UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 19, 2019. First Freight Company’s Chelyabinsk Branch forwarded 1.5 times more cargo in open-top railcars (aka gondola cars) in the eleven months of 2019 compared with the eleven months of 2018, First Freight Company’s press service reports. The branch’s gondola car cargo turnover rose by 39% and reached 1.2bn tons. According to the branch’s Director Gleb Gorbunov, the increase in Chelyabinsk branch’s output has to do with larger shipments of macadam coming from the key partners Cartel Promsnab, Energo-Alyans, and OM-TEK. The company also resumed cooperating with

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 19, 2019. ChelPipe Group is introducing lean production technologies into the educational infrastructure of the Group’s Future of White-Coated Metallurgy In-Company Training Program, the Group’s press service reports. According to the press service, the steps, such as organizational and designer solutions meant to make the learning process more efficient, have been taken as part of the cooperation agreement signed by ChelPipe Group, Russia’s Education & Science Ministry, Sverdlovsk Region Government, and Agency for Strategic Initiatives in 2018. The lean

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 19, 2019. A new coal concentrate dewatering unit has been launched at EVRAZ Holding’s Raspadskaya Coal Company’s Kuznetskaya Central Processing Plant, the company’s press service reports. ‘The dewatering unit helped us stabilize humidity levels of fine coal concentrate and ensure stable product quality parameters that our customers expect. Once the unit has been launched, we are no longer struggling with the lack of space for dewatering operations,’ says Director at Kuznetskaya Central Processing Plant Alexei Vinogradov. The launch of the unit is part of the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 18, 2019. RUB 67m worth of black-market alcohol produce got confiscated in Sverdlovsk Region in 2019; twelve backstreet shops making adulterated strong drinks got closed down as well. Sergey Ustyuzhanin from the Russian Internal Affairs Ministry’s Sverdlovsk Region’s Directorate for Economic Security and Anti-Corruption Enforcement said at a recent press conference in Yekaterinburg that 650 liters of alcohol produce got confiscated, 112 criminal lawsuits were instituted, 1,500+ offenses got detected, and RUB 20m+ worth of administrative fines got imposed on the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 18, 2019. Managing Director at EVRAZ Nizhniy Tagil Integrated Metallurgical Plant (EVRAZ NTMK) Alexei Kushnarev and Danieli Group signed a contract for the reconstruction of the former’s Rail & Beam Department. The Group is expected to supply €80m worth of tech equipment to NTMK, EVRAZ Holding Ural’s Corporate Communications Center reports. ‘Retooling the department will mean we’ll be able to expand our mill produce range and start making new types of rolled metal goods. The department will start manufacturing U-shaped sheet piles (up to 600 mm wide), H-beams

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 18, 2019. The telecom company MegaFon is now selling ‘interesting’ phone numbers that have a combination ‘2020’ in them, MegaFon Ural’s press service reports. ‘Our Sverdlovsk Region-based customers are buying ‘nice-looking’ phone numbers (‘platinum’, ‘gold’, ‘silver’, and ‘bronze’ ones) at the speed of two a day. In December, MegaFon added the special ‘2020’ phone numbers to the pool specially for the digit-combination lovers,’ the company says. ‘Sverdlovsk Region is the Ural’s No.2 in terms of how many ‘interesting’ phone numbers get purchased. Yugra is the No.1

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, December 18, 2019. An organized crime group helping undocumented immigrants get fake authorization papers was uncovered and brought down in the Southern Urals, press service at the Russian Federal Security Service’s Border Control Administration’s Chelyabinsk Region division reports. ‘The primary suspects and alleged accomplices within this organized crime group got detained in Chelyabinsk Region by Counter Terrorism & Counter Extremism Center and Chelyabinsk Region division of Russia’s Internal Affairs Ministry’s Central Investigation Department, with support from the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 18, 2019. Ural Airlines recently introduced a new on-board meal option for those on a special kind of diet: Kosher Menu, the air carrier’s press service reports. ‘This meal option comprises some appetizers (home-style chicken sausages and hummus) and a main course (chicken). All the dishes are kosher-certified, which means both the ingredients and the cooking methods fully comply with what the canons of Judaism require,’ the press service says. You can pre-order your kosher meal if your flight departs from Zhukovsky Airport as well as on all Tel Aviv-Zhukovsky

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 17, 2019. Sverdlovsk Region-based companies and organizations (excluding small enterprises) had RUB 27.9m in debt arrears as of December 1, 2019, SverdlovskStat reports. This figure is 2.2%, or RUB 630,000, lower than that for November 1, 2019.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 17, 2019. A few of Sberbank’s Ural branch’s outlets faced problems on December 16, 2019 due to a temporary internal system crash. According to the branch’s press service, ‘some of the bank’s outlets really are experiencing a bit of a slowdown.’ ‘This will be fixed very soon. We apologize for the inconvenience our customers might have had to go through, and suggest using other banking options such as Sberbank Online or an ATM,’ Sberbank’s press service’s official statement goes. Some media say certain Yekaterinburg outlets have not merely slowed down but actually

UrBC, Sondrio, December 17, 2019. Alexei Kazantsev from Yekaterinburg has won two gold medals in PSL and parallel giant slalom in the 19th Winter Deaflympics this month. Petr Lebedev, who comes from Yekaterinburg as well, won silver in parallel giant slalom competitions. The 19th Winter Deaflympics opened in Sondrio, Italy, on December 12 and will be closing on December 21. Over 500 sports players from thirty-four different countries are competing in the games. There are 135 athletes on Russia’s national team. The games are held in six different sports: snowboarding, mountain skiing,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 17, 2019. The CBR’s Ural branch’s representatives believe the dropping key rate will help make mortgage and business loans more affordable. The Bank of Russia’s Board of Directors made the decision to bring the key rate down by 0.25 b.p., down to 6.25% p.a., on Friday, December 13. This is the fifth time the CBR’s key rate has gone down this year so far. According to the CBR’s forecasts, the current monetary/lending policy will keep the annual inflation rate at 3.5%-4% in 2020; the figures are expected to stay around 4% further on as well. It was announced that,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 17, 2019. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) won the RETAIL FINANCE AWARDS in Best Retail Bank IT Solution: the bank’s new mobile app proved the best offer among the eleven projects that made it to the final round of the competition, the bank’s press service reports. ‘The new, fully redesigned mobile app got launched in March. The primary goal behind all the changes was to become customer-oriented and take into account the customers’ user experience, needs, and wishes. The result is an honest, good quality product,’ says UBRD’s Retail

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 16, 2019. METCOMBANK was one of Russia’s top ten banks in terms of asset growth in the three quarters of 2019, Kommersant Publishing House’s experts refer to Interfax-CEA’s rating as indicating. According to the bank’s press service, the rating is based on the data for the country’s one hundred largest banks’ asset volume as of October 1, 2019. METCOMBANK’s assets rose by 21.5% and reached RUB 75.5129 trillion. Given all of the bank’s financial performance indicators, METCOMBANK is still on the list of Russia’s top 100 banks. METCOMBANK is one of the Urals’

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 16, 2019. SKB-Bank presented its Faster Payments System services at a tech conference in Moscow this week. According to the bank’s press service, the conference participants and visitors to the event could see for themselves how SKB-Bank’s DeloKassa processes dynamic QR code payments and payment cancellations/refunds and check out the bank’s mobile app for QR code-enabled C2C transfers and C2B payments as well. ‘SKB-Bank is currently Russia’s only bank to offer its customers a full-fledged QR code-enabled C2B payment/refund option and an ‘instant account’ option

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 16, 2019. ChelPipe Group invested RUB 6m in a new gym facility at Iron Ozone 32 Department of Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (PNTZ), the Group’s press service reports. ‘The gym/fitness studio can be found in the office/utility building. There are two rooms: a gym with the up-to-date, professional cardio and weight machines that are suitable for both experienced athletes and beginners, and a group workout studio with exercise balls, yoga mats, a tennis table, and darts. Our employees can use the gym every night on weekdays,’ the press service says. ‘ChelPipe Group

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, December 16, 2019. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) came 4th in the RAEX Rating Review’s rating of Russian employers in terms of how much they invested in human capital in 2018, MMK’s Information & PR Department reports. ‘The socially responsible spending a business does within the company is the money directed to employees’ professional development, training, healthcare, and improvements in working conditions. In 2018, MMK Group spent 11% more on charity and social projects than in 2017 (nearly RUB 2.5bn altogether), the company says. According to MMK

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 16, 2019. EVRAZ Nizhniy Tagil Integrated Metallurgical Plant (EVRAZ NTMK) underwent its latest public environmental audit by Russia’s Natural Resources Ministry’s Public Council successfully, EVRAZ Holding Ural’s Corporate Communications Center reports. ‘The council’s representatives went to NTMK’s production departments and got acquainted with the best available environmental techniques the plant is using,’ the company says. The audit is expected to result into an independent analytical report that will get presented to Russia’s Natural Resources Ministry and

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 13, 2019. EVRAZ Holding allocated more than RUB 11.5m to fund the repairs of and new appliances for two colleges in Nizhniy Tagil, EVRAZ Holding Ural's Corporate Communications Center reports. Nizhniy Tagil Tech Institute, which is the branch of Ural Federal University, now has a students' design office. The office has up-to-date projecting equipment, a graphic station, plotters, three 3D printers, a manual 3D scanner, and a camera with accessory lenses,' the company says. The new equipment made the learning process much more interesting and

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, December 13, 2019. According to the Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD), the Russian Central Bank's next meeting on December 13 will very likely result in a drop in the key rate down to 6.25% p.a. (-0.25%). The bank's representative believes the declining key rate will have a very modest impact on the Russian ruble's exchange rate against other global currencies. 'Since the key rate will probably only go down a little, these expectations have already had their effect on the exchange rate. We expect the U.S. dollar to cost around RUB