UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 18, 2018. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) will be offering lower interest rates on mortgages for existing homes and those currently under construction (by the bank’s trusted developers) starting July 17, the bank’s press service reports. You can apply for a mortgage at 7.9% a year (8.9% a year once the special offer no longer applies). You can find the list of the UBRD-authorized developers on the bank’s website, under Mortgage. The bank is also offering a greater discount for those who manage to go through with all the paperworks in under

UrBC, Moscow, July 18, 2018. The Russian Government might introduce a separate customs duty to be paid by the Russian national on goods they purchase from international shops online. The draft bill on Customs Regulations, with all the amendments made for the second reading, has been presented to the State Duma’s Budget Committee already. It is explained that the new version of the Customs Regulations Act is expected to bring the Russian law in compliance with the Eurasian Economic Union’s Customs Code (adopted in 2017). Under the new terms, the Russian Government will be able to impose a duty

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, July 18, 2018. The representatives of the Chinese business delegation proved quite impressed by the job the South Urals Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s interpreters did at the contracts exchange in Chelyabinsk on July 11-12, the CCI’s press service reports. More than a hundred Chinese companies and over three hundred Chelyabinsk-based businesses took part in these negotiations. Interpreters from a range of professional sectors, including those from the South Urals CCI, were engaged to ensure smooth communication. ‘We were helping our Chinese partners under the Far East

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 18, 2018. EVRAZ Holding supported the annual innovative ideas contest (known as A Minute of Tech Fame) for the seventh time this year; the contest is held at the Governor of Sverdlovsk Region and Sverdlovsk Region Government’s initiative, the company press service says. In the last seven years, the company has directed more than RUR 15.5m to support the constituency’s young scientists and researchers. This year, college undergraduates and grad students submitted over thirty-five different projects for the contest; the ten best proposals got selected in two

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 18, 2018. Rosatom-Atomenergomash’s Yekaterinburg-based asset SverdNIIkhimmash is going to supply a number of evaporation plants for the heat transfer fluid systems and drain systems at Power-Generating Units 3 and 4 of Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in India, the company press service reports. Under the terms of the contract, SverdNIIkhimmash will have to deliver the equipment before the end of the year. The heat transfer fluid system’s evaporation plant is meant for extraction of boric acid from boron-containing water. The drain systems evaporation plant is meant

UrBC, Moscow, July 17, 2018. The 2% increase in the value-added tax (from 18% up to 20%) is going to affect 70% of consumer goods prices, the Bank of Russia’s Research & Forecast Department’s data analysis findings indicate. It is therefore believed that consumer prices will rise 0.8% to 1.25% once the VAT increase comes into effect. The overall inflation rate is expected to speed up over 4% as a result. The State Duma is currently considering rising the VAT to 20%. Under the terms of the draft bill under processing, the increase should come into force on January 1, 2019. The bill has

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 17, 2018. Yekaterinburg got fewer visitors during the World Cup 2018 days than any other championship-hosting city in Russia, Tourstat reports. The city stadiums got 31,359 supporters per game on average. 125,437 people bought tickets for the four games held in Yekaterinburg altogether. None of these games were above the group phase, however. Predictably, Moscow comes No.1 as the most-visited World Cup 2018 location (787,000 visitors all in all and 63,900 supporters per game on average). Next comes Saint Petersburg (448,600/64,100), followed by Sochi

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 17, 2018. Ural Airlines are launching their annual summer sale on July 16-29, 2018, the air carrier’s press service reports. ‘If you didn’t get a chance to travel during the high season, you can still enjoy the late summer vacation: a September trip will be up to 30% cheaper and give you an opportunity to enjoy exciting guided tours, beach activities, or long walks,’ the press service says. Available at a discount are the following flights: from Yekaterinburg to Simferopol, Sochi, Krasnodar, Anapa, Kaliningrad, Mineralnye Vody, Barcelona, Burgas, Larnaca, Harbin,

UrBC, Moscow, July 17, 2018. Russian President Vladimir Putin announced at the end of the World Championship 2018 that foreign nationals bearing Fan IDs might be allowed multiple entry to Russia until the end of the year, the Kremlin’s website states. ‘I think we can do the following: the international football supporters who had their authorized Fan IDs issued to them could be allowed to enter the Russian Federation with no visa and as many times as they like unit the end of the year. I repeat, no visa would be necessary. I hope they will use this opportunity, quite a few of them, in any

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 17, 2018. Ural Airlines issued a performance report for its Innoprom Exhibition days. During the event’s four days, visitors to the airline’s stand ate 50 kg of on-board candy, received 20,000 inflatable toy planes as gifts, and were given 18,000 postcards with images of Airbus A320 and views of cities the airline flies to on them. According to the airline’s press service, the visitors were particularly impressed with the unusual 3D sky-backdrop photo opportunities; the pictures could get uploaded onto one’s smartphone and emailed to the end user immediately. More

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 16, 2018. EVRAZ Holding’s Nizhniy Tagil Integrated Metallurgical Works (NTMK) launched its fifth rail wheel processing line, the holding’s press service reports. EVRAZ Vice President and head of the holding’s Ural branch Denis Novozhenov, EVRAZ NTMK and EVRAZ KGOK Managing Director Alexei Kushnarev, interim Mayor of Nizhniy Tagil Vladislav Pinayev, workers from the plant’s Wheel Band Department, NTMK trade union representatives and contractors all attended the solemn launching ceremony. ‘The line is expected to reach its projected capacity in the very near future.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 16, 2018. A321 coded VQ-BGY got added to Ural Airlines’ fleet of vehicles recently, the air carrier’s press service reports. Just like all the earlier aircraft, the plane got purchased on operational leasing terms. There are 220 Economy seats available. Ural Airlines now operate 46 planes altogether (15 A321 ones, 24 A320 ones, and 7 A319 ones). ‘This Airbus A321 arrived in Yekaterinburg from the Netherlands. The plane went on its maiden flight today, taking our passengers from Yekaterinburg to Anapa,’ the company press service says. Ural Airlines embarked on their

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 16, 2018. A new air separation unit got launched at Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Plant (MMK) Oxygen Converter Department’s Station 5. The new unit costs RUR 4.2bn, MMK Information, PR & Advertising Department reports. The unit’s capacity is estimated at 35,000 m3 of oxygen, 30,000 m3 of nitrogen, and around 1,000 m3 of argon per hour. ‘We needed to expand our air separation facilities as the plant developed. The new unit will fully meet MMK’s demand for air separation products and, importantly, it will release these products directly under pressure, which means

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 16, 2018. 3,940,472 people flew with Ural Airlines in January through June 2018, which exceeded the figures for one year previously by 19%, the air carrier’s press service reports. Moscow-Simferopol, Yekaterinburg-Moscow, Moscow-Kaliningrad, Moscow-Sochi, and Moscow-Barcelona proved the most popular destinations in May and June. Last month, Ural Airlines also operated quite a few flights to take football supporters from Peru, Uruguay, Egypt, Australia, Poland, Germany, Colombia, Saudi Arabia, Iran, France, and Spain to World Football Championship games locations in

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, July 16, 2018. A three-entrance apartment building got recently commissioned in Magnitogorsk; the apartments will be handed over to MMK Group’s employees as part of the metallurgical plant’s long-term Affordable Housing Program, the company press service reports. ‘The building, commissioned on the eve of Metallurgist’s Day, is the first one in the series of five apartment buildings in Klyuch Complex,’ the press service says. The new, four-story, three-entrance apartment building at 44/5 Trud St (total area: 3,096.3 m2) comprises fifty-six apartments: sixteen studios (36.17

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 13, 2018. Rosatom’s Novouralsk-based member enterprise TVEL/CentroTech presented its new energy storage devices for electric-powered vehicles and the electric lift truck that is currently being used at the plant during Innoprom 2018 International Industrial Exhibition in Yekaterinburg. According to the company employees, working on new and better battery types, including those used in the vehicle industry, is one of Rosatom’s important new businesses. TVEL both makes and supplies materials for Li-ion batteries used in the aerospace sector. The vehicles used for

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 13, 2018. The Russian Government issued a special decree to ensure better counter-terrorist security at nuclear facilities by setting up special-legal-status security zones around the national nuclear power stations, including Beloyarskaya Station in Zarechny, the latter’s press service reports. The zone will be introduced around Beloyarskaya Nuclear Power Station in August 2018. Its special legal status means an entry permit will be needed to enter or stay within the zone, with a full list of eligibility criteria/grounds for rejection. It also means limits will get

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 13, 2018. Tech Director of EVRAZ Holding’s Nizhniy Tagil Integrated Metallurgical Works (NTMK) Pavel Zazhigayev and the plant’s Deputy Head for Tech Management Konstantin Shvedov are among Sverdlovsk Region’s twenty-two top engineers this year; they got awarded by First Deputy Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Alexei Orlov at Innoprom 2018 Exhibition. According to the company press service, Pavel Zazhigayev won the Cherepanov Prize for his contribution to the upgrades of NTMK’s blast furnace facilities and for launching green and productivity-boosting technologies at the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 13, 2018. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) now offers its customers trust management services for their personal investment accounts, the bank’s press service reports. ‘An investor can both make a ROI on their securities and the state-guaranteed 13% tax relief without having to worry about asset management: everything will be seen to by professionals who are well-informed about the market situation,’ the bank explains. All you have to do to get a personal investment account is apply for one on the bank’s website. All paperwork will get done

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, July 13, 2018. An agreement on setting up a management company to coordinate that training of highly skilled ‘white-coated metallurgists’ was signed at the 9th Innoprom International Industrial Exhibition in Yekaterinburg on July 12, Sverdlovsk Region’s Information Policy Department reports. The agreement was signed by Sverdlovsk Region’s First Deputy Governor Alexei Orlov, Managing Director of ChelPipe Group’s Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant Alexei Dronov, and acting Mayor of Pervouralsk Igor Kabets. The agreement covers a number of specific steps to go through with the plan