the builders’ total turnover coming to over 56 billion RUR. He said the

‘Today’s opening of visa section in German Consulate-General in Yekaterinburg is a very happy event for us. We would like our tourists to have an opportunity of traveling to Germany, given especially the availability of direct flights from Yekaterinburg. Regional residents find going to Moscow for a visa interview expensive and inconvenient, so a visa section here is going to make trips to Germany much more affordable,’ Inna Averyanova, Director of Inna Tour Travel Agency, said to UrBC. The solemn opening ceremony took place on March 6, 2007. The Consulate is already issuing Schengen visas,

According to SKB-Bank’s press officer, the number of accounts opened with the bank every month has gone up 2.5 times since the beginning of the year. ‘This dramatic increase is the result of a combination of some attractive offers we’ve made, namely, new flexible tariff schemes, high technologies, and extensive office network,’ says Business Development Director Evgeniy Pavlov. At the end of 2006, SKB-Bank came up with some new schemes for point-of-sale services known as Start, Comfort, and Business Class. The cost of things like money order and getting cash now depends on the intensity of

The solemn opening ceremony of visa section in Consulate-General in Yekaterinburg took place on March 6, 2007. The event was attended by the Consul General in Yekaterinburg Tilo Klinner and Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel. The Consulate is already issuing Schengen visas, with applications accepted since February 27; there have been over a few hundred applications already. Due to some technical problems, these are only the residents of Sverdlovsk Region that can apply for a German visa here. People living in other Ural regions will still have to apply in Moscow. A visa can only be

‘Russian meat-processing companies might have to raise prices due to bans on import from the U.S., France, Germany, Uruguay, and Brazil, since we’ll eventually switch to new suppliers. The only companies that will manage to deal with the constant supply shortages will be those seriously considering setting up their own meat source. Our plant, for example, started renovation of Laiskiy pig farm meant for 108,000 head of cattle as early as 2003,’ says Sergey Emelyanov, CEO Good Taste Meatpacking Plant. Rosselkhoznadzor (the state agricultural watchdog) put temporary limits on meat export from a

‘70% discount on tickets to Israel offered by Ural Airlines is enjoying great demand. The prices fell on February 19, 2007, and a lot of tourists have already taken advantage of the offer. We have been told the tickets are not easy to buy at the moment since they get sold out well in advance. Now is the best time for visiting Israel: it’s not too hot, so one can enjoy the tours and pay a visit to Jerusalem. I think the offer of Ural Airlines will appeal not only to local Hebrews but to travelers just wishing to see this beautiful country as well. This discount is a very nice thing for our

Federal Antimonopoly Service in Sverdlovsk Region received a payment order which states that Heineken Commercial Service based in Saint-Petersburg paid their fine, reports the spokesperson for Federal Antimonopoly Service. The antimonopoly authority had earlier declared Heineken was violating the advertising law and imposed a 40,000 RUR fine. The suit was initially filed against the company based on complaints placed by Agency for Protection of Cultural Heritage in Ural Federal District. Heineken Commercial Service placed neon signs saying ‘Heineken’ and ‘Guinness’ on the façade of Bolshoi

‘The arrival of federally important players on Yekaterinburg’s catering market has made the competition fierce; so far, however, it has only done good to both consumers and local chains. The market has not become saturated yet, which is why it is highly unlikely that any of the companies are going to leave. In this respect, McDonald’s hasn’t changed much,’ says Nadezhda Buriko, the spokesperson for Kupets supermarket chain. ‘Fast food as such is not very popular in this country. Russians are used to having a full-course meal rather than just picking up a hamburger. This is why restaurants

The Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin signed a decree appointing lieutenant-general Vladimir Kucherov Head of the Department of Internal Affairs in Ural Federal District, reports the President’s press officer.

According to the ranking compiled by Interfax CEA (Center of Economic Analysis), Bank 24.ru got on Russia’s Top 300 largest banks list based on its net wealth. It hit the 228th position on January 1, 2007. There are 27 Ural banks on this list altogether, for example, Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Metcombank, and some others. Originally, as many as 1,005 Russian banks were ranked by Interfax, reports the spokesperson for Bank 24.ru.