UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 2, 2016. Freight forwarding rates rose by 10.1% in Sverdlovsk Region in January-July 2016 compared with December 2015, Rosstat reports. In the meantime, the overall inflation rate in the Mid-Urals between January and July 2016 was 4%.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 1, 2016. The overall amount of money spent on buying textbooks for Yekaterinburg schools reached 104.212m RUR this year, head of Yekaterinburg Council’s Education Department Ekaterina Sibirtseva said at a recent press conference. According to Sibirtseva, a textbook costs 405 RUR on average. ‘All of the city’s 162 schools are fully prepared to welcome their students. Every school underwent some repairs and/or remodeling and got stocked with textbooks. Many of the school buildings were completed with a new gym or canteen as well as outdoor lighting and new

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 1, 2016. Sverdlovsk Region’s farmers are complaining about the poor potato harvest on private farms this year, Deputy Chair of Sverdlovsk Region Vegetable Farmers’ Union Igor Kartuzov said at a press conference in Yekaterinburg today. ‘Private farms go for new seed varieties rarely enough, which means that their harvest deteriorates year by year if the weather conditions are not as good as they could be; this is why private farmers are expected to get very poor potato yield this year due to insufficient watering. It is naturally difficult to get plenty of

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 1, 2016. Sverdlovsk Region’s retail trade turnover came to 59.742m RUR in January-July 2016, which is 5.4% less than one year earlier, Rosstat reports. As for the turnover figures on a month’s scale, the figures for July 2016 were 5.6% less than those for July 2015 and 2.9% more than those for June 2016.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 1, 2016. Federal Grid Company (FGC UES) has subjected over 1,800 km of electric mains in Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, Kirov, and Orenburg Regions to thermovision inspection this year so far. The company intends to get another 1,500 km tested before the end of the year, their Ural branch reports. The tests can be performed on running equipment, the company explains. Special attention will be paid to the mains whose performance affects power generation; these are the 500-kilowatt mains connecting Iriklinskaya Power Station with Zhitikara and Iriklinskaya Power Station

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 1, 2016. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s head plant is going to produce a children’s book called Ural Vagon Zavod’s Legends in celebration of the plant’s 80th anniversary, the company press service reports. The book will tell its readers about the history of both the plant and the city of Nizhniy Tagil in an interesting and engaging way. The plant’s Executive Director Vladimir Roshchupkin is the project’s author and director. The stories were written by a children’s book writer Svetlana Lavrova, a Kniguru Prize winner and Alelita 13 laureate. She was among the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 31, 2016. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation is going to present over fifty vehicles at the 2nd International Army 2016 Exhibition, the company press service reports. The event will take place in Russian Defense Ministry’s Patriot Park in Moscow Region on September 6-11. Ural Vagon Zavod has already rented 1,360 m2 of exhibition space in preparation for the forum. The company stand will feature goods by eight of the corporation’s member enterprises: Ural Vagon Zavod (the head plant), Uraltransmash, Omsktransmash, Burevestnik, Vityaz Machine-Building Company, Plant 9,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 31, 2016. The National Rating Agency confirmed the Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development’s credit rating at AA (one of the highest), the bank’s press service reports. The agency analysts rated the bank’s risk management policy as well as its NPL reserves very high. Besides, the bank is a very strong player on its national markets, enjoys shareholders’ support, has greatly diversified asset and liability structure, and keeps making profit. ‘The UBRD keeps on developing even under the existing economic conditions. Its performance indicators are proof that

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 31, 2016. Once the new driving test regulations come into effect, the costs of going to a driving school might increase by 20% to 25%, President of Ural Driving Schools Association Georgiy Kovalenko said at a press conference in Yekaterinburg. The new rules come into effect on September 1. For one, the road police will now have to sign special contracts with the driving schools in order to use their facilities for driving tests. According to Kovalenko, there are currently only three driving schools in Yekaterinburg that have their own automobile tracks that meet

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 31, 2016. Over a half (54%) of Yekaterinburg residents faced difficulties persuading their employers to let them take a vacation, HeadHunter’s recent research indicates. It appears that people in the marketing, PR, and advertising sectors, as well as lawyers, builders, and those working in sales have to deal with this problem much more often than others. Workers in top managerial positions, on the other hand, almost never find themselves in a situation like this. ‘The main reason an employer might not allow you to go on vacation would be a very busy time at work,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 31, 2016. There were 124,000 cases of fraudulently issued loans in the country in the second quarter of 2016, National Credit History Bureau reports. This comes to 1.7% of all the loans issued to borrowers in the second quarter of the year; in the first quarter, the share was at a two-year high of 4.3% (267,100 loans all in all). ‘Thanks to its unique partner companies database which comprises all the banks and other possible creditors, National Credit History Bureau proved a very effective actor in preventing loan frauds. As all the lending market players are

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 30, 2016. Russian President Vladimir Putin officially thanked Director-General of Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s Burevestnik Central Scientific Research Institute Georgy Zakamennykh for his work performance. A special award was presented to the executive by Governor of Nizhniy Novgorod Region Valery Shantsev, the company press service reports. The award signifies the President’s gratitude for Zakamennykh’s contribution to the organization of festive and educational events dedicated to the 70th Victory Day anniversary, a celebration of winning the Great Patriotic

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 30, 2016. Six workers of EVRAZ Holding’s Nizhniy Tagil Integrated Metallurgical Works (NTMK) received state awards and titles for their professional achievements, improvement proposals, launch of new technologies, and serving as mentors for the younger generation of engineering cadre, the company press service reports. Heavy Milling Department foreman Viktor Panayev was given the Order of Frienship. ‘Panayev has been designing and implementing improvement proposals aimed at reducing the plant’s local environmental impact. His team are always among the production

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 30, 2016. Sverdlovsk Region Government classed an investment project on the urban development/housing construction in Quarters 3 and 4 of Yekaterinburg’s Akademichesky District as a large-scale one. As a result, the project developer RSG-Akademicheskoye is going to be allocated 31 hectares of land without any auction procedures, the Cabinet’s website states. ‘The use of non-delineated land allotments for housing construction is one of the key tasks the constituency’s government is expected to cope with. Akademichesky District has proven a very good place for such

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 30, 2016. Ural Federal District’s retail trade turnover reached 1.191,7 trillion RUR in the first half of 2016 and shrank by 7% in terms of goods volume, Sverdlovskstat reports. 96,800 RUR worth of goods got sold per capita, while the country’s average came to 89,800 RUR. Ural businesses’ wholesale trade turnover shrank by 2.6% compared with one year earlier (in comparable prices), down to 1.4 trillion RUR. The overall amount of paid services fell 2.1% short of last year’s first six months; their total worth amounted to 345.2bn RUR. Consumer price index went up by

UrBC, Moscow, August 30, 2016. Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev signed a decree that lifts a ban on chartered flights operated between Russia and Turkey, the Cabinet’s website officially states. The Russian Government’s latest decree to do with Russian-Turkish relations that earlier forbade any chartered flights between the two countries now reads, ‘Steps should be taken to ensure travel safety for Russia-Turkey aerial communication.’ Russia’s Transport Ministry reports Rosaviation informed Russian air carriers as well as the United Air Travel Coordination System as soon as the bans had

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 29, 2016. Ural Vagon Zavod Corporation’s Kamensk-Uralsky Foundry Plant (KULZ) paid 9,000 RUR to each of the teens who held summer jobs at the plant, the corporation’s press service reports. ‘High school students and those studying at vocational schools were busy cutting shrubbery, mowing the lawns, watering flowers, cleaning rooms, and reorganizing books at our tech library. A worker’s shift was four to seven hours, depending on how old they are,’ the press service explains. ‘Not a single teen said, ‘I wish this month was over already’. Quite on the contrary, they

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 29, 2016. Alexander Lyane’s mining team from Raspadskaya Coal Company’s Yerunakovskaya 8 Mine (EVRAZ Holding’s asset) has produced 2,000,000,000 kg of coal since the start of the year, EVRAZ Holding Siberia’s press office reports. The miners were the first to make this year’s millionth ton of coal in early May; the second million tons were produced from Long Face 48-4 in just four months. ‘Alexander Lyane’s team was also the first to make their second million tons of coal in Kuzbass. Yerunakovskaya 8 miners proved very productive, even though they work on the less

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 29, 2016. Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK) Board of Directors called for an absentee-vote extraordinary shareholder meeting in order to decide on the payment of a dividend for the first half of the year, TMK press service reports. ‘Ballots can be submitted through September 29, 2016. The mailing address is AO Registrator R.O.S.T PO Box 9 18 Stromynka St Bldg 13 Moscow 107996 The list of eligible voters is based on data valid as of September 2, 2016,’ the company press service says. The Board of Directors recommends voting in favor of paying a dividend for the first

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 29, 2016. Ural Airlines are offering tickets for China-bound flights at a reduced price, the air carrier’s press service reports. Starting from August 26, tickets for Yekaterinburg-Beijing and Yekaterinburg-Harbin flights are available for 16,300 RUR (one way, fees and charges included) and 20,600 RUR (one way, fees and charges included), respectively. The luggage must be paid for separately. Flights will be operated starting from September 15, 2016. The flights to Beijing are available every Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, those to Harbin every