Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Petr Sumin met up with GD of Mayak Production Association Vitaliy Sadovnikov on June 19, 2006. Mr Sadovnikov briefed the Governor on the current activities of the Association, including the issue of using Techinskiy tandem reservoir system and the state of events at No. 11 dam and rehabilitation projects, environmental and otherwise, connected with the production of the Association. Mr Sumin and Mr Sadovnikov also discussed the steps taken to deal with the social problems of the village of Muslyumovo (in the vicinity of the reservoirs), the Governor’s

Within the framework of the Convenient and Obtainable Housing to Russian Citizens National Program, South Ural Mortgage Lending Agency JSC announced a private house project competition hoping to promote low-rise constriction, reports their spokesperson. The general provisos are: the area of the house (excluding the terraces, the balconies, and the attics) should come to anything between 100 and 150 square meters and 3 to five technologies and designs. The prime cost of the construction and assembling should meet the limit of 10,000 to 12,000 RUR per square meter, given the current prices. The

It looks like Russia is turning into an important player in the world economy. In addition to successes and advances in the national economy based on gas and oil, Russia is thinking about improving its competitiveness by banish wastes from processes in industries and organizations. Proof to that is the First Russian Lean Forum that was held the city of Yekaterinburg in the industrial heart of Russia, in the Urals. More than 250 top managers from such industries, as metal (ferrous and non-ferrous), automotive, chemical, mining, aviation, machine building, medical equipment, consumer goods,

Starting this June, Vanadium Ore Mining and Processing Enterprise JSC (part of Evraz Group) introduced an internship program meant for students of Sverdlovsk Region colleges. The internship is expected to last for two months, and some thirty students (of Ural Polytechnic Institute and Ural State Mining University) will probably be on the program altogether. This decision was made within the framework of the company’s personnel management strategy. This will be the second instance of working for Vanadium for students of Ural State Mining University; these interns had their first experience

SUAL Group received the certificate of International Organization of Employers that proves the company’s impressive achievements in the field of corporate social responsibility and its investments in further promotion and understanding of it. The Organization’s Secretary-General Antonio Penalosa gave the certificate to SUAL’s Director for Public Bodies and Local Government Cooperation Olga Fedoseeva in the course of the international workshop called Corporate Climate and Social Responsibility of Businesses in Russia. The workshop took place in Geneva within the framework of the 95th session

Evraz Group has recently bought two new bulldozers for Vanadium Ore Mining and Processing Enterprise JSC, one of its companies, reports the spokesperson for Evraz Group. The bulldozers are meant for difficult excavating activities, including rock– and frozen ground-excavation. The company’s employees are currently busy with balancing and commissioning, which should last until the end of June.

‘We have had a 40% to 150% increase in the volume of mortgage loans given by Chelyabinsk Region banks within the first five months of 2006. These data cover only ten banks since some crediting organizations haven’t produced any information so far,’ General Director of South Ural Mortgage Lending Agency Alexander Kondrashov announced at yesterday’s press conference. According to Mr Kondrashov, the Agency itself registered 248 loans last year. ‘Yet we’ve given 253 loans throughout January to May, which means the Agency has already met last year’s plan,’ he said.

The Government of Russian Federation has already taken steps targeted at preventing the possible environmental accident at Techinskiy tandem reservoir system. This was reported by Russia’s Security Council after the deputies of Chelyabinsk Region Legislative Chambers asked for the state interference into the environmental safety problem at Techinskiy tandem reservoir system and Mayak Production Association. As the spokesperson for Chelyabinsk Region Legislative Chambers explained to UrBC representative, the deputies decided to appeal to the government after the water level in the reservoirs

The AGM held at Ufalynickel JSC resulted in approving of the company’s annual report, the annual accounting report, including the P&L statement, and in distributing the profit for 2005. In this, the shareholders considered the suggestions of the Board concerning the sum of the share dividend for 2005. The attendees approved of delegating the sole executive powers to Industrial Metallurgical Holding Ltd., a managing company. They also elected the members of the inspection committee and of the Board (namely, Sergey Adamkov, Natalia Vlasova, Konstantin Saitsev, Andrey Zubitskiy, Evgeniy

Chelyabinsk Production Tools Plant CJSC acquired 100% share holding of SpetsTechMash Ltd. The changes in the company’s authorized capital were officially registered on June 16, 2006.

Dietrich Moeller, President of Siemens AG Russia, visited Sverdlovsk Region today. This is Mr Meller’s first visit, preceded by a personal invitation from Governor Eduard Rossel that occurred in the course of a meeting in London, where the Russian Economic Forum was being held at that moment. Siemens operates in thirty Russian regions and employs around 4,000 people; its turnover was estimated to reach ?1.6bn in 2005.

UTair Airlines JSC held the annual general meeting on June 15, 2006. The shareholders approved of the annual report, the accounting report, and the P&L statement for 2005. They also dealt with the profit distribution and declared the dividend of .067 RUR per ordinary share. Besides, the attendees decided that UTair should become Fellow of International Air Transport Association. Rosexpertisa Ltd. and Ernst &Young were chosen as the company’s auditors for 2006, in the field of compliance of the company’s financial activity with Russian legislation and in the field of International

Evrazruda JSC (part of Evraz Group) started assembling three energy supply assessment stations in its Mundybashskiy subsidiary; these should allow to reduce the heating and hot water bills by 1.5 times. Within the framework of the energy-saving program, 11 such stations will have been introduced at the company’s subsidiaries by the beginning of the heating period, reports the company’s spokesperson. ‘Mundybashskiy subsidiary will get such stations for the processing shop, for the concentrate drying department, and for the administration building. The meters installed within the heating

Vysokogorsky Ore Mining and Processing Enterprise JSC, member of Evraz Group, has carried out a test assemblage of a new car dumper in its Lebyazhinsky sintering plant. The test assemblage was accomplished in order to get used to meeting the tightest schedule of the regular assemblage, the company’s PR-department reported. ‘During the test assemblage, the contracting agency representatives examined security of the main components attachment, identified the defects and calculated the assemblage man-hours. The test assemblage of the car dumper lasted for three weeks. The assemblage process is

Ural Turbine Works CJSC (part of Renova Group) has successfully undergone scheduled inspection for compliance of its production with EnCERTICO power industry certification standards. The company initially received the corresponding set of documents in 2005 when the certificating body confirmed the outstanding level of the company’s technological and organizational achievements as well as professionalism of the staff and production and service safety. ‘While undergoing the certification, we went through all the most thorough testing, and our produce was estimated very highly by a number of

Utair Airline JSC assessed its success in the first five months of 2006. According to the company’s spokesperson, the carrier serviced 788,414 passengers throughout January to May. The company’s passenger throughput came to 1,120,164,800 passenger-kilometers; their aircraft flew the total of 36,887 hours, its helicopters the total of 18,827 hours.

Irbinskiy subsidiary of Evrazruda JSC (part of Evraz Group, Russian ore maker) started upgrading its motor-truck scales in order to raise the quality accounting of the ore going to the dry magnetic separation plant. According to the company’s spokesperson, the scales need to be improved due to an increase in the tonnage of the large dump trucks used for transporting muck from the mines. The old scales could only operate with 42-ton BelAZ trucks that used to make the bulk of the company’s car park two years ago. Today, it mainly uses the 55-ton trucks, which means the scales need upgrading;

The Board of Directors of Uralboremash JSC decided to hold an extraordinary shareholder meeting on August 10, 2006. The list of attendees coincides with the register of the company’s inscribed stock owners as of June 16, 2006. The points on the agenda include the early resignation of the Board of Directors, electing the new Board, and voting on the revised version of the Charter. The shareholders will also have to consider a bail in order to make sure SPZ Finance Ltd. meets its bond liabilities.

The general meeting of Ural Asbestine Technical Goods Plant JSC shareholders resulted in the decision to rename the company: it will now be known as Ural Plant of Textiles for Car Industry JSC. As the spokesperson for the company’s Legal Department said to UrBC representative, the change of the name has to do with the increase in the range of goods produced by the plant. ‘The company deals in textiles for cars as well as in asbestos-free goods. The new name is more descriptive of both our activities and our assortment,’ the spokesperson said.

In May 2006, Magnesite Industrial Complex (part of Magnesite Group) produced 32,800 tons of refractory goods, which exceeds the figures for May 2005 by 7.2%; the output of commercial powders reached the point of 67,500 tons (an increase of 13%). According to Production Management Director B. Ponomarev, the increase in the outputs was caused by more orders being received and assisted by the gradual implementation of the company’s investments program targeted at equipment renovation and introduction of the newest technologies and machines.