UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 30, 2020. RosSet’s Federal Grid Company United Energy Systems (FGC UES) fully upgraded its set of 500-kV super-high-voltage type switches at Tarko-Sale, one of Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous District’s largest power substations.

According to FGC UES Ural’s press service, three new Russian-made gas-insulated units got installed at the substation during the final stage of the renovation. This has ensured more reliable power supply to end users in Purovsky District, including Rosneft’s and Transneft’s member enterprises in the area.

‘The switches are the key components of our commutation equipment. In case of a short failure, the switches block the current and thus prevent an accident from happening. The 500-kV power substation Tarko-Sale now has a set of new gas-insulated units that replaced their older air-blast versions. The new switch types are better in that they are highly reliable, have a longer lifespan (30+ years), cost less to operate, are energy-efficient, and can operate in temperatures as low as 60 degrees centigrade below zero,’ the company says.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 30, 2020. Beloyarskaya Nuclear Power Plant directed nearly RUB 340m to job safety and working condition improvements last year, the plant’s Information & PR Department reports.

All of the plant’s employees have been provided with certified safety appliances. The plant relies on the latest PPE, work uniforms, and special appliances that help protect a person’s life and health when working.

‘Protecting the workers’ health and safety and improving working conditions are the plant’s management top priorities. Job safety is an indispensable component of safety culture; the goal is to protect the employees’ life and health. We keep enforcing compliance with job safety regulations and introduce and improve ways to prevent accidents at work and reduce the risk of occupational diseases,’ says Director at Beloyarskaya Nuclear Power Plant Ivan Sidorov.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 30, 2020. New Coalface 50-24 was launched at EVRAZ Holding’s Raspadskaya Coal Company’s Uskovskaya Mine this month; the estimated reserves of coking GZh coal come to 1,310,000,000 kg, the company’s press service says.

Raspadskaya Coal Company’s representatives report all the job safety and industrial safety precautions were complied with during the preparatory jobs stage.

‘Ten new wells have been made safe through the draining-out of gases; a gas-draining module that removes the methane-air mixture at the speed of 70 m3-80 m3 an hour is also at work 24/7. Bridges and passageways over the conveyor belts have been installed to ensure miners’ safe transit. The mine gets aired and de-dusted in full accordance with the safety requirements. Miners also rely on advanced mechanized appliances in their work,’ Raspadskaya Coal Company’s press service says.

According to the company’s official data, about 250,000,000 kg to 260,000,000 kg of coal get extracted from the coalface every month. The coalface is scheduled to get worked through in six months’ time. Based on the forecasts and estimates, the coal deposit will keep the miners busy through 2050.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 30, 2020. NEYVA Bank’s assets rose by 2.3% in January-March 2020, from RUB 8.4bn to RUB 8.6bn.

According to the bank’s financial report, NEYVA Bank’s capital went up by 22.1% in the first quarter of 2020 and amounted to RUB 706m, while net profit amounted to RUB 61m. The amount of funds placed by private customers and businesses on deposits rose by 1.3%, from RUB 7.6bn to RUB 7.7bn.

‘During the first quarter of the year, the bank managed to both improve its key financial performance indicators and keep on expanding into the non-capital constituencies geographically; the bank also came up with a range of new products and services for its customers. For one, NEYVA Bank resumed issuing loans to businesses in January and launched a credit card with a 100-day grace period for private customers in March. Besides, a new offline loan desk opened in Saint Petersburg last month as well,’ the bank’s press service says.

Additionally, the bank updated its terms and conditions, improving them for businesses during the economically and socially challenging times.

UrBC, Nizhniy Tagil, April 30, 2020. EVRAZ Holding directed RUB 22.5 million to getting PPE for doctors in Nizhniy Tagil and Kachkanar.

Hospitals received 150,000 pairs of disposable gloves, 10,000 kg of sanitizer, 85 pyrometers for contactless temperature-taking, 3000 pairs of protective goggles, and 3,000 disposable scrubs. Additionally, 500,000 masks have been provided as well. A quarter of all the items went to Kachkanar Central Clinic, the rest got distributed among the clinics and social welfare organizations in Nizhniy Tagil.

‘We are concerned for the doctors’ safety in times of the Covid pandemic and we want to protect our medical professionals against the virus. The company’s member enterprises, in their turn, are taking severe precautions to avoid employees getting infected and clinics getting overburdened,’ EVRAZ Holding Ural’s Corporate Communications Center’s PR Department quotes Vice President at EVRAZ and Head of EVRAZ Holding Ural Denis Novozhenov as saying.

‘I am grateful to EVRAZ for helping us fight Covid-19. We’ll do everything in our power to stop the spread of the virus in town and to ensure people’s safety. The PPE sets will get distributed among medical professionals, police officers, kindergarten staff, Rospotrebnadzor employees, and volunteers,’ says Mayor of Nizhniy Tagil Vladislav Pinayev.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 29, 2020. EVRAZ Holding has allocated more than RUB 300 million to help prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, EVRAZ Holding Ural’s Corporate Communications Center reports.

‘To prevent the spread of Covid-19, the company purchased PPE, contactless temperature-taking devices, disinfectants, and sanitizing/anti-bacterial equipment. All of EVRAZ employees involved in production process have been provided with the necessary protective appliances. Production departments, offices, cafes, shower/changing rooms, and company vehicles all get sanitized on a regular basis,’ the company says.

A number of extra laptops have been purchased for those working from home, and full-scale in-company online services are also at work. All those working online (including EVRAZ professionals in the 65+ age group and people who came back from trips to other parts of the country) get their full pay.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 29, 2020. The housing developer Brusnika keeps coordinating a series of online lectures for Yekaterinburg residents willing to learn something new while self-isolating. In the next two weeks, there will be lectures on today’s urban improvement trends, on the way street art impacts urban life, and on how you can tell a good master plan from a bad one.

The lectures will be aired twice a week. For one, Head of Landscape Design at Brusnika Alexei Khrichenkov will deliver a lecture on Modern Approaches to Residential-Construction Landscape at 3PM (Moscow time) on April 28.

These days, a home isn’t limited to the walls of your apartment. Both the inner yard and the urban environment make part of your home as well. Khrichenkov will speak about condo yards in terms of planting greens, putting up children’s playgrounds, sports playgrounds, and recreation areas, creating flaneur-friendly streets, and introducing urban improvements.

For a full lecture program and links to earlier videos, please visit the developer’s website.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 29, 2020. The telecom company MegaFon now sells SIM cards that you can register online on your own at corner shops, the company’s press service reports.

Once you have the SIM card, you can have it activated on your own on MegaFon App or gosuslugi.ru.

In addition to large retail chains where you can buy these SIM cards, MegaFon has introduced 1,483 smaller outlets in 36 Russian cities and towns, including Yekaterinburg, Tyumen, and Chelyabinsk, where these cards are now available as well. The option of buying a SIM card very close to home is crucial in time of self-isolation and restricted urban transit.

According to MegaFon's Chief Commercial Officer Vlad Wolfson, the company has been launching increasingly more offline and online SIM card distribution options since January, with sales doubling every month as a result. About 70% of SIM cards that you can activate yourself get sold at offline shops. Those who try to shop at smaller next-door shops only can get their SIM cards there now. This means MegaFon’s customers can stay connected without traveling to flagship stores.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 29, 2020. RosSet’s Federal Grid Company United Energy Systems (FGC UES) is going to start rebuilding two 220-kV mains on the outskirts of Yekaterinburg on May 1. The plan is to install two new metal supports (45.6m long) at the intersection of the mains with the new tram line connecting Yekaterinburg and Verkhnyaya Pyshma.

According to FGC UES Ural’s press service, the project is expected to get completed by mid-May, with no inconvenience or power supply restrictions to end users.

‘The mains involved are the 220-kV Sredneuralskaya Power Station-Kalininskaya and Kalininskaya-Peschanaya in Verkhnyaya Pyshma. The new supports will replace their current, older versions. The new supports are 4.8 meters longer, so there will be more space between the mains and the tram line, the 110-kV main, and the motorway in Uspensky Ave. The fallback circuit will ensure uninterrupted power supply to end users during the reconstruction jobs,’ the press service says.

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, April 29, 2020. Director-General at Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) Pavel Shilyayev commented on the priority investment projects that the company has to focus on in time of Covid-related restrictions.

According to MMK’s Information & PR Department, the current pandemic has meant the company had do look carefully into its plans, assess its possibilities, and decide on the priority minimum of retooling projects that must be completed in the nearest future.

‘The decision was made to focus on two large production facilities that were on the company’s investment program for the year. The projects in question are upgrading Blast Furnace 2 and finishing the reconstruction of hot-roll Mill 2500 at Sheet-Rolling Department 4. The finishing train is currently being assembled at Mill 2500; the plan is to start the hot tests in early July. Also, Blast Furnace 2, where the metal structures are being put in place at the moment, is also expected to re-launch at the beginning of July. As for the rest of our projects, it was decided to postpone everything until things change for the better, Covid-wise and economy-wise, and until after the restrictions have been lifted,’ Shilyayev says.