UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 10, 2017. Sverdlovsk Region division of Rospotrebndadzor (the state-run consumer rights watchdog) found seventy samples of meat products and fifty-one samples of canned meat faulty/adulterated last year; this amounted to 20.7% of the entire meat foods market, which is comparable with the figures for the year 2015. According to the agency’s press service, the amount of meat products that failed to meet quality requirements dropped by 1.5 times compared with 2015, that of foods that failed to have the proper markings on them or the accompanying papers with them

UrBC, Moscow, February 10, 2017. 23.7% fewer cars got imported to Russia last year, with the overall number at 267,000 units, Prime refers to Russia’s Federal Customs Service as stating. In monetary terms, the import figures declined by 7.1%, down to $6.027bn. The import of freight trucks dropped by 9.8%, down to 20,300 units (yet in monetary terms there was an increase of 17.3%, up to $1.03bn). The number of passenger vehicles imported from non-CIS member states shrank by 24.8%, down to 252,900 units, and by 8.2%, down to $5.82bn, in monetary terms. Freight truck imports decreased by 17.4%,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 9, 2017. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation is going to present a full-size model of its 30-mm remotely controlled weapon station at the IDEX 2017 Exhibition in Abu Dhabi, the company press service reports. ‘The WS is used to search for, detect, and attack isolated and multiple targets any time of the day. This is the primary weaponry in armored combat vehicles, with a 30-mm 2A42 machine-gun and a 7.63-mm 6P7K tank gun,’ the press service says. In addition to the weapon station, Ural Vagon Zavod’s stand will also feature a full-size model of its 82-mm 2B24 mortar

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 9, 2017. The South-Urals based Thai boxer Khayal Dzhaniyev is going to perform at a gala boxing, Thai boxing, and mixed martial arts championship at Tractor Arena in Chelyabinsk on February 18, Russian Copper Company’s press service reports. The program of the show (scheduled around Defender of the Fatherland’s Day) covers two Muay Thai fights. ‘Thai boxing fans are in for a game featuring the world star and one of the best nationally and globally known Thai boxing professionals Khayal Dzhaniyev, who comes from the South Urals. He last performed at his home

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 9, 2017. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s head plant’s neighborhood watch group looked into its performance in 2016 (the third year this team of volunteers has been around). According to the corporation’s press service, 1,267 volunteers from among the plant employees did their rounds within the group last year. The neighborhood watch group did forty-six shifts (2,175 man-hours) last year, with twenty people per shift on average. 359 administrative offenses got detected as a result. All in all, the group carried out 125 rounds in the last three years, detecting 985

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 9, 2017. ChTPZ Group’s Future of White Metallurgy Corporate Training Program alumni are going to compete in Sverdlovsk Region round of the blue-collar job championship WorldSkills Russia, the company press service reports. The championship will be held on February 13-17, 2017. The contestants will have to demonstrate their professional skills in eight different categories: Mechatronics, Industrial Robotics, NC Turning, NC Milling, Industrial Automation, Welding Technologies, Wiring, and Prototyping. ‘The Group has been taking part in WorldSkills competitions for

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 9, 2017. Rosset’s Federal Grid Company United Energy Systems intends to complete the reconstruction of four power substations and launch a new power facility in Ural Federal District this year. Special efforts will be made to upgrade the electric mains in Orenburg Region, the company press service reports. Renovating the two 220-kilowatt substations, Orskaya and Buzulukskaya, will mean end users in Orenburg Region’s industrial clusters will enjoy a more reliable power supply. Additionally, FGC UES is planning to launch Preobrazhenskaya, a new 500-kilowatt

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 8, 2017. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation intends to sell a 100% shareholding in its daughter enterprise UVZ Logistic to Blagosostoyaniye Non-State Retirement Fund; however, the freight forwarder’s fleet of vehicles will still get operated by Russian Railways’ Federal Freight Company (FGK), the corporation’s press service reports. Ural Vagon Zavod had meant to find a customer before the end of last year; almost all the key railway freight forwarders on the market submitted their bids, with six bidders making it to the next round of the auction. The company did not

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 8, 2017. Potential home buyers with children will be able to get a 3% discount on their new two-bedroom apartments in Akademicheskiy District in Yekaterinburg this February, RSG-Akademicheskoye’s press service reports. ‘The area offers a great environment to raise and educate children. The local security system helps parents feel good about their children’s safety. There are plenty of schools, kindergartens, sports playgrounds, clinics, and supermarkets there that are all very close. All this makes Akademicheskiy a wonderful place for young families (who, in

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 8, 2017. EVRAZ Holding directed 1.2bn RUR to over forty environmental projects at its member enterprises Nizhniy Tagil Integrated Metallurgical Works (NTMK) and Kachkanar Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise (KGOK) last year, EVRAZ Holding Ural’s press office reports. ‘The company worked hard to reduce the environmental impact its coke and by-product facilities make and had some of the equipment at Coke Department 3 replaced or upgraded. The department’s harmful emissions are expected to drop 20% by the end of this year thanks to an upgraded dry coke quenching

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 8, 2017. A new public traffic plan will be introduced in Yekaterinburg in 2019 rather than next year, the city council’s press service quotes Mayor Alexander Yakob as saying. ‘The new traffic network project is already in its final development stage, but we still need to take a few steps to ensure a successful launch, which is why it was decided to postpone the introduction deadline,’ Yakob said. According to Yakob, the traffic plan will have to be adjusted so as to take into account the feedback provided by both the general public and the transport experts. Ad

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 8, 2017. 82% of Yekaterinburg residents who took part in a recent survey disapprove of a possible increase in retirement age, 5% of those surveyed think this is a good idea, and 8% and 5% of respondents feel neutral or were undecided, respectively, zarplata.ru’s research findings indicate. 48% of an increased old-age pension age supporters agree that both men and women should become eligible for the payments at 64. Nearly a half (44%) of those surveyed would vote for the retirement age of 63 for women and 65 for men. Only under one in ten (8%) of respondents

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 7, 2017. Designers and executives from Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s Rubtsovsk subsidiary were awarded the Russian Government Science & Technology Prize 2016 for design and production of PRP4A Argus Artillery Reconnaissance Vehicle, the company press service reports. ‘The prize gets awarded for the best developments that offer the most vital and breakthrough solutions to medical, energy, machine-building, chemical, and defense industries’ problems as well as environmental issues. These are the solutions that have already changed or can change many people’s

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 7, 2017. MegaFon was chosen as the official telecommunications service provider to ensure good quality connection at all of the FIFA Confederations Cup 2017 and World Cup 2018 events; the deal is estimated at 4.251 trillion RUR, the company press service reports. MegaFon is to put up, set up, and ensure operation and maintenance of the entire telecommunications infrastructure at all the sites where sports events are planned: in Yekaterinburg, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kaliningrad, Volgograd, Kazan, Nizhniy Novgorod, Samara, Saransk, Rostov-on-Don, and Sochi. The

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 7, 2017. SKB-Bank was among the top three Russian banks based outside of Moscow or Saint Petersburg in terms of lending output, the bank’s press service refers to Kommersant as stating. SKB-Bank is also No.23 in the overall country ranking of non-capital banks. The bank’s private customer loan book reached 62.984bn RUR last year, with unfailingly good quality. The impressive amount of loans issued to private customers is proof that the bank offers its loan applicants appealing terms and conditions and makes it easy and convenient to apply for and pay out the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 7, 2017. Rosset’s Federal Grid Company United Energy Systems is busy repairing its 110/220-kilowatt disconnecting switches at its Western Siberia-based power substations, the company press service reports. The goal is to ensure a more reliable power supply to end users in Tyumen Region, Khanty-Mansiysky Autonomous Region, and Yamalo-Nenetsky Autonomous Region. So far, twenty-one live wires got repaired at four Siberian substations, with 1,449 more to get fixed throughout this year. The disconnecting switches are meant for shutting down separate circuit sections

UrBC, Moscow, February 7, 2017. The Russian Government adopted some changes to the World Football Championship 2018 preparation program, raising the overall expense amount by 19bn RUR, Interfax reports. The Cabinet’s recent decree carried by the official web portal for legal information on Monday states that the entire spending budget went from 619.6bn RUR up to 638.8bn RUR. The funds will be allocated from the federal budget resources, with this budget expenses increasing from 331.3bn RUR to 350.4bn RUR. 92.2bn RUR will be obtained from the involved federal constituencies’ budget funds, and

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk Region, February 6, 2017. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) sold over 12,700,000 kg of zinc-coated pipes to customers last year; this was a record-setting figure, the utmost peak since the hot-dip galvanizing unit got launched at the plant’s Sheet-Rolling Department 8, the company press service reports. The previous record was set in 2013, when MMK produced 11,300,000 kg of galvanized pipes. Also, the monthly record was set in 2016, when 1,540,000 kg of pipes were made in the month of April alone. MMK started working to improve its deep-level metal

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 6, 2017. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation-sponsored Sputnik Hockey Club entered this season’s Supreme Hockey League playoff ahead of schedule after beating Bars 3:1 in Kazan. According to the corporation’s press service, the February 2 game with the Kazan-based team was the third one Sputnik played away and the sixth one the team had won. All in all, the Nizhniy Tagil team won twenty-nine out of forty-six championship games this season, with nine victories in a row at one time. Sputnik is now No.4 on the league table. Sputnik’s Evgeniy Gasnikov was the first to score

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 6, 2017. Russian Copper Company’s finance bloc took part in the 14th Russian Bonds Congress in Saint Petersburg in December 2016, the company press service reports. The goal was to look into the results of the financial year 2016 and gather together all of Russia’s key bond/share issuers and investors. The conference agenda covered the most important events on the Russian bond market in the course of the year, legislative amendments and other market changes, and the market’s future prospects. ‘The congress drew together quite a few participants, including