UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 12, 2017. UBT-Ural Vagon Zavod’s daughter enterprise UBT-Service bought a number of new road vehicles, the company press service reports. ‘For one, we bought a new Scandia, a sweeping truck, to keep our streets clean. Prior to this, we purchased three new 20,000-kg dumper trucks, and two new loaders. The use of up-to-date vehicles and our team’s efforts result in one of Nizhniy Tagil’s largest road-building companies performing very efficiently in the urban improvements sector,’ the press service says. UBT-Service repaired twelve different roads in Nizhniy Tagil last

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 12, 2017. Ural Airlines got their new A321 liner with sharklet-fitted wings from Airbus, the air carrier’s press service reports. This is the airline’s 12th such aircraft, so Ural Airlines currently operate forty-two planes all in all. The new plane will be used for both international and domestic flights. ‘The new airplane only has Economy class seats and is fit for 215 passengers. The plane is fitted with sharklets, that is, special wingtip devices that are meant to improve the plane’s aerodynamic parameters and cut down on fuel spending. The new aircraft is

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 12, 2017. Rosatom’s Novouralsk-based Ural Electrochemical Plant has completed gauging the technical parameters of an experimental set of upgraded, ninth-generation gas centrifuges that are used as part of the technological department’s spacer blocks, the company press service reports. The company’s acceptance committee stated at the end of last year that the upgraded gas centrifuges in question could very well be produced on a serial scale. The plant now intends to keep controlling the equipment’s performance parameters until the centrifuges have been switched to

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 11, 2017. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ) signed a dealership agreement with the Hungarian company Paragraph; the dealer intends to sell the Russian plant’s produce both in the EU and in other countries, including the ones in the Middle East, the plant’s press service reports. The company head arrived at ChTZ on a business visit this week. He was accompanied by two representatives of a large construction company from the Sultanate of Oman and Árpád Velez, MP and Deputy Chair of Russian-Hungarian Parliamentary Assembly. ‘The Hungarian

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 11, 2017. A group of orphaned children went on a guided tour of Ural Vagon Zavod on the eve of Victory Day, the plant’s press service reports. The children were able to take a look at the production departments, learn about the history of Russian armored vehicle industry, and see the legendary tanks that are now the industry’s hallmark. The tour was coordinated by Ural Vagon Zavod itself and Ural Tourism Association. The event involved children from two of Yekaterinburg’s live-in schools/foster homes: a vocational music school and a social rehabilitation center for

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 11, 2017. EVRAZ Holding’s Nizhniy Tagil Integrated Metallurgical Works (NTMK) is now working to expand the range of issues its environmental management system certificate covers, EVRAZ Holding Ural’s Corporate Relations Center reports. ‘Our experts are getting the plant’s coke and by-product department and blast furnace department ready to meet the ISO 14001:2015 standards. An action plan was designed for the purpose, with lists of steps to be taken, deadlines, and people in charge. Special training has been organized for the departments’ workers,’ the Center says.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 11, 2017. EVRAZ Holding’s West-Siberian Integrated Metallurgical Works (ZSMK) is now working on a project to enable the plant to make new lengths of rails that meet European standards and to make more 100-meter R65 rails. According to the company press service, the goal is to get the 100-meter rail production site completely retooled; this is going go cost 168m RUR. ‘The plant’s rail-making department will get complemented with a second 100-meter rail finishing line with a new control unit, a vertical straightening press, and a drilling/cutting machine. Also, the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 10, 2017. One Sverdlovsk Region-based Internet user downloads the equivalent of about 4,000 worth of e-books a month on average, MegaFon Ural’s press service reports. In Chelyabinsk Region and Yamalo-Nenetsky Autonomous Region, the amounts are, respectively, 3% and 9% larger. Sverdlovsk Region-based users’ online activity resulted in a 44% increase in the amount of traffic compared with last year. Every one in two MegaFon subscribers use their smartphone to access the web. According to Romir, 81% of Russian Internet users prefer mobile Internet connection and only 5%

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 10, 2017. ChTPZ Group’s Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant and Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant are going to celebrate the 72nd Victory Day in a series of festive events, the Group’s press service reports. The events will get attended by more than 1,700 war veterans and home front workers. ‘A memorial march for war veterans and home front workers will take place next to the war monument in Chelyabinsk on May 8. Both war veterans the Group employees are going to take part in it. On May 9, the plant workers will join the 66th track-and-field championship at Voskhod Stadium. A

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 10, 2017. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) now offers a monthly capitalization of interest on the entire range of deposits available at the bank, their press service reports. According to the bank’s Debit Transactions Director Olga Aksenova, more frequent capitalization means allows their customers to make better budgeting decisions. ‘People are more used to planning on a monthly basis, so capitalization of interest every thirty days is more convenient. Since we understand this, we are adjusting our products to meet our customers’ preferences.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 10, 2017. The number of gadgets that will be paid for in installments doubled at the telecommunications provider MegaFon’s outlets, MegaFon Ural’s press service reports. Samsung is currently their best-selling mobile phone brand, with sales up by 68% in one month. Every one in five smartphones a customer bought from MegaFon is a Samsung. ‘One has to keep up with the times, so a gadget that ensures speedy Internet connection is a must-have these days. Based on our popularity rating, the top-selling devices are the ones that support the 4G network. They usually come

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 10, 2017. It took a Sverdlovsk Region-based unemployed person 7.1 months on average to find a new job in the first quarter of 2017, Sverdlovskstat reports. 45.7% of the local unemployed remain out of jobs between one and six months, 28.9% stay unemployed for over a year. This is five times more than in the first quarter of 2016, when only 5.6% of those on the lookout for a place couldn’t find one for over twelve months. 36,000 people applied to the state-run employment agencies in the area in January-March 2017, including 33,600 jobless applicants. This is 2.6% more

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 10, 2017. The demand for trips to Turkey rose by fifteen times this May compared with May 2016, with the share of Turkey-related search engine entries up from 1.5% last May to 21.3% this month, tutu.ru’s press service reports. An all-inclusive, week-long stay package currently costs 23,500 RUR per person. At the same time, increasingly fewer people are interested in traveling around Russia: the share of search engine entries related to national health and seaside resorts dropped from 24.4% last year down to 12.7% this year. An all-inclusive package costs 9,500 RUR per

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 5, 2017. EVRAZ Holding is currently getting the primary technological equipment at its Zapadno-Sibirskaya Power Station repaired, EVRAZ Holding Siberia’s Corporate Relations Center reports. The station went through the heating season of 2016/2017 in its usual mode and provided the necessary heating and hot water to end users in full. The provided temperature range was coordinated with the city council and was compiled with throughout the entire heating period. ‘In order to get ready for the upcoming heating season, we have to focus on repairing boilers and turbine

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 5, 2017. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) looked into its customers’ banking behavior to find out that over a third of them chose to deposit their money with the bank based on their friends’ advice in the first quarter of this year, the bank’s press service reports. 2,700 customers set up deposits with the UBRD as part of the Bring A Friend Program in the first quarter of 2017, which is twice the number registered one year earlier. According to UBRD Debit Transactions Director Olga Aksenova, the offer resulted in nearly 8,000 new customers who

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 5, 2017. Ural Airlines are now selling reduced-price tickets for Crimea bound flights; this is part of the government-subsidized flight program, the air carrier’s press service reports. The offer is available to Russian nationals under 23, female nationals over 55 and male nationals over 60, people with disabilities (Group 1) and people accompanying them on the flight, people accompanying children with disabilities on their flight, and children with disabilities (Groups 2 and 3). Tickets can be booked at a booking office upon the production of the documents that prove

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 5, 2017. Rosset’s Federal Grid Company United Energy Systems is currently working to upgrade Svarochnaya, a 220-kilowatt substation in Sverdlovsk Region, the company press service reports. The upgrades are expected to result in more reliable power supply to end users in Verkhnyaya Pyshma and the north of Yekaterinburg, including a number of metallurgical enterprises. ‘The substation will get fitted with four new 110/220-kilowatt switch disconnectors and new hand-operated gear for primary and earthing blades of 110-kilowatt disconnectors. The obsolete equipment of the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 5, 2017. MegaFon Ural introduced the new LTE Advanced telecommunications standard in Nizhniy Tagil, the company press service reports. The local users’ smartphones and tablets will now have access to the Internet connection that is twice as fast as before. Nizhniy Tagil’s base stations, like those in Yekaterinburg, are now tuned in for higher traffic capacity. With LTE-A, MegaFon’s subscribers will be able to enjoy a better connection quality even at maximum workload. ‘LTE Advanced has meant top data transfer speed now comes to 150 Mb/sec for smartphones, tablets, or

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 4, 2017. ChTPZ Group is taking part in Offshore Technology Conference 2017 (OTC) in Houston, USA. The company is presenting its White Metallurgy produce, high tech OCTGs, and oil-extracting equipment, the Group’s press service reports. The Group’s stand features their newest development in the field of production and transportation of natural gas and oil: pumping and compression pipes, casing pipes with Premium threaded joints made at Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant, large-diameter pipes made at Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant’s Vysota 239 Department, and pipeline produce

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 4, 2017. The average asking price on Yekaterinburg existing home market declined by 0.6% in the last four weeks and came to 66,850 RUR per m2, Ural Real Estate Chamber’s analytical report states. This is nearly 13% less than in February 2015 and 1.8% less compared with the start of the year. Prices fell most noticeably in the city’s cheapest and remotest locations, with prices falling by 2.5%, down to 48,035 RUR per m2 in the last four weeks. Homes in the third and fourth priciest locations grew 0.7% less expensive (60,850 RUR and 56,135 RUR per m2, respectively).