A round table discussion devoted to Russian stock and money markets in 2006 -2007 was held in Yekaterinburg on January 31, 2007. In the course of the discussion, the results of the forecast contest held among Sverdlovsk Region bank experts and analysts last year were announced as well. Stock Market Operations Department of SKB-Bank won in the short-term forecasts category. ‘I expect RTS index to reach the point of 2,600, the dollar/ruble exchange rate to come to 25.80, and that of euro/ruble to 34.30 in 2007,’ says Anton Mikheev, Stock Market Operations Director of SKB-Bank.

ISB Bank (Investment and Savings Bank) published a report on Sverdlovsk Region’s financial transactions in January-September 2006. The amount of money deposited by the regional banks into correspondent accounts and inter-branch accounts went up 32.5% compared to October 1, 2005. The banks deposited 8.9% of the total amount into the correspondent accounts of Sberbank of Russia, 4% into nostro accounts, and 87.1% into inter-branch accounts. The regional banks kept accumulating funds on correspondent accounts in the third quarter of 2006, so the amount of money in correspondent accounts of

‘The shares of Sberbank of Russia going through the so-called ‘people’s IPO’ are definitely not attractive for most investors. To start with, it is unclear how the money obtained in the course of the initial offering is going to be used, so the funds are likely to be inefficiently ‘dispersed’. Then, it is the Central Bank of Russia that is acting as the underwriter, and this bank is allowed by the central financial authorities to sustain funds through issuing shares and securities. So the stock floatation is meant for something different from traditional investment purposes,’ says Vsevolod,

According to the report on the state of the environment and the way environmental factors affect the health of Sverdlovsk Region population, Reftinskaya power station (part of TGK-9) is Sverdlovsk Region’s major manufacturing water producer among power-supplying enterprises; its share in the total amount of manufacturing water dumped by the regional power suppliers comes to 4.47m cubic meters, or 14%.

Energogenie Ltd. stopped operating in Sverdlovsk Region, reports the spokesperson for SverdlovEnergoSbyt, the region’s major power supplier. SverdlovEnergoSbyt received an official notification from V. Sokolov, the director of Energogenie’s local subsidiary; the letter said that their agreement regarding purchase and sale of electricity was no longer valid. Mr Sokolov also asked SverdlovEnergoSbyt to sign service contracts with the company’s consumers. Energogenie Ltd. emerged in September 2005 and originally aimed to build its share of the regional electricity market to 30%. Yet it wasn’t

The Ural division of Sberbank of Russia rebutted the statement made by United Billing Office regarding the 3% commission allegedly taken by the bank when processing housing bills issued by the office. ‘Sberbank never charged its clients for paying their bills through the bank. The report produced by United Billing Office was incomplete and thus inaccurate,’ the bank’s spokesperson said to UrBC representative. The spokesperson explained that Ural Bank of Sberbank of Russia was going to come up with an official report on the issue in the nearest future.

‘The expert committee of Federal Antimonopoly Service declared today that the management of Koltsovo airport violated the antimonopoly law by introducing very firm fuel prices,’ Head of Sverdlovsk Region division of Federal Antimonopoly Service Tatiana Kolotova said to UrBC representative. ‘Koltsovo airport was ordered to produce monthly reports on its fuel prices as well as papers that justify the possible increase in the price,’ Ms Kolotova said.

The executives of Rosaviation gave warnings to VIM-Avia, Siberia, Krasnoyarsk Airlines, and Bashkortostan, since these carriers violated the rules of performing chartered flights during the winter holiday season. ‘We’ve looked into all the cases when flights were delayed and talked to the airline management. As a result, VIM-Avia, Siberia, Krasnoyarsk Airlines, and Bashkortostan received a number of warnings,’ says Evgeniy Bachurin, Deputy Head of Rosaviation. He observed that, should the companies fail to eliminate the violations or come up with new ones, their aircraft operator certificates

It is no longer profitable for the users of United Billing Office to pay their housing bills through Sberbank, reports the spokesperson for the office. Since January 2007, the local offices of Sberbank have been taking a 3% commission on the bill-paying operation; this has already resulted in numerous complaints, as people were not informed about the charge.

Moody's Investors Service, the international rating agency, classed Russian and foreign currency deposits of Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development as having a long-term B3 rating, a short-term Not-Prime (NP) rating, and gave the bank the E+ rating in terms of financial stability. In the meantime, Moody's Interfax Rating Agency granted the company a long-term Baa2.ru rating on the national scale. The agency says the bank’s leadership in Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk Regions has supported its financial stability rating. Given the region’s rapid development and the company’s ties

Ural Airlines looked at the results of their activity in 2006. The carrier serviced 1,012,037 passengers last year, which exceeds the figures for 2005 by 11%. What is more, the company transferred its millionth passenger within a year: the last time it happened was only in 1998, prior to the national banking crisis. Getting past this point means the carrier is now one of the largest federal airlines, since only 9 out 199 Russian air carriers manage to attract more than a million passengers a year (these are Aeroflot, S7, Transaero, and some others). The above-mentioned 11% increase in the

Alexei Vorobiev, Head of Sverdlovsk Region Government, conducted a Cabinet meeting on January 29, 2007. The meeting was devoted to the report on the region’s economic and social development in 2006 presented by Sverdlovsk Region Ministry of Economy and Labour. The region’s GDP reached the point of 600bn RUR in 2006, which exceeds the figures for 2005 by 8%. Industrial production went up 7%, with machine-building industry output growing by over one-third. Sverdlovsk Region attracted more than 120bn RUR worth of investments last year, of which $1.36bn came from foreign investors (which is 25%

Following the Provision made by the Bank of Russia regarding informational transparency, URSA Bank has announced that it is going to issue 10,000,000 unconvertible certificated bearer bonds with face value of 1,000 RUR each. The public subscription will be handled by MICEX. The Board of Directors made the decision to issue 10bn RUR worth of securities on January 26, 2007. The bonds will be retired at face value on the 2548th day of initial offering. The last coupon period payments are provided. URSA Bank is the result of the recent merger of two large banks based in Siberia and the Urals.

Following the Provision made by the Bank of Russia regarding informational transparency, URSA Bank has announced today that it is going to issue 5,000,000 interest-bearing unconvertible certificated bearer bonds with face value of 1,000 RUR each. The public subscription will be handled by MICEX. The Board of Directors made the decision to issue 5bn RUR worth of securities on January 26, 2007, says the bank’s press officer. The bonds will be retired at face value on the 1820th day of initial offering. The last coupon period payments are provided. URSA Bank is the result of the recent merger of

The report on the state of the environment and the way environmental factors affect the health of Sverdlovsk Region population indicates that A. K. Serov Metallurgical Plant (part of Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC)), with its 54.5% share of all atmospheric emissions in the town of Serov, Sverdlovsk Region, is the town’s major air polluter. Serov-based enterprises that emit gases without recycling them first have dumped 52,184 tons of pollutants altogether.

‘Home Credit and Finance Bank Ltd. hasn’t produced any proof of complying with the Central Bank of Russia requirements on consumer loan transparency at the request of Federal Antimonopoly Service. Presenting the data on compliance can actually only be done voluntarily, and, so far, only ninety-one banks dealing in consumer lending have agreed to do so,’ Counselor to Deputy Head of Federal Antimonopoly Service Marina Saranskaya said to UrBC representative. People living in the Urals have been placing more complaints regarding poor banking services lately. In most cases, the complaints have to

According to the report on the state of the environment and the way environmental factors affect the health of Sverdlovsk Region population, Uralvagonzavod raised its harmful atmospheric emissions by 126 tons. Eighteen Sverdlovsk Region-based enterprises have increased the number of emissions altogether.

The damage sustained by Severnaya Kazna Insurance Company in terms of obligatory car insurance came to 81.49% in 2006, which exceeds the figures for 2005 by .9%. The total damage of the company amounted to 70.93% against 67.55% a year earlier; the damage sustained in terms of voluntary insurance came to 64.18% (compared to 58.55% in 2005).

Vysokogorskiy Ore Mining and Processing Enterprise (part of Evraz Group) won the first prize in the regional energy-saving contest held among the largest industrial enterprises, reports the spokesperson for Evraz Group. The experience of the company’s experts who have been successfully introducing the energy-saving technologies there was particularly praised in the letter of thanks prepared by Sverdlovsk Region Government. The engineers of Vysokogorskiy Ore Mining and Processing Enterprise designed a long-term energy-saving investment program in 2006. So, within the next five years, the

MegaFon Ural, the mobile operator, is going to present its new offers for businesses at the IT and Communication Exhibition. The presentation will cover the advantages of using MegaFon as the corporate operator as well as remote object management and pocket office options. The event will take place in the conference room of Exhibition Center located at 12 Sevastopolskaya St. in Tyumen at noon on January 30 and at 2 PM on January 31, 2007.