April 18, 2014. The finishing center of Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (PNTZ, a member of ChTPZ Group) is now implementing a capacity-boosting program for its thermal treatment section, the company’s press service reports. The innovations will result in a 20% increase in the productivity of the section, which, in its turn, will raise the output of thermally processed pipes from 80,000,000 kg a year to 90-95,000,000 kg a year. ‘The program is two-fold. The first stage will last until the end of 2014 and will comprise a number of steps targeted at reducing down time, speeding up the thermal

April 18, 2014. A set of spare parts for B10M and DET250 tractors made at Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ, a member of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) is going to be shipped to Ukraine. The spare parts will be purchased by ChTZ-Uraltrac’s dealer, Assol, the corporation’s press service reports. The goods will be shipped to the consumer as they are ready throughout the month of April. In fact, as many as two vans rather than just one might head off for Zaporozhe this month. The plant is also about to sign a contract and specifications for the delivery of a set of spare parts to one more Ukrainian

April 17, 2014. 17,547 fake banknotes modeled on those issued by the Bank of Russia were detected in Russia in the first quarter of 2014. This can be compared with 17,923 fake banknotes detected in January-March 2013, which means the figure went down by 2.1% in one year, Banki.ru reports. 5,297 fake bills were detected in January 2014, 5,833 bills were detected in February, and 6,367 bills were detected in March. The five-thousand-ruble bill proved the most-often-forged one: 11,916 fake 5,000-ruble banknotes were found, followed by 4,520 fake 1,000- RUR banknotes, 948 fake 500-RUR banknotes,

April 17, 2014. Sverdlovsk Region Court supported the ruling of a court of lower instance that stated OOO SUAL-Kremniy-Ural should develop and implement a sanitary protection zone before 2015, the court’s press service says. In 2011, the court followed the public prosecutor for the environment’s demand and made SUAL-Kremniy-Ural develop and implement a sanitary protection zone before the end of 2012 and to install gas purification facilities before the end of 2013. The enterprise failed to comply with these requirements in due time. The enterprise appealed to court, asking to shift the design

April 17, 2014. Some modern machining centers with numeric program control – the UniSpeed-5 makes made in Germany - were installed at Shop 23 of Plant No. 9 (a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation). According to the corporation’s press service, the centers, each of which weighs 36 tons, were delivered in parts on special platforms. Upon delivery, the parts were taken inside through the gates with the help of a crane and hoisted to the installation site. ‘Given its considerable weight, the equipment could not be lifted with the help of bridge cranes, as

April 17, 2014. The industrial production index for electronic and optical equipment in Yekaterinburg rose by 9.4% in January-February 2014. According to Yekaterinburg Council’s press service, the increase has to do with the viable infrastructure for the development of clusters such as the Instrument Making Industry (the production of instruments and automation systems) and the Medical Equipment Industry (the production of medical machines and appliances). ‘The development infrastructure is represented by the communities of producers and designers as well as industrial parks and technological

April 17, 2014. Designers from Transport Integration Group took into account the proposals put forth by Yekaterinburg Council in terms of restoring the city roads in preparation for the World Football Championship of 2018, the council’s press service says. The designers and the city council are currently looking into all the aspects relating to transport links connecting the near and the distant roads to Central Stadium and are getting ready to present their projects to the federal authorities. Now Yekaterinburg Council expects to have almost 15 vital elements of the city’s transport

April 16, 2014. 177,000 mobile phones and smartphones and 36,000 tablet computers were sold in Yekaterinburg in the first quarter of 2014, this was, respectively, 4% and 43% more than a year earlier. On average, the price of a smartphone rose by 3% and came to 6,500 RUR, while the median price of a tablet computer dropped by 21% down to 10,000 RUR, Evroset says. The mobile phone and smartphone market increased by 4% in the first quarter of 2014 in quantitative terms and by 7% in monetary terms compared with the first quarter of 2013. The number of gadgets sold rose from 170,000 to 177,000,

April 16, 2014. The 14th international arms and military vehicles exhibition called DSA 2014 opened in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation is taking part in the event. ‘The corporation displays the samples of its new products designed by its various member enterprises at the stand, including Terminator, the T90C tanks, the upgraded T72, and BREM-1M made at Nizhniy Tagil-based Uralvagonzavod, TOC-1A made at Omsk-based KBTM, the noiseless 82-mm 2B25 mortar made at Nizhniy Novgorod-based Burevestnik, and some other products. Terminator-2 was presented

April 16, 2014. Experts from Bank Koltso Urala’s processing center designed and launched a free application that allows one to manage one’s finances via iOS supporting devices through App Store. The application is called Telebank and is already available for downloading onto Apple gadgets, including one’s iPhone, iPad and iPod touch, Bank Koltso Urala’s press service says. ‘Koltso Urala’s mobile telebank allows one to manage bank card accounts and cards 24/7 using the familiar menu of a mobile phone. The application provides secured access to one’s accounts; besides, additional protection is

April 16, 2014. More than 273,800 sq m worth of housing was commissioned in Sverdlovsk Region in the first quarter of 2014, which was 2.1 times more than in the first quarter of 2013. According to Sverdlovskstat’s data, 188,700 sq m worth of private houses were put up in the first quarter, which was 1.8 times more than in Q1’13.

April 16, 2014. The industrial production index in Sverdlovsk Region was 11% lower in January-March 2014 than it was in the first quarter of 2013, Sverdlovskstat reports. In March 2014 and February 2014, the industrial production index was, respectively, 11.8% lower and 7.3% higher than in March 2013 and February 2013. The index was 12.2% lower than a year earlier in the mineral resources sector in January-March 2014; the figure was also 28.3% lower and 8.3% higher than in March 2013 and February 2013, respectively. As for the processing industries, the figure was 11.5% lower in the first

April 15, 2014. The International Exhibition Center Yekaterinburg EXPO might only break even in 2016 or 2017 (not considering the interest payments on loans). The original break-even point was set for the year 2014, Deputy Economics Minister of Sverdlovsk Region Elena Novotorzhentseva said at a press conference in Yekaterinburg today. ‘The exhibition center was built on borrowed money, so, if one doesn’t take the necessary interest payments into account, we should start breaking even by 2016 or 2017,’ the official said. According to Ms Novotorzhentseva, 30% more of exhibition space is used

April 15, 2014. Paralympics world cycling champion Alexei Obydennov thanked Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation for support and faith in his success, the corporation’s press service reports. ‘Leader of the Russian national team Alexei Obydennov proved Russia’s first Paralympics world champion in cycling and won two gold medals: he came first in the three-kilometer race (an American came second and an Australian came third) and then he won an individual one-kilometer race, finishing it in 1 minute and 06.131 seconds. This was actually a world record for the Russian

April 15, 2014. On April 11, Mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin was shown the new three-section 71-414 tram that had been designed jointly by Uralvagonzavod Corporation and the Polish company PESA. The Director-General of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation Oleg Sienko and Chairman of the Supervisory Board and DG of PESA Tomas Zaboklitsky presented the new tram on their respective companies’ behalf, the corporation’s press service says. 120 such trams will be delivered to Moscow within the framework of an agreement between Moscow Transport Department and one of

April 15, 2014. Ural Locomotives (a joint venture run by Sinara Group and Siemens AG) got visited by a delegation of chief train safety experts at Russian Railways, headed by Head of Russian Railways Motion Safety Department Shevket Shaidullin. According to Sinara Group’s press service, the visit was part of a network meeting of deputy heads of local railway divisions and chief inspectors for motion safety from all of Russian Railways local divisions. During their visit to the enterprise, the delegates talked about the ways of improving Sinara 2ES6 electric loco; special emphasis was made on

April 15, 2014. The Director-General of Uralvagonzavod Corporation Oleg Sienko talked to temporary acting Governor of Volgograd Region Andrei Bocharov about the prospects of Krasny Oktyabr, a plant that happens to be the corporation’s strategic partner. According to the holding’s press service, Andrei Bocharov pointed out that the enterprise was very special to Volgograd as it was one of the primary employers in the city; he said it was crucial for the plant to keep developing and to maintain its corporate social responsibility projects. ‘As the head of Volgograd Region, I am prepared to

April 14, 2014. The net loss of Uralkhimmash amounted to 411,554,000 RUR last year, whereas a year earlier, the figure was 2,505,464,000 RUR, the company’s annual accounting report states. The enterprise’s revenues came to 4,692,731,000 RUR against 4,459,124,000 RUR in 2012. Its gross profit was 610.389m RUR, its sales revenues stood at 17.372m RUR.

April 14, 2014. Governor of Kaluga Region Anatoly Artamonov paid a visit to Kalugaputmash, a track machine and hydraulic power drive plant and a member of Sinara Transport Machines Holding, on April 9, 2014. The enterprise housed a meeting on the development of railway machine-building in the area, the holding’s press service reports. The meeting was attended by Sinara Group BOD Chairman Dmitri Pumpyanski, Sinara Transport Machines’ Director-General Evgeny Gritsenko, Deputy Director for Technical Policy at Russian Railways David Kirzhner, and Director-General of RPM Group Konstantin Danilov.

April 14, 2014. Ural Airlines came up with a special offer for passengers flying from Yekaterinburg to Prague. On April 23, 2014, and on this day only, one can fly to Prague and go back within a week for €245 (all fees and charges included), the airline’s press service says. These specially priced tickets will be available at the booking offices starting from April 12, 2014. ‘Springtime in Prague, full of flowers in bloom and of green leaves, is particularly wonderful. The gorgeous blossoming sweet cherry trees, and the snow-white tulips in full bloom in front of the Jan Hus monument in the