December 26, 2014. The investigative division of Yekaterinburg Department of Internal Affairs completed their inquiry into a criminal case involving theft of 5m RUR from bank cards. All of the suspects have been detained, the Department’s press service reports. According to the inquiry team, the head of the organized crime group elaborated a scheme for stealing money from bank cards and bought equipment for making bank card duplicates. His 21-year-old brother, who was good at computers, became his accomplice and, together with three more ‘partners’, used Yekaterinburg- and Sverdlovsk

December 26, 2014. Ural Airlines was once again awarded with a thank-you letter from Governor of Sverdlovsk Region and Sverdlovsk Region Government for its noticeable contribution to charity projects in the area, the airline’s press service says. The authorities commented on the company’s great corporate social responsibility and specific help to those in need this year. In fact, the airline has received numerous government awards for its charity efforts before. In 2014, Ural Airlines directed over 565m RUR to sponsorship and charity projects, with most of the money spent on funding child

December 25, 2014. ITERA O&G Company (a member enterprise of Rosnef) and Uralvagonzavod Corporation signed a natural gas supply agreement, the corporation’s press service reports. ‘The ten-year agreement will come into effect on January 1, 2015. Our agreement on a long-term partnership with ITERA means we’ll be able to cut costs on natural gas supply for Uralvagonzavod’s needs and also means we manage to keep on cooperating fruitfully with Rosneft,’ the press service says. For one, an agreement on oil and mineral products supply cooperation was signed in the course of Saint Petersburg

December 25, 2014. First Deputy Director-General Alexander Grubman was appointed the new Director-General of Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant (ChTPZ). Grubman is going to succeed Vitaliy Sadykov, who used to run both of ChTPZ Group’s divisions, the pipe-manufacturing one and the O&G servicing one. Following his leave of office, Sadykov will focus on the development of Rimera. As the plant’s new Director-General, Alexander Grubman will be in charge of developing and implementing the company strategy: enhancing the business performance efficiency and the company’s competitiveness and

December 25, 2014. Novouralsk-based AMUR Car Factory might become the property of Sverdlovsk Region Government, hints the constituency’s Prime Minister Denis Pasler. ‘We might take AMUR out of its current bankruptcy proceedings in order to make it the Region’s property so that it could be sold to investors in 2015,’ Pasler said at a press conference in Yekaterinburg. According to the official, AMUR still has a production site that is suited for making automobiles and special-purpose vehicles. AMUR Car Factory is currently undergoing bankruptcy proceedings, whereas the factory’s former DG

December 25, 2014. Skoda raised prices for all of its car makes by an average of 7% on December 23: the price increase will thus come to between 40,000 RUR and 100,000 RUR per item, Avtostat reports. For one, Skoda Roomster is now 60,000 RUR more expensive and costs 806,000 RUR. Skoda Yeti also grew 60,000 RUR more expensive. The increase in the price of Skoda Rapid will depend on the options you are buying: Rapid Active will become 40,000 RUR more expensive, Rapid Ambition will become 46,000 RUR more expensive, and Rapid Elegance will become 50,000 RUR more expensive. The base price now

December 25, 2014. Sverdlovsk Region’s law on the constituency’s budget in 2015 and the constituency’s government internal loan program Sverdlovsk Region to take out some budget loans next year, Governor of Sverdlovsk Region’s Information Policy Department reports. Just like a year earlier, loans from non-state institutions will be made in the form of credit lines, which will allow for faster decision-making; the actual borrowing policy will depend on the budget revenues within a particular time period. All this will allow the borrowing party to cut debt servicing costs. The interest rate for

December 24, 2014. Uralvagonzavod Corporation, UVZ Logistic, and Sberbank Leasing signed a major contract on the lease of railway rolling stock in December 2014, the corporation’s press service reports. Sberbank Leasing handed more than 10,000 railway carriages (including 1,800 innovative gondola cars) over to UVZ Logistic. The fifteen-year contract’s total worth (considering the lease payments) comes to about 40bn RUR. The funding is secured by Sberbank of Russia’s Moscow branch. The rolling stock in question comprises tank cars 15-156-04, 15-156-03, 15-150-04, 15-5103-07, and 15-157;

December 24, 2014. Prof. Georgy I Zakamennykh, PhD, member of the Russian Academy of Rocket and Artillery Sciences and Director-General of Burevestnik Central Scientific Research Institute (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) was awarded the title of the Honorary Citizen of Nizhniy Novgorod Region, the corporation’s press service reports. ‘This is a very high estimate of the institute and its head’s contribution to the area’s socioeconomic development. The institute team, headed by Prof. Zakamennykh, is engaged in a wide range of scientific studies and experimental design

December 24, 2014. A Ukrainian proved the most proactive contributor to the Tankopedia Project in December 2014; in fact, he was No.1 in the previous months as well. The fifteen-year-old expert on armored vehicles became even more active after his first prize-winning event in November: he contributed 99 entries in September and October and as many as 70 in November alone. All of the entries are on Armored Vehicles, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service reports. Tankopedia has received some 1,200,000 page views since the day it was launched. There are 3,069 articles on the website

December 24, 2014. Yekaterinburg’s average monthly pay figures and per capita retail trade turnover figures are much higher than the country’s average as well as than the figures in other large Russian cities, Head of Yekaterinburg Council Alexander Yakob announced at an end-of-year conference. He says most of the macroeconomic performance indicators have remained moderate throughout the year: the city’s industrial production index in January-October 2014 was 5% lower than in January-October 2013, the industrial production index for the processing industry went down by 6.7%, and the volume of

December 24, 2014. ChTPZ Group Chairman of the BOD Alexander Fedorov and Rector of South Ural State University Alexander Shestakov signed a strategic cooperation agreement on December 22; the enterprise and the college will work together in the areas of vocational education and scientific research, ChTPZ Group’s press service says. The two parties aim to equip college students with skills needed to work at a modern industrial enterprise, to provide the plant with enough skilled engineers, to improve ChTPZ Group employees’ cadre potential, to improve pipe-manufacturing equipment and

December 23, 2014. Eight B10M bulldozers shipped by Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) to Magadan Region’s housing services and utilities companies have arrived on site, the corporation’s press service reports. Governor of Magadan Region Vladimir Pecheniy came to the solemn handing-over ceremony for the vehicles. ‘Renovating our fleet of utility vehicles is one of our top priorities. Unless we upgrade, we can’t possibly maintain the facilities and infrastructure in our villages clean and tidy. This is why we embarked on this project. Quite a few

December 23, 2014. Over 90% of Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) Corporation’s member enterprises made some net profit in 2014, the corporation’s press service refers to Director-General Oleg Sienko as saying at the end-of-year management meeting in Moscow. Sienko said in his speech that, economic difficulties notwithstanding, the corporation had been making net profit for five years in a row. He also pointed out that UVZ did a lot of work towards the government defense order (54.4bn RUR worth of goods, which was 2.7 times more than in 2013). 1,500 units of new and upgraded military vehicles were

December 23, 2014. Around 380m RUR were invested in Sverdlovsk Region-based businesses’ fixed assets in 2014, which amounts to 22.7% of the area’s GDP for this year, Governor of Sverdlovsk Region’s Information Policies Department reports. 115,000 new jobs were created in the area (29.5% more than the target figure) in accordance with the Russian President’s decree, local statistical bodies report. Sverdlovsk Region Vice Premier and Minister for Investment & Development Alexei Orlov announced at a government meeting chaired by Governor Evgeniy Kuivashev that investments reached 217.8bn RUR

December 23, 2014. Transaero Airlines is planning to stop operating flights from Yekaterinburg to Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport starting next January. ‘The airline has informed us that they were planning to stop operating flights from Yekaterinburg to Domodedovo and to keep operating only the one from Yekaterinburg to Moscow’s Vnukovo Airport,’ Yekaterinburg’s Koltsovo Airport’s press service told UrBC. The airline does not state any reason for giving up on this flight. Media commented earlier on Transaero possibly stopping operating any flights whatsoever due to financial troubles. The airline

December 23, 2014. Sverdlovsk Region’s government debt rose by 10%, or 3bn RUR, by December 1, and thus amounted to 34bn RUR, Sverdlovsk Region Finance Ministry’s website states. The debt amounted to 33,939,645,800 RUR on December 1 against 30,949,657,400 RUR in November. Incidentally, the upper limit for the constituency’s debt in 2015 was set at 100bn RUR. The local municipalities’ debts amounted to 5bn RUR in December.

December 22, 2014. Uralvagonzavod’s Okunev Palace of Culture hosted a round table discussion on partnership development with Chinese businesses. A Chinese delegation, headed by the People’s Republic of China’s Consul-General in Yekaterinburg Tyan Ynsan, joined the discussion as guests of honor, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service reports. First Deputy Mayor of Nizhniy Tagil Vladislav Pinayev and Nizhniy Tagil Chamber of Commerce & Industry President and Chairman Boris Sokolov took part in the discussion as well, as did business representatives, including Uralvagonzavod’s Chief

December 22, 2014. A robbery occurred in Dekabristov St: the target was the office of Pangea, the authorized agent of Tez Tour, a tour operator. According to preliminary reports, 50,000 RUR were stolen, says Valeriy Gorelykh, head of the Department of Internal Affairs’ Sverdlovsk Region division’s press service. Gorelykh said two unidentified persons wearing masks, armed with something that looked like a gun, broke into the office. There were three managers in the room at the moment. The offenders threatened them and made them opened the safe and took the money that was in it. There were no

December 22, 2014. IKEA put a temporary halt on selling kitchen furniture and home appliances in Russia. ‘We are currently updating our current prices on a website, so the prices quoted here may differ from the ones in our stores,’ the company’s website says. IKEA promises to re-launch sales on December 20. Now IKEA has warned about an increase in wardrobe, kitchen, and storage system prices starting December 18.