May 14, 2015. A solemn ceremony was held in Pervouralsk today to celebrate the 81st anniversary of Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant/PNTZ (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation). The ceremony took place next to the monument dedicated to the plant’s legendary director F.A. Danilov. The plant’s first sixty-four pipes were rolled at the pipe-drawing department on May 13, 1934. ‘Dear fellow workers, I congratulate you on the special day in the history of Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant! PNTZ stands for a highly professional team of purposeful and dedicated present and past workers. Thanks to this

May 14, 2015. The Bank of Russia annulled Yekaterinburg-based Plato-Bank’s license on May 13, 2015, the regulatory body’s official website states. The decision was taken since the bank failed to comply with the federal banking legislation and the Bank of Russia’s normative acts. Besides, Plato-Bank was unable to accumulate sufficient own funds by January 1, 2015 yet never applied for a status change in order to become a non-banking lending institution. Plato-Bank was a member of the deposit insurance system. As the annulment of a license is classed as an insured event (as set forth in Federal

May 14, 2015. Sverdlovsk Region’s employers owed their workers 4.326m RUR worth of wages and salaries as of May 1, 2015. Based on Sverdlovskstat’s data, this figure is three times as big as the one for May 1, 2014.

May 14, 2015. A number of Sverdlovsk Region-based agricultural businesses might stop using refrigerated storage facilities, the constituency’s Agriculture & Food Minister Sergei Sharapov told UrBC. ‘New vegetable storage facilities will get built in any case, but some companies might not be able to afford the pricy foreign equipment. For example, they might have to give up on the idea of buying refrigerators,’ he says. According to Sharapov, the local farmers’ vegetable-storing needs are currently covered by 80%. At the same time, the lack of refrigerating equipment might mean they could

May 13, 2015. The Russian clothing and footwear market sales plummeted by 42% (in volume terms) in the first quarter of 2015, Vedomosti refers to Y-Consulting analysts as saying. Sales decreased most in the medium-priced segment, since companies purchased all the new collections when the euro and dollar exchange rates were at their highest against the ruble. As they all operate on minimum profitability levels, there is no way for them of reducing the retail prices considerably, says Y-Consulting Director-General Daria Yadernaya. Despite the ruble growing relatively stronger and more stable,

May 13, 2015. 87.3bn RUR were directed by Sverdlovsk Region to the Russian Federation budget in January-April 2015, which was 14.6% more than in the four months of 2014, Sverdlovsk Region division of the Federal Tax Service reports. The federal budget thus received 25.3bn RUR worth of income, which exceeded the figures for a year earlier by 3bn RUR, or 13.7%. Most of this money came from VAT payments (22.3bn RUR, or 88.4% of the total revenues). This was 2.3bn RUR (11.4%) better than in January-April 2014. Sverdlovsk Region budget received 51.2bn RUR worth of tax and non-tax payments (up

May 13, 2015. Yekaterinburg proved one of Russia’s top ten cities to go to during the Labor Day spring break. This year, travelers came for an average of three days and paid around 2,600 RUR a day for a hotel room, Oktogo.ru, an online booking service, reports. Saint Petersburg, Sochi, Kazan, Moscow, Nizhniy Novgorod, Volgograd, Yaroslavl, Krasnodar, and Kaliningrad were also on the preferred cities list. ‘The number of online bookings of Russian hotels rose by 65% this year compared with a year earlier. This May, a domestic hotel stay cost 3,000 RUR a day on average, which is 50% less

May 13, 2015. A group of Brazilian businesspeople currently on their MBI course paid a visit to Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (a member enterprise of ChTPZ Group) within the framework of Russian-Brazilian cultural exchange program. The purpose of the visit was to get acquainted with the host country’s business culture, the plant’s press service reports. ‘The exchange program and the trip to the Urals get coordinated by Saint Petersburg State University. The idea is to give the two countries’ representatives a chance to get some new experience and start some cross-cultural interaction. A tour of

May 13, 2015. Director-General of Uralvagonzavod Corporation Oleg Sienko has been appointed Vice President of Defense Enterprises Support League (LSOP). The corporation’s press service says the news was announced by the association’s President, First Vice President of Russian Machine-Builders’ Union and First Deputy Chair of the State Duma Industry Committee Vladimir Gutenev. ‘We have already nominated four LSOP Vice-Presidents out of six. These are Deputy Head of Russia’s Military & Industrial Commission Oleg Bochkarev, who is already an active league member, President of United

May 12, 2015. Thanks to Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s company newspaper Mashinostroitel Elena Dementieva, the company’s long-service employee, learned about what happened to her brother, seventy years after the war’s end. According to the corporation’s press service, Memorium, a Moldavian NGO that did some excavation work in Sološnica, Slovakia and found some dead soldiers’ personal belongings, asked the newspaper to assist in locating the relatives of nineteen Nizhniy Tagil natives. ‘Sergeant Timothy Kosarev’s nephew Valeriy Kuzminykh called the newspaper the very next day; Kuzminykh works at

May 12, 2015. Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant and Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant, ChTPZ Group’s two pipe-manufacturing enterprises, invite seventy-five war veterans and 1,300 home front workers to take part in the their Victory Day celebrations, the Group’s press service reports. ‘Our veterans are a striking example of unbelievable courage, strong spirit, and selflessness. Both during and after the war they proved through their daily efforts that our metallurgists can be relied on,’ says ChTPZ shareholder and BOD Chairman Alexander Fedorov. A session at the Defenders of the Fatherland Memorial, a

May 12, 2015. The Russian Federation Government allocated over 85m RUR to have the practice site of Yekaterinburg-based Uralmash Stadium reconstructed, the official website states. It is reported that all in all, 253m RUR have been allocated for the World Cup 2018 preparations in this year’s budget. Sverdlovsk Region Physical Culture, Sports & Youth Policy Minister Leonid Rapoport said earlier that the stadium would be commissioned in the summer. ‘The stadium is more than 80% complete, the only things left to do are interior jobs and organization of public services and amenities,’ the

May 12, 2015. An average Russian family needs 68,900 RUR a month to live ‘OK’, Romir, a research center says. ‘1,100 urban residents in the representative sampling of the 18+ age group were surveyed in April 2015. They were asked to say how much money they feel a three-person family living in their home town needs a month to keep up with ‘normal’ living standards,’ the center explains. Just like in the previous years, the two biggest shares of respondents (27% and 28%) chose the 45,000 RUR to 60,000 RUR range and the 60,000 RUR to 90,000 RUR range, respectively. This means that more than one

May 12, 2015. 69% of Russian drivers believe the new changes in the third-party insurance regulations lack efficiency, Levada Center’s research findings indicate. According to the center sociologists’ data, 90% of Russian car drivers are aware of the changes which came into effect on April 1, while only 35% of pedestrians can boast the same. Over one half of respondents (53%) feel the new insurance policy is just another kind of tax that fails to provide actual insurance (this feeling was shared by 74% of drivers and 34% of pedestrians). Russians believe the third-party insurance neither

May 8, 2015. Uralvagonzavod Corporation is celebrating the 70th Victory Day, with over 4m RUR directed for the purpose, the corporation’s press service reports. Special events have been organized for the war veterans in Kirov, Omsk, Chelyabinsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhniy Tagil, Nizhniy Novgorod, and other cities where the corporation’s member enterprises operate. The company museums renovated their exhibitions dedicated to the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. In fact, there are events targeted at all age groups, with a special focus on the youth: schoolchildren, college students, and plant

May 8, 2015. Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant and Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (ChTPZ Group’s pipe-manufacturing member enterprises) paid 10.4bn RUR in income tax to all the budgets and non-budget funds, the Group’s press service reports. This was 44.5% more than the 7.193bn RUR paid in 2013. The increase in tax payments had to do with greater sales revenues in 2014. The two plants paid 4.9bn RUR to the federal budget, 2.4bn RUR to Chelyabinsk Region budget, 807m RUR to Sverdlovsk Region budget, 246m RUR to Chelyabinsk budget, and 135m RUR to Pervouralsk budget. Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant and

May 8, 2015. Ten employees of Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (a member enterprise of ChTPZ Group) were awarded with Sverdlovsk Region Industry Ministry’s honorary certificates for their many years of hard work, the plant’s press service reports. The solemn awarding ceremony took place at the local Government House. The plant’s delegation proved the largest one at the event. ‘The workers who were awarded the certificates today actually do their job better than others. They are all very enthusiastic about our output. This certificate is meant to emphasize these efforts; moreover, it gives the

May 8, 2015. Russian Copper Company member enterprises are getting ready to celebrate the 70th V-Day, the company’s PR & Social Policy Department reports. ‘On May 6, the plant organized a little concert for thirty-two Great Patriotic War veterans and home front workers, who came to Karabash Health Resort to share their wartime memories, listen to some war songs, and get their 100-gram ‘front shots,’ the department says. Karabash will celebrate Victory Day on May 9, just like the rest of Russia. As usual, the V-Day Parade will start off from the monument dedicated to Hero of the Soviet

May 8, 2015. This year, it will cost 5% to 15% more to take a break at Sverdlovsk Region-based health resorts compared with a year earlier, Executive Director of Ural Tourism Association Mikhail Maltsev told UrBC. ‘Nearly all the popular resorts have already been fully booked for the summer. Prices vary, in some cases a stay gets booked through a travel agent, sometimes the companies make their offers directly to customers. As it happens, the share of visitors whose stay has been covered by their employer has shrunk this year. At the same time, end-customer sales have grown more popular,’

May 7, 2015. A monument dedicated to Hero of the Soviet Union Marshal Konstantin Rokossovsky was unveiled in Volgograd on the eve of the 70th Victory Day. It was the commander’s family who appealed to the city council, asking for the monument to be erected. Uralvagonzavod Corporation acted as one of the sponsors for the project. ‘The monument stands in the place where Rokossovsky crossed the ice-covered Volga in order to support General Vatutin. The legendary marshal is portrayed wearing his dress uniform, the one he was seen in at the V-Day Parade in 1945. The sculptors – father and son