November 7, 2013. The public prosecutors of Ural Federal District detected over 4,000 cases when the order-placement procedure for work and services for state and municipal bodies was violated, the press service of Ural Federal District division of Russia’s General Prosecutor’s Office reports. To eliminate these violations, 953 warrants and 369 protests were issued and 130 claims were laid against the offenders. After the papers had been processed, 1,042 executives were made to face disciplinary liability and 473 administrative lawsuits and 20 criminal lawsuits were instituted. A criminal

November 7, 2013. Ural Airlines’ passengers can now enjoy the benefits of the new booking system: the booking procedure will save time greatly and will make all the processing steps much easier. All the necessary information is made available in a totally new and passenger-friendly way: there’s the convenient departure date navigation system, a free choice of the ticket sub-class, and the clear final sum total from the first step of the booking process that is always visible on the screen, the company’s press service reports. A second printing of the boarding pass in case the first one got

November 7, 2013. An audit meant to extent the company’s API 5L license was carried out at Chelyabinsk Tube-Rolling Plant. The license entitles the plant to deliver goods that meet the API 5L annex H (that is, pipes that are meant to be used in acid environments), the company’s press service reports. In the course of the procedure, the auditor – American Petroleum Institute (API), a non-profit international organization – looked very carefully into and analyzed the activity of the Technical Directorate’s divisions, of the departments for the production of electrically welded large-diameter

November 7, 2013. 26 young workers from Uraltransmash came to Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s head plant in Nizhniy Tagil. This is the second year in a row when young employees visit Ural Federal District-based enterprises to share and exchange experience and find innovative production solutions. This time’s delegation consisted of the first and second year students of the plant’s Vertical professional development program, including technical engineers, design engineers, foremen, and workers. The tour was coordinated by Uralvagonzavod Personnel Training Center.

November 7, 2013. Yekaterinburg budget might look 2.5bn RUR smaller in 2014 because of lowered private individuals’ income tax payments, Head of Yekaterinburg Administration Alexander Yakob said at a press conference. He explained that more than 4bn RUR could be underpaid into the city’s budget due to lack of inter-budgetary transfers; on the whole, the city budget might get 7bn RUR less next year. Now under the project of Sverdlovsk Region’s consolidated budget next year, the income is expected to rise from 156bn RUR to 166bn RUR (+6.5%). At the same time, Sverdlovsk Region Government refers

November 6, 2013. 808 cars were towed away from Yekaterinburg streets onto the auto impounds, as they had been parked in the wrong places, the city’s official website states. ‘On October 21-31, 808 improperly parked vehicles were towed away from the streets of the Urals’ capital. More than 700 drivers were fined for violating the parking regulations. It should be noted that 72 towing tractors and 94 officers were involved in the parking control,’ the message states. The city council says that the automobiles that are parked in the wrong places are a hindrance for all those in the traffic

November 6, 2013. Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK), one of the world’s major OCTG producers, united two families of premium threaded joints – TMK Premium and ULTRA – under a single brand TMK Ultra Premium (TMK UP), the company’s press service reports. Pipes with premium threaded joints are meant for use in the oil and gas wells that are difficult to operate, such as the ones in the offshore and deep-water marine areas or in the Polar North, and for development of horizontal and sloping wells. This product is highly durable and airtight, has good flexibility, and is resistant to many

November 6, 2013. An Agreement on Strategic Cooperation was signed by Uralvagonzavod Corporation and the French company SAGEM Defense Securite (a member of SAFRAN Group). The ceremony was attended by Russian Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev and the French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault. Under the deal, the two parties agreed to use SAGEM’s electro-optical machinery and other hi tech produce for Uralvagonzavod’s armored vehicles and artillery systems. The agreement was signed by Uralvagonzavod Director-General Oleg Sienko and SAFRAN Group Executive Vice President-International Bruno Cotté as

November 6, 2013. Ural Airlines are launching a sale on the tickets for Ufa-Moscow-Ufa flights. On November 5-11, tickets will be available for the minimum of 4,000 RUR. The flights will be operated starting from December 10, 2013, every Tuesday, Friday, and Sunday, the company’s press service reports. The direct flight to Moscow will mean no time will be lost, which means the residents of Ufa will be able to plan their business trips more efficiently. Once in Moscow, passengers can use the connecting flights to destinations in Europe and Russia. ‘The airline values its passengers’ time and

November 6, 2013. Yugoria State Insurance Company is now down to the 16th position in the rating of the third party only insurance for car drivers in the nine months of 2013; the rating was carried by Prime Insurance, a web portal. In the ranking that was compiled on the basis of data collected in the three quarters of 2012, however, the company was given the 14th position. Yugoria has signed 335,000 contracts since the beginning of 2013 compared with 386,000 contracts last month. On average, the price of a policy dropped from 3,400 RUR to 3,300 RUR. In 2013 so far, the insurer paid 846m RUR

November 5, 2013. A high-pressure natural gas pipeline is about to be completed at the Titanium Valley Special Economic Zone; the pipeline will supply natural gas to all the facilities in the zone and to the private houses of the locals, Sverdlovsk Region Press Service & Information Administration reports. Now the total length of the pipeline from the entry point to the gas distribution station in Verkhnyaya Salda is 8,256m. Modern welding and testing equipment is being used to build the pipeline, which means the pipeline will be of good quality as well as very safe during operation. The

November 5, 2013. Ural Airlines won in the category Best Transfer Flights Growth Dynamic during the DME Connections Conference organized by Domodedovo Airport. The company serviced a record-setting number of transfer passengers in the entire history of cooperating with Domodedovo this year among all the partner airlines, Ural Airlines’ press service reports. The 13th annual interline conference called DME Connections 2013 was dedicated to the development of cooperation between the Russian and foreign partner airlines; it was attended by over a hundred professionals from domestic and

November 5, 2013. The assembly and start-up and commissioning jobs for the multi-purpose unit produced by the Swiss-German StarragHeckert AG have been completed at Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ, a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Corporation), the corporation’s press service reports. The hi tech HEC-500 unit meant for processing engine parts is ready to be launched, experts from the manufacturing plant’s Moscow representation say. They are to supervise the launch of the second such metal-processing unit in early November. ‘Two units will replace the fleet of mills of an entire section.

November 5, 2013. AMUR car factory based in Novouralsk is now undergoing bankruptcy proceedings and is to be put up to auction in the first quarter of 2014, Kommersant refers to Sverdlovsk Region Ministry for Industry & Science as reporting. According to the newspaper, the company’s assets have been estimated at 1bn RUR. The Polish company Intrall might act as one of the investors. The investor is actually expected to enter the site next spring, upon which event the plant’s 4-billion-ruble debt might get restructured. AMUR has been undergoing bankruptcy proceedings since August 2009. The

November 5, 2013. Over the nine months of 2013, some 1,300 enforcement proceedings cases were handled by Sverdlovsk Region division of Court Officers Service, the division’s press service reports. About 40bn RUR were collected as a result, 1.5bn RUR were paid to federal and local budgets, including 205m RUR worth of enforcement fees, over 1bn RUR worth of tax payments, and more than 170m RUR worth of various kinds of fines. All in all, officers of Sverdlovsk Region division of the Service prevented more than 30,000 debtors from traveling abroad; their total debt amounts to 15bn RUR. As a

November 1, 2013. METCOMBANK was featured in the rating of Sverdlovsk Region's 100 largest companies that was compiled by the Delovoy Kvartal analysts, the bank's press service reports. The rating comprises businesses that are officially registered in and operate in Sverdlovsk Region as of October 1, 2013, excluding branches of nation-wide and international companies. The revenue in the year 2012 was the main ranging criterion. For banks, the revenue was calculated as the interest rate income plus the commissions income. All in all, four Ural banks were featured in this rating.

November 1, 2013. Holding the world computer programming championship in Yekaterinburg was made possible thanks to the fact that the city can boast a developed IT community, Vice Rector of Ural Federal University and the ACM ICPC coordinator in Yekaterinburg Dmitri Bugrov. 'We applied for the right to host the championship in 2016 and were hoping that the application would be approved for that year or for the next. Yet we actually won the privilege for the year 2014, and this is going to be the second time the ACM ICPC will be held in Russia. This is possible due to the fact that

November 1, 2013. Prices on Yekaterinburg existing homes market went up by 2.9% in the ten months of the year compared with January 2013. As of October 28, 2013, the median price of a square meter of housing currently offered for sale came to 72,119 RUR, Ural Chamber of Real Estate's press service says. The supply volume is still high enough: there are between 8,600 and 8,700 apartments in the Ural Chamber of Real Estate's database alone, and these are only the apartments that are being sold through estate agents. Plus, there are 1,800 rooms in communal apartments for sale at the

November 1, 2013. The very first surveillance audit of the company's quality management system was carried out at Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (a member of ChTPZ Group). The plant was checked for compliance with the ISO 9001 and the Russian national standard GOST ISO 9001 requirements. The audit was carried out by TUV International RUS, Moscow, and TzMKS, a certification body from Chelyabinsk. During their inspection, auditors looked into the performance of most of the plant's divisions, checked documentation, and evaluated the quality of technological processes and the productivity

November 1, 2013. Sinara-Development, a divisional holding of Sinara Group, won the right to sign rental contracts for a land allotment in Tenistaya St in Shirokaya Rechka District in the course of an auction. The 3.9-hectare land allotment is meant for putting up apartment buildings. The lot came at the price of 54.1m RUR. The development of this allotment will allow for the construction of some 100,000 sq m worth of housing. The area development project that is to be approved of by Yekaterinburg Council will be drawn up in the first quarter of 2014. Sinara-Development expects to start the