UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 23, 2018. Alexander Malov was appointed MegaFon Ural’s Mass Market Sales Director, the telecommunications provider’s press service reports. Alexander Malov graduated from Tomsk State University with a degree in Innovative Marketing. He’s been working in marketing, sales, and customer service for eight years now. The 28-year-old Malov came to MegaFon in 2011. Prior to his appointment at MegaFon Ural, Malov worked as Head of Commerce at MegaFon’s Abakan branch. His move to the Urals means a wider range of new responsibilities as well as a geographical expansion.

UrBC, Moscow, January 23, 2018. France decided not to apply for the right to host the EXPO 2025 Exhibition, Rossiyskaya Gazeta refers to Le Journal du Dimanche as stating. ‘It is my decision not to support France as a possible exhibition host, so the application will be withdrawn,’ says a letter sent by Prime Minister Édouard Philippe to President of Expofrance 2025 Pascal Lamy. Prime Minister Philippe pointed to ‘the project’s structurally weak economic concept’; he feels pursuing the application further would necessitate ‘state guarantees’. The Prime Minister believes, however, that France

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 22, 2018. Only 2.5% of hotel rooms are still available for the World Football Championship 2018 days in Yekaterinburg; no rooms are available at all for the days of two games out of four, Vedomosti refers to OneTwoTrip’s research findings as indicating. As for other World Cup-hosting towns, there are no available hotel rooms whatsoever in Volgograd or Saratov, while the hotels of Nizhniy Novgorod, Kazan, and Samara are 90% booked. Only Saint Petersburg and Sochi still have plenty of accommodation to offer. Moscow’s hotels are 78% booked, OneTwoTrip’s Business

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 22, 2018. Ural Airlines are offering plane tickets at reduced prices on January 19-22, 2018; you can book your flight using Uralairlines mobile app (and on the company website www.uralairlines.comи if you book through the call center on January 20-21), the air carrier’s press service reports. Prices for a Moscow-Tyumen/Tyumen-Moscow flight start from RUR 2,000; those for Yekaterinburg-Simferopol/Simferopol-Yekaterinburg flight start from RUR 5,000; those for Samara-Simferopol/Simferopol-Samara flight start from RUR 5,500; those for

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, January 22, 2018. The management of Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK), headed by the company Director-General Pavel Shilyayev, went on a business trip to Lysva Metallurgical Plant (LMZ) in Perm Territory, MMK Information, PR & Advertising Department reports. Pavel Shilyayev met with Governor of Perm Territory Maxim Reshetnikov during this visit. The plant’s DG made a report on MMK Group’s member enterprises’ development strategy; the strategy covers LMZ, which joined MMK Group in December 2017. Governor Reshetnikov said they would support MMK in their

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 22, 2018. Ural Airlines are currently offering special prices on their Yekaterinburg-Dubai flights, the air carrier’s press service reports. You can buy your reduced-price tickets through March 23, 2018; the flights will be operated through March 23, 2018 as well. The flight from Yekaterinburg to Dubai (United Arab Emirates) and back will cost you RUR 17,000 (cabin luggage under 5kg, one piece of luggage under 10kg, and a hot meal included); the tickets are already available for purchase, and the offer is limited. Actual price may vary depending on the rate of

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 22, 2018. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) came up with an improved scoring system recently. The bank introduced new software that ensures more precise processing of a borrower’s application, speeds up decision-making, and makes it possible to come up with tailor-made offers for specific customers, the bank’s press service reports. SAS RTDM already comprises the more advanced versions of the technological solutions the UBRD has been relying on (scoring models, decision trees, and external scoring data) as well as offers access to quite new

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 19, 2018. Ural Airlines are offering a new Moscow-Tyumen-Moscow flight starting February 18, 2018, the air carrier’s press service reports. The Moscow flights will be operated at 8AM every day (arrival in Moscow: 9 AM), which means business travelers can enjoy a full working day ahead of them. ‘Besides, you can always combine business and pleasure and take a tour of Moscow’s landmarks after your business meetings as well as see a theater performance, go to a restaurant or a cafe, or take a walk along Old Arbat. Even after some sightseeing, travelers will still

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 19, 2018. Sinara Group’s Sinara Development finished its 11th apartment building in Novy Svet District in Volgograd, the Group’s press service reports. The commissioning permit for the building was obtained on December 22, 2017. The new home owners will start collecting their keys on January 20. The 16-storey building has 171 apartments and three offices. There are only 25 apartments still left on offer. ‘Novy Svet is a fully developed residential area with extensive infrastructure. There are mini markets, pharmacies, beauty parlors, and much else besides on the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 19, 2018. ChTPZ Group (with some support from Roshelf) learned to make large-diameter casing pipes with weld-on connectors for offshore wells, the Group’s press service reports. This is the first time this type of piping has been manufactured in Russia; prior to this, all the units got imported from abroad. The Russian product is based on electric-welded pipes (diameter: 508-914 mm; layer thickness: 15.9-38.1 mm) made from Х52-Х60 steel produced by Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling Plant (ChTPZ) Vysota 239 Department. Rosshelf, Oil States’ official representative in

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 19, 2018. Russian Copper Company’s Karabashmed produced 7% more crude copper in 2017 than one year previously, the company press service reports. The plant produced around 120,000,000 kg of metal in the course of last year, setting a production record. This was possible due to large-scale facilities upgrades and production developments. In 2004-2017, Russian Copper Company invested some RUR 18bn in Karabashmed’s upgrades and in reducing the plant’s environmental impact. ‘The launch of the new automated crude copper-pouring line was also a positive factor for the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 19, 2018. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development’s ATMs now both accept and give out new 200-ruble and 2,000-ruble bills, the bank’s press service reports. The new banknotes currently get accepted by a half of all cash machines located in Sverdlovsk, Saratov, Novosibirsk, Orenburg, and Kirov Oblasts and in Bashkiria, Udmurtia, and Perm Territory. The bank intends to tune in the other 50% of the ATMs before the end of January so that new bills get accepted by each and every one of its machines in the constituencies where the UBRD operates. You can get

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 18, 2018. President of Ural Chamber of Commerce & Industry Andrei Besedin said during a recent press conference that he believed Yekaterinburg had good chances of winning the privilege of hosting the EXPO 2025 Exhibition. ‘In my view, Yekaterinburg and Osaka will compete as the two most likely candidates. It’s a matter of common knowledge that the host city can get selected with certain help such as gifts, personal persuasion skills, and facilitation payments. This is what we’ve learned from the past experiences of competing for EXPO 2020. The Japanese are a

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 18, 2018. Ural Airlines are currently selling tickets for their Saint Petersburg-Tel Aviv flights at a reduced price, the air carrier’s press service reports. The offer holds through March 21, 2018 and applies to flights to be operated to Tel Aviv from Saint Petersburg on January 15-March 24, 2018. Prices start from $120 (one way) and $269 (round trip), all fees, a meal, cabin luggage, and one piece of luggage under 23 kg included. Prices may vary depending on the rate of exchange on the date of booking. ‘Israel is a compact but very diverse country. Its holy

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 18, 2018. A 2ES6 with an improved control system is currently undergoing successful pull and energy efficiency tests at Oktyabrskaya Railways. ‘Five Sinara 2ES6 Series locos first arrived at Oktyabrskaya Railways in December 2017. Under the terms of their lifetime maintenance agreement, Ural Locomotives will have to offer Russian Railways a full range of their after-sale services for the next 28 years. The plant’s new service center already opened at Babaevo Depot to do all the maintenance jobs for the new locos,’ Sinara Group’s PR Center reports. 2ES6 units have

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, January 18, 2018. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) is almost done with the preparatory stage of putting up a new sintering plant, MMK Information, PR & Advertising Department reports. Workers on the site are busy driving piles, laying foundations, and assembling the metal frameworks. The assembly of the basic technological equipment is expected to begin in March. The sintering plant, which will improve the sintered ore quality considerably and will reduce the plant’s environmental impact, will require some RUR 22bn in total investments. ‘The construction jobs

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 18, 2018. ChTPZ Group shareholder Andrei Komarov took part in a press conference in Moscow; the event was part of a professional competition in Russia’s best mentorship practices, the Group’s press service reports. First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Administration of Russia Sergey Kirienko, Assistant to the President of Russia Andrei Belousov, and Director-General of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives Svetlana Chupsheva also spoke at the conference. The competition gets coordinated by the Agency for Strategic Initiatives in order to select and share

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 17, 2018. Sinara Group’s TMK CHERMET successfully underwent a qualification audit procedure and is now a certified independent ferrous scrap metal supplier for Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK) member enterprises, Sinara Group’s PR Center reports. The audit was carried out by the Russian Research Institute of the Tube & Pipe Industries (RosNITI). Following the results of the procedure, TMK CHERMET was included in the register of TMK approved suppliers. ‘The qualification certificate is valid for the next three years. The raw metal stuffs our company supplies

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, January 17, 2018. Sinara Development recently finished working on Svoy Krug, a Comfort Class condominium next to Shartashsky Market in Yekaterinburg, Sinara Group’s press service reports. The construction was fully completed right on schedule, with the commissioning permit obtained on December 28, 2017. The new home owners started collecting their keys on January 15, 2018. ‘This colorful 25-storey high apartment building is located within well-developed infrastructure. Everything you need is nearby, including shops, pharmacies, entertainment facilities, and medical

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, January 17, 2018. Sixteen families of metallurgical industry workers from different parts of the country joined the Metallurgists’ Family 2017 event in Moscow in early January. Three families of Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK Group) employees came to this conference as well. ‘This family-friendly event is coordinated by MMWU Central Council and Splav Foundation. People working at metallurgical enterprises in Belgorod, Chelyabinsk, Kaluga, Leningrad, Lipetsk, Moscow, Novgorod, Orenburg, Sverdlovsk, Volgograd, and Vologda Oblasts all came to Moscow for this