February 10, 2014. Experts from Ural Chamber of Real Estate looked into the median price of a dwelling on Yekaterinburg existing homes market, in rubles and in US dollars. According to their findings, the price of apartments dropped from $2,200 to $2,080 between January 7 and February 7, 2014. In Russian rubles, this is 72,235.969 RUR per sq m (exchange rate as of February 7, 2014). The median price of existing homes came to slightly less than 73,340 RUR on February 7, 2014.

February 10, 2014. QIWI Group directed data on a ‘special offer’ run by PlatSystems in Sverdlovsk Region to law-enforcement agencies, the company’s press service informed UrBC. Now PlatSystems used QIWI’s brand to launch a ‘promotion campaign’ in Sverdlovsk Region that consisted in sending out text messages to locals that read they had won the first prize, a 4-million-ruble Lexus LX 570 Premium 5S. The police have already instituted criminal proceedings, as one of the ‘lucky winners’ has already lost 92,000 RUR on this scam. ‘QIWI provided all the data necessary to investigate the fraud upon

February 7, 2014. Sverdlovsk Region was given the 8th position in the federal constituencies appeal rating. Sverdlovsk Region's share of its own income was 79%, the share of debts was 12.9%. In terms of budget rating, however, the constituency was only given the 17th position; it was also assigned the 54th place in the economic development rating, Bank Saint Petersburg's research says. 'The federal budget revenues went down because of the recession, so we have reasonable grounds to believe that some areas might be in trouble due to less subsidies from the federal budget. In

February 7, 2014. Ural Airlines launches a new scheduled flight from Rostov to Saint Petersburg: starting from March 30, 2014, residents of Rostov will be able to travel to Saint Petersburg on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays. Starting from May 26, 2014, the flight will actually be operated daily except Saturday and Sunday, the air carrier's press officer reports. 'Thanks to the convenient schedule, the new flight will make it possible for businesspeople to plan their trips in the most convenient way and save time on connecting flights. Those who would like to walk around

February 7, 2014. Upgrades of the ultrasonic flaw detection unit Atlant meant for testing pipe ends are now complete at Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (PNTZ, a member enterprise of ChTPZ Group) Hot-Rolled Weldless Pipes Department, PNTZ press service reports. As a result, the improvements now make it possible to test ultrasonically not only the body of their corrosion-resistant pumps but also the ends. The upgrades were two-fold. First, the operation algorithm of one of the main joints – the electroacoustic transducer tank – was adjusted. Then, a roller table was installed into the unit: now

February 7, 2014. Pervouralsk, Serov, Rezh, Kirovgrad, Kamensk-Uralsky, and Yekaterinburg were registered among Sverdlovsk Region-based towns and cities with the highest air pollution rates in the area, Sverdlovsk Region Natural Resources & the Environment Ministry's report on Q4 2013 says. The air pollution in Sverdlovsk Region was at its worst on November 25-27, 2013. This was when a lot of air pollutants were detected in the air. For one, nitrogen dioxide emissions stood at their peak in Yekaterinburg, Kamensk-Uralsky, Kirovgrad, Serov, and Pervouralsk. Increased nitrogen oxide

February 7, 2014. 80% of the Innoprom 2013 exhibitors are going to join this year's exhibition as well, President of Formica Group Maxim Zverkov said at a press conference in Yekaterinburg. 'As the event operator, 80% exhibitor retention signifies good performance for us,' he said. Zverkov also pointed out that new exhibitors would also take part in the exhibition this year. For one, Formica is negotiating with the International Robotics Federation. He said the federation's Japanese representatives are expected to come to Yekaterinburg. 'The robotics federation is a

February 05, 2014. Pipe Metallurgical Company's (TMK) servicing center in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, called Threading and Mechanical Key Premium LLC was certified by Abu Dhabi Company for Offshore Oil Operations (ADCO) as the oil and gas servicing sector supplier. According to the company's press service, getting certified will mean the company will be eligible to take part in ADCO tenders for the production of premium threaded joints and repairing pipe products separately or as part of the delivery package. 'To compete in the tenders that have been run by ADCO and other

February 05, 2014. The official unemployment rate in Sverdlovsk Region was 1.18% on January 1, 2018. This is 0.11% lower than at the beginning of 2013 (the figure was 1.29% on January 1, 2013), Sverdlovsk Region Economics Ministry reports. The number of the unemployed who registered with the employment agencies came to 27,160 people on January 1, 2014, while the number of job openings announced by the local employers is actually 1.4 times bigger than the number of jobless people in the area, so the unemployed/vacancies ratio was 0.9 on January 1, 2014, which is 0.1 less than a year earlier.

February 05, 2014. Sverdlovsk Region Education Minister Yuri Biktuganov signed a cooperation agreement with Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI), Governor of Sverdlovsk Region's Information Policies Department reports. Under this agreement, the two parties are going to cooperate on training cadre that will meet the requirements of the hi tech industrial sectors through a dual education program. The ASI gave Sverdlovsk Region the status of the Mentor Region, which means the area will offer methodological support to other federal constituencies which are only preparing to train

February 05, 2014. A solemn foundation stone-laying ceremony will take place on the site of the future power station at Academic District of Yekaterinburg on February 5. The new power generating unit will provide heat and electric power to the new Academic District and surrounding parts of Yekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Region Government's press service reports. Putting up Akademicheskaya Power Station has become the largest project for Sverdlovsk Region power supply system over the last few years. The symbolic torch that will signify the start of the construction of the new power generating

February 05, 2014. In 2013, Sverdlovskenergosbyt placed over 1,300 claims with the court relating to collection of 1.8bn RUR worth of debts owed to the power supplier by legal entities. So far, the company managed to collect more than 800m RUR, which is 30% more than a year earlier, the company's press service says. Most of the power supplier's debtors are municipally-run communal housing utilities and services companies, with a proportion of for-profit companies and industrial enterprises as well as state-run organizations. 'Over a half of court claims worth more than 1bn RUR

February 4, 2014. Court officers of Yekaterinburg made Pegas-Yekaterinburg pay a Tyumen resident over 400,000 RUR: her vacation had to be canceled due to the tour operator's fault, Sverdlovsk Region division of Russia's Federal Service of Court Officers reports. It was detected in the course of the court hearing that the woman booked a tour to the United Arab Emirates for herself, her son, and her niece. The tour cost more than 200,000 RUR. However, the customer was unable to leave because Pegas-Yekaterinburg did not get the visas ready on time. The tour operator suggested the woman

February 4, 2014. The accumulated fees of insurance companies located in Sverdlovsk Region will come to 22.3bn RUR in 2013 (excluding the obligatory medical insurance payments). The local insurance market growth is to slow down to 10.7% a year compared with 30.7% a year earlier, SOGAZ Insurance Group's Analytic Research & Market Forecast Center reports. 'According to our forecasts, slower growth will become noticeable in nearly all the large market segments. For one, life insurance market is now growing 35.7% a year rather than 52.3% a year. What is more, a decline occurred in

February 4, 2014. The international company NAI Becar came up with a rating of largest projects on satellite towns in Russia. Academic District of Yekaterinburg came second, only preceded by Moscow's A101, RBC reports. Analysts also report that housing sales in Academic are now at their all-time high, which has to do with the fact that the district is nearly complete, is integrated into existing facilities, and has developed infrastructure. Among the top ten projects were the ones with the total housing area of 40m sq m and expected number of residents of 1.2m people. 'There are

February 4, 2014. The first fuel assembly has been charged into BN-800 reactor of Power Generating Unit 4 of Beloyarskaya Nuclear Power Station, the station's Information & PR Center reports. The start-up neutron source was installed in the reactor's active area the other day; it is meant for controlling the neutron current. Charging the first fuel assembly is one of the key stages, a certain psychological benchmark that signifies the start of the reactor's life,' says Beloyarskaya Nuclear Power Station's Deputy Chief Engineer Valeriy Shamansky. The launch of the

February 4, 2014. A thank-you letter from Nizhniy Novgorod Department of Sports, Culture, and Youth Policy was given to the Director-General of Burevestnik Scientific Research Institute Georgiy Zakamennykh for taking part in the local charity event called Everything Is in Your Hands. The slogan for the campaign ran, 'Don't Abandon Your Children', Uralvagonzavod Corporation's press service reports. The charity thing included the institute employees collecting and transferring to the charity fund a lot of children's clothes and shoes, toys, books, and other necessary

February 3, 2014. Novouralsk-based AMUR Car Factory made 9m RUR in 2013 from selling its assets by auctions organized by the company itself, Sverdlovsk Region Ministry for Industry informed UrBC. In the course of the auctions, the factory sold Sberbank of Russia’s shares, two non-residential premises in Novouralsk (7 Promyshlennaya St) and a car parking lot in S. Dudin St. The money thus obtained was directed to paying off the arrears of wages. ‘Sverdlovsk Region authorities keep working on finding a new investor for AMUR Car Factory’s production site. They are negotiating with three leading

February 3, 2014. The arrears of wages at all the businesses and organizations operating in Sverdlovsk Regioncame to 3.6m RUR on January 1, 2014, Head of Sverdlovsk Region division of the Federal State Statistics Service Elena Kutina said at a press conference. ‘It should be noted that this is actually 23.5% less than on December 1, 2013. Compare this with Chelyabinsk Region, where arrears of wages amount to 4.171m RUR; in Kurgan Region, the figure is 1.779m RUR, and Tyumen Region’s companies owe no wages to their employees,’ Kutina said. According to the data supplied by Sverdlovskstat,

February 3, 2014. Ural Airlines is announcing the launch of a new product called Moscow Subscription – a service meant for passengers who often go on business trips from Yekaterinburg to Moscow and back. Moscow Subscription is a multiple ticket with open-ended departure dates that is valid for several business class round trips, the airline’s press service reports. One can buy a subscription for two, four, or eight round trips, and the subscriber can also enjoy an up to 55% discount on the air fare. The first Yekaterinburg-Moscow flight on this subscription has a fixed departure date, while