UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 4, 2015. The average housing prices in Yekaterinburg declined by 4.1% between January and August 2015, Ural Chamber of Real Estate’s Analytical Department reports. ‘Despite a certain upward trend in July, the demand for housing remains low on the whole. Sellers kept on advertising for new apartments in the spring and summer, however. As a result, the current housing supply is up by 46% compared with February. Over 11,400 apartments and 1,800 rooms in communal apartments are now available for purchase through estate agents. It takes an average of five to six

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 4, 2015. Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant and Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (member enterprises of ChTPZ Group) produced and delivered 700,000 kg of GL pipes to TEK Mosenergo, the designer and developer of Yakutskaya Power Station 2, the Group’s press service reports. The two plants’ produce will be used for making an elevated pipeline to connect the station’s primary and auxiliary production sites. The pipes in question are 89mm and 108mm ones (wall thickness 4mm) made of 09G2S steel, 219mm ones (wall thickness 7mm) from Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant and 426mm ones

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 4, 2015. Uralvagonzavod Corporation presented its innovative rolling stock at the 5th International EXPO 1520 Railway Exhibition; the event is hosted by Experimental Ring in Shcherbinka, Moscow Region. The corporation’s press service reports visitors to the exhibition could see the 18-555 and 18-194 trucks, the 94 m3 12-196-02 gondola car, and the 15-5157-04 tank car. A multifunctional vehicle TMV2, an alternative to a shunter, was also presented in Shcherbinka, as was a new container car with body made of composite materials. This innovative product is meant

UrBC, Moscow, September 3, 2015. Russian banks issued their borrowers 338,502 mortgage loans in rubles, with the overall amount at 555.3bn RUR, between January 1 and July 31, 2015. This is 40% less than a year earlier, Banki.ru refers to the Russian Central Bank as reporting. The average weighted interest rate has gone down from 14.04% on January 1 to 13.93% on July 1. Additionally, 67 mortgage loans in foreign currency, with the overall amount at 2.15bn RUR, were also issued in the given period. The average weighted interest rate on these mortgages was 10.08%. The overall mortgage debt came

UrBC, Moscow, September 3, 2015. Private individuals' past-due loan payments amounted to 865.1bn RUR on September 1, 2015; this was the largest figure over the last seven years, Banki.ru refers to Sequoia Credit Consolidation, a collecting agency, as stating. The collectors report the scale of lending by Russian banks went down by 5.13% by September 1 compared wit the start of the year, with the overall amount at 10.74bn RUR. The amount of loans issued to private individuals kept going down by 1% to 1.3% every month throughout January to April and by no more than 0.4% in May and June,

UrBC, Moscow, September 3, 2015. Russian movie theaters' ruble revenues dropped by 35% in August, with attendance down by 32% compared with a year earlier, Kommersant reports. The revenues obtained by movie theaters in Russia and the CIS member states (excluding Ukraine) amounted to 11.7bn RUR in June-August 2015, which was 3.5% less than last summer, film distributors report. The number of movie-goers decreased by 4.8%, down to 48.7m people. The overall decrease had to do with the disastrous August sales, when both attendance and box office plummeted by 32% and 35%, respectively. The

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 3, 2015. The weakening ruble brought about a 24.5% increase in the price of air travel for passengers departing from Yekaterinburg, Tutu.ru's PR Department told UrBC. 'The average price of an international flight came to 22,689 RUR in early September, which exceeds the figures for early July by 24.5%. Prices reached a peak in August, with the average plane ticket from Yekaterinburg to a destination abroad available for over 24,000 RUR,' the department says. Traveling by air to the CIS member states was, however, cheaper in August than in

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 3, 2015. Sverdlovsk Region's debt came to 44.1bn RUR on July 1, which was 5% less than a month earlier, Finance Minister Galina Kulachenko said at a local government meeting. 'The figure has gone down by 5.6bn RUR, since the beginning of the year, so our debt burden is now 6.4% lower than on January 1. Sverdlovsk Region had the 18th largest debt burden among the Russian Federation constituencies in the first half of the year,' she said. According to the minister, the regional authorities are going to take out 2.795bn RUR from the federal budget to

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 2, 2015. Over 500 kg of food items got confiscated by Koltsovo Airport Customs so far this year; all of the foods are subject to the Customs Union embargo, the customs head Sergei Abrosimov explained to UrBC. According to Abrosimov, the confiscations resulted in 111 administrative proceedings, with charges based on Article 16.3 (Part 1) of the Russian Federation Administrative Offense Code (non-compliance with the Customs Union member states' international treaties, bans, and limitations). 'Subject to withdrawal was agricultural produce, namely, 301 kg

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 2, 2015. The price of a plane ticket for a flight departing from Yekaterinburg averaged on 12,500 RUR this summer, which exceeded the figures for a year earlier by 22%, Kommersant refers to Biletix online booking data as indicating. Domestic flights grew nearly 21% more expensive, increasing in price from 9,600 RUR to 11,600 RUR on avearge, international flights grew over 15% pricier (up from 18,900 RUR to 21,800 RUR). 68.5% of all flights operated to or from Koltsovo Airport this summer were domestic ones (for Russia on the whole, the figure stands at 57%). The

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 2, 2015. 150 first-year students on ChTPZ Group's Future of White Metallurgy Program were given their student ID cards in the course of a solemn ceremony on September 1, the company press service reports. 'Thanks to the company shareholders, students are provided with the best learning-conducive conditions here in Pervouralsk. You are the country's future blue-collar elite. We hope you come back to work at the company departments very soon,' Managing Director of Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (a member enterprise of ChTPZ Group) Alexander Isaikin

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 2, 2015. Uralvagonzavod Corporation and Evraz NTMK hockey teams were the first to play at the newly-built Prezidentsky Ice Palace in Nizhniy Tagil. The corporation's press service reports locals will soon be able to enjoy the new swimming pools, the sports arena, the gym, the dancing hall, and the boxing ring at the new place. 'The construction began following the Russian President's provision to this effect. A group of Sverdlovsk Region delegates, headed by Plenipotentiary Representative of Russian Federation President in Ural Federal District

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 2, 2015. Uralvagonzavod Corporation's member enterprises in Chelyabinsk, Omsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhniy Tagil, and Kamensk Uralsky celebrated Knowledge Day on September 1. The companies' management went in person to the schools where their employees' children study, the corporation's press service reports. Besides, a show was performed at Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant's theater for the younger schoolchildren whose parents work at the plant. 128 boys and girls came to see it, all children of the corporation's employees and of members of

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 1, 2015. There are now 2,354 pay parking slots in Yekaterinburg, Roman Barakovskikh from the city council Transport Committee said in the recent broadcast of Poslesloviye. The official said 854 new slots were provided last week alone. 'Pay parking lots are introduced in the busiest parts of the city, where cars have to be parked in several rows. We met all of this year's target figures for parking lots,' he said. Six patrol cars to control compliance with the parking regulations cruise the city streets 24/7. At the end of the day, their data get

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 1, 2015. Sverdlovsk Region residents‘ spending increased by 12.5% in the first half of 2015 compared with a year earlier and came to 877.1bn RUR all in all, while their income rose by 9.3% and came to 848.4bn RUR. Sverdlovskstat reports 687.7bn RUR were directed to goods and services (up 7.1% on a year earlier). In June 2015, the locals‘ income came to 154.4bn RUR (8.8% more than a year earlier), while their spending came to 158.2bn RUR (up 8.3% on a year earlier).

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 1, 2015. The amount of money deposited at Ural Federal District-based banks rose by 23.8% in the first half of 2015 and thus reached 536bn RUR, Deposit Insurance Agency reports. Deposits over 1m RUR large grew the fastest and thus increased by 1.5 times. Deposits in the 700,000 RUR to 1m RUR range went up by 44.7%, while those in the 100,000 RUR to 700,000 RUR range remained more or less at the same level. Deposits in the under-100 RUR range rose by 3.8%. A private individual's bank deposit came to 197,400 RUR on average as of July 1, 205. That of a sole

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 1, 2015. Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK) made its bid in Gazprom's auction for the delivery of a set of large-diameter pipes for the company, TMK press service reports. The company representatives explain their bids won in two lots, so now TMK will have to deliver 37,535,000 kg of 1,420mm LDPs (wall thickness 21.6mm, strength grade K60, working pressure 9.8 mega-pascals) to Gazprom Invest by the end of the year. Also, another 7,292,600 kg of 720mm LDPs (wall thickness 10mm, strength grade K55, working pressure 7.4 mega-pascals) to Gazprom Tsentrremont. The

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 1, 2015. Plant 9 (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) launched a modern laser cutting unit made in Russia; this equipment is less expensive than its foreign counterpart and allows for cutting metal that is up to 20mm thick, the corporation's press service reports. 'The ytterbium fiber laser LS4 was installed at the plant's welding department, which has been given a complete overhaul recently and is now being fitted with new equipment. The unique LS4 unit has been assembled, undergone start-up and commissioning, and is now fully

August 31, 2015. The amount of money transferred to Russia via money orders dropped by 15% in the second half of 2015 and came to $840m against $983m in the previous quarter, Banki.ru refers to the Central Bank as stating. The decrease was primarily brought about by the shrinking amount of money coming from the CIS member states ($597m against $756m in the first quarter of the year). On the other hand, as much as $243m came from the far abroad, compared with $228m in January-March. These figures were larger last year, including the overall amount of money transferred to the country from

August 31, 2105. Sverdlovsk Region division of Rospotrebnadzor (the state consumer rights watchdog) inspected 2,860 kg of butter and margarine in the first half of the year and found 380 kg (13.3%) not to meet the existing quality requirements, the agency's press service reports. 94% of faulty items were already past their sell-by date. 32 butter and margarine samples were tested for compliance with the required bacteriological, physical, organoleptic, and chemical parameters. All the samples met the technical regulations and normative standards.