UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 4, 2018. Ural Airlines will be operating flights to Simferopol and Sochi from international airports Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo, and Zhukovsky, Moscow Region, this spring and summer, the air carrier’s press service reports. In addition to its usual flights from Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport, Ural Airlines also introduced flights from Moscow’s other air hubs: the airline started operating flights from Sheremetyevo to Sochi and Simferopol on March 25, and flights from Zhukovsky will get launched on May 28, 2018. This means passengers traveling from Moscow will be able to

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 3, 2018. Ural Airlines bought this year’s first Airbus 320, the air carrier’s press service reports. VP-BKX is now the airline’s 44th plane, with 162 passengers seats (150 Economy ones and 12 Business ones). The new airplane is suited for both international and domestic flights. The plane performed its maiden flight as U6 1 (Yekaterinburg-Sheremetyevo (Moscow)), as the company started operating flights from Sheremetyevo Airport on March 25. ‘Ural Airlines’ embarked on its fleet renovation program as early as 2006, and has been buying new planes on a yearly basis

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, April 3, 2018. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) is willing to open its production site to tourists, MMK Information, PR & Advertising Department reports. ‘A program for 2019-2025 Rostourism is currently working on would sector the country into a number of tourist clusters; Magnitogorsk, which is located on the border of the highly industrialized Chelyabinsk Region and the mountainous and woods-covered Bashkortostan, could contribute to two different kinds of tourism, that is, industrial travel and sports/healthcare travel. The plant has a number of health

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 3, 2018. Ural Airlines are now selling reduced-price tickets for flights operated to the Far East and Kaliningrad; the cost of the tickets will be partially covered by the government, the air carrier’s press service explains. ‘The offer holds for Russian nationals under 23 years of age, women over 55, men over 60, people with disabilities (Group I) and those accompanying them on their flights, passengers accompanying children with disabilities, and people with lifelong disabilities (Groups II and III). You can also book a subsidized plane ticket if you are under 18

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 3, 2018. The Bureau International des Expositions’ special committee arrives in Yekaterinburg today to do a series of assessments in the next two days to see if the city would be prepared to host the EXPO 2025 Exhibition. According to EXPO 2025 Application Committee, the BIE delegates, headed by the current Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Denmark Choi Jai-chul, will meet with the Russian Government’s highest officials, representatives of federal and local executive branches, civic activists, and members of the business and cultural communities. The inspection

UrBC, Moscow, April 3, 2018. The Russian Government decided on how to distribute the RUR 2.563bn allocated for the construction, assembly, and dismantling of temporary World Football Championship facilities across ten federal constituencies; the information to this extent is available on the Cabinet’s website. ‘A special decree distributes the inter budgetary transfers (RUR 2.563bn altogether) across ten federal constituencies,’ an additional statement on the decree explains. Sverdlovsk Region is to receive RUR 261.734m from the federal budget.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 2, 2018. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) is launching a new strategy for its online banking service development. The bank will introduce a fully functioning service ecosystem for private customers by 2020, the bank’s press service reports. The primary idea is to switch to a completely new approach to remote/online-based services, to ensure personal communication with a customer, and to offer tailor-made products that meet a particular customer’s specific needs. Throughout 2018, when the first stage of the project is to be in progress, the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 2, 2018. Ural Airlines started operating their flights from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport on March 25, the air carrier’s press service reports. The airline and the airport representatives cut the symbolic red ribbon and invited their first passengers to check in for flight U6 439 Moscow-Simferopol. 162 passengers checked in for this flight all in all, and they were all treated to a cake provided by the airport and some branded souvenirs from Ural Airlines. ‘We are quite happy to expand our Moscow presence and to introduce flights from Sheremetyevo Airport. This is

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 2, 2018. Ural Airlines and Amadeus celebrated their five years of cooperation in March 2018, the air carrier’s press service reports. Ural Airlines are Amadeus’s leading and key customer in Russia, as far as the IT services are concerned. This means the airline can meet all the intentional standards easily. ‘Throughout these five years of partnership, Ural Airlines introduced quite a few advanced IT modules and products that made working with both businesses and passengers much better and much easier. In 2015, we launched an extra options catalogue within our

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, April 2, 2018. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) allocated RUR 271.8m to cover its employees’ medical bills and to implement a number of medical projects last year, the company’s Information, PR & Advertising Department reports. MMK makes a special focus on helping its employees keep healthy. The plant has been investing in its Magnitogorsk Metallurgists’ Health Projects for many decades now. The project’s main goal is to ensure disease prevention among all employee categories. The workers can use the medical and health-improving services on offer as part of

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, April 2, 2018. Rosset’s Federal Grid Company United Energy Systems (FGC UES) expanded its fiber optic lines by another 73,600 km last year, the company’s Western Siberia branch reports. ‘The overall network capacity will extend to 105,000 km by 2025, which, in combination with other up-to-date telecommunications technologies, will provide some 90% of the company’s substations with digital communication channels. This will result in better infrastructure management, improved power supply to end users, and reduced operational costs,’ the branch says. Digital communication

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 30, 2018. Officers from Sverdlovsk Region division of Russia’s Federal Security Service uncovered and stopped an illegal immigration channel in the area, the service’s press office reports. Two Tajikistan nationals have been detained under the suspicion of running an illegal immigration hub. According to the Federal Security Service, they put fabricated exit/entry border crossing stamps into the passports of foreign nationals who, in fact, never left Russia. The suspects were also allegedly engaged in making fake work permits, migration cards, and other papers. ‘A

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 30, 2018. Ural Airlines introduced a new service for its Wings Club members recently, the air carrier’s press service reports. ‘Smartphone owners who use our Wallet App can add their existing Wings Club membership card to the system (or get a card issued with as few as two clicks) and collect bonus points, check their bonus balance, and stay in the know of the airline’s most relevant special offers. Ural Airlines are the first air carrier to enable loyalty card issuance through a special mobile aggregator service. Wallet App does more than just digitalize the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 30, 2018. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) was assessed very favorably as Introduction & Integration Partner of The Year at the international Crystal Headset Contest. Crystal Headset is a reputed contest for call centers and customer service centers. In 2017/2018, the judges’ panel had to evaluate the highest number of applicants throughout the event’s entire history. Nearly 300 businesses based in Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan submitted their applications and essays for the competition,’ the bank’s press service

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 30, 2018. Federal Grid Company United Energy System’s Western Siberia branch made a public announcement to remind the locals about the protected areas around their electric mains. ‘Protected areas are strips of land and air along both sides of the mains. This is 20 meters for 110-kilowatt mains, 25 meters for 220-kilowatt mains, and 30 meters for 500-kilowatt mains,’ the company explains. Any activity within the protected areas must be coordinated with the company’s power engineers, be it construction jobs, repairs or demolition; mining, explosive, or reclamation

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, March 30, 2018. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) drew up a report on its partnership with the Republic of Bashkorstostan, MMK Information, PR & Adverting Department reports. ‘Bashkortotan and MMK have a long history of economic and social connections. In 2016, the two parties signed a bilateral cooperation agreement. About two years later, the time has come to look into this cooperation to see if it proved efficient. A round table discussion on the topic was contributed to by MMK Social Programs Senior Manager Yegor Kozhayev, MMK Prospective Development

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, March 29, 2018. Russia’s Industrial Development Foundation and South Urals Chamber of Commerce & Industry issued loans to six Chelyabinsk Region-based companies in 2017, the CCI’s press service reports. The loans fell within the RUR 20.5m to RUR 500m range. According to President of South Urals CCI Igor Aristov, sixty companies joined the chamber last year, which means the overall membership expanded to 920 businesses (including those pertaining to Miass and Magnitogorsk Chambers of Commerce & Industry). The majority of these (some 75%) are small and medium

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, March 29, 2018. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) keeps working on a new, large, up-to-date sintering plant that will be unique to Russia, the company press service reports. Builders embarked upon the preparatory stage of the project (area layout and getting the foundations ready for assembly) in December 2016. They are now busy assembling the structures. A power substation was the first facility to get built on the construction site. The substation is already connected to a high-voltage main and is ready to provide additional power supply onto the sintering

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 29, 2018. Sverdlovsk Region had RUR 337.8bn invested in the form of fixed capital expenditures, which fell below the previous year’s level by 3.6% (in comparable prices), Sverdlovskstat reports. 70.4% (RUR 237.9bn) of these funds got directed to large and medium enterprises operating in the area, which exceeded the figures for January-December 2016 by 4%. Most of the investments came from the industrial sector > 41.1%, or RUR 97.7bn.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, March 29, 2018. Only 17% of Sverdlovsk Region’s workforce expect their pay to go up this year, HeadHunter’s press service reports. 35% of companies are not planning for any changes in their current pay policy. 45% of those surveyed are not sure what their employers are up to, money wise. 3% of locally employed respondents said their management had actually cut down on their salary budgets. According to the survey participants, their pay is expected to decline because of the business going badly (49%), plummeting sales (26%), and a new KPI system (23%). Interestingly,