October 7, 2013. Following the International Foundry Forum that took place in Yekaterinburg in September, the international experts in the steel industry decided to suggest that the Mid-Urals’ capital should host the Europe Foundry Forum as well, Sverdlovsk Region Government’s Press Service & Information Department reports. ‘The proposal was talked over with President of the European Association of Machinery Manufacturers for Casting Gabriele Galante, and we received a preliminary consent,’ Vice Premier of Sverdlovsk Region Government Alexander Petrov told reporters. According to Petrov,

October 7, 2013. 11,279 people found a job or an income-earning activity through Yekaterinburg Employment Center in January-September 2013, the government agency’s press service reports. All in all, 18,243 people applied to Yekaterinburg Employment Center looking for a job; 59,886 people inquired for information on the labor market situation, and 3,665 people needed job counseling. The number of those who found a job in the total number of people who registered with the Center in January-September 2013 was 45.9%. There are 3,395 jobless people of working age registered with the center as

October 4, 2013. Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK) delivered a set of large-diameter pipes for the large-scale international project called Central Asia-China; this was done in full compliance with the contract. The contract also covered for TMK shipping over 100,000 tons of longitudinal welded tubes (diameter 1,219mm, wall width 17.5mm, a three-layer outer polyethylene coating and an internal coating) between January and September 2013. The produce was manufactured by Volzhsky Pipe Plant in accordance with the API Spec 5L standard. The pipes were delivered to Kazakhstan and will be used for

October 4, 2013. Students and faculty from Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (PNTZ, a member of ChTPZ Group) Education Center keep working with the well-known public-art artist Nikolai Polissky. The two parties are designing a ‘building’ with the working title of Fiber Optics. This project is being implemented within the framework of a larger program dedicated to the opening of Palace of New Culture in Pervouralsk, ChTPZ Group’s press service says. The latest meeting’s agenda covered the artist going over the details of the future project with the working team and presenting all the layouts and

October 4, 2013. In terms of the amount of malware per one Internet user, Yekaterinburg came third among all the locations in Ural Federal District: there is an average of 23 viruses per user, Kaspersky Lab’s research findings for the first half of 2013 indicate. Magnitogorsk came first in this rating (68 malware items per user), followed by Nizhniy Tagil (38). These are the mobile devices that get attacked most often nowadays. In 2012, the lab detected over 30,000 malware items targeted at smartphones. Cyber-criminals mainly create programs suitable for Android smartphones; these are the

October 4, 2013. Uralvagonzavod coordinated one of its regular report presentations dedicated to issues relating to the production activity of Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s head plant and to complying with the company Collective Agreement in the first half of 2013, the corporation’s press service reports. ‘The target production figures for both railway produce and special vehicles are met in full. Our mechanical assembly departments fulfill the government orders accurately and timely. The carriage assembly department is now switching to mass production of its innovative 12-196-01 gondola car.

October 4, 2013. The supply on Yekaterinburg existing homes market is now between 8,600 to 8,700 apartments, which is 28% more than at the beginning of the year, Ural Chamber of Real Estate’s Analytical Department says. ‘One could say that customers still have plenty of choices, even more so as the new homes have been competing fiercely with the existing ones over the last few years, as the record-setting 2.5m sq m worth of new housing get commissioned every year,’ their report states. Despite the growing supply, however, the asking price has been going up as well on the existing homes

October 3, 2013. The people who attended the recent public hearings in Yekaterinburg approved of the project on the construction of a high speed railway link VSM 2 that will connect Moscow, Kazan, and Yekaterinburg in Sverdlovsk Region’s territory, Sverdlovsk Region Government’s Press Service & Information Policy Department reports. According to the projects put forth by the designers, VSM 2 might wind around three towns: Achit, Krasnoufimsk, and Novouralsk, two larger towns – Pervouralsk and Bysert, and a village called Klenovskoye. The railways will not pass through any settlements

October 3, 2013. Volchansky Mechanical Plant (a subsidiary of Uralvagonzavod) is now launching a new production line in the railway vehicles sector. According to the press service of Uralvagonzavod, the mechanical plant will soon start dealing in production and delivery of railway vehicles meant for technological operation inside the plant and at industrial enterprises in the nuclear, ore mining, metallurgical, and machine-building sectors. The design documentation will be elaborated by Ural Railway Carriage Design Office (a member of Uralvagonzavod Corporation). The project design will take

October 3, 2013. 9,796 people applied to Nizhniy Tagil & Gornouralsky Employment Service in January-September 2013, and 8,307 of the applicants found a job or a money-earning activity, Sverdlovsk Region Labor & Employment Department’s press service reports. At the same time, the number of officially jobless people among working-age residents of Nizhniy Tagil and Gornouralsky was 1,205 people as of October 1, 2013. It’s also worth mentioning that, as of December 1, 2012, 3,231 job openings were available in Nizhniy Tagil Employment Center, including 2,318 blue-collar jobs and 2,832

October 3, 2013. Rospotrebnadzor reports an increase in the specific weight of defective pastry in the first half of 2013: this rose by 1.5 times compared with a year earlier. 1,600 kg of bread and pastry out of 9,500 kg were declared defective upon inspection, Sverdlovsk Region division of this federal consumer rights watchdog reports. Lab tests have shown that nearly 100% of defective bread and pastry are manufactured by small businesses. Among the small businesses whose produce was declared defective are Pallada+, MEGAMART, Vira-95, and a number of others. Besides, it turned out that

October 3, 2013. The Urals turned out the part of Russia where 4 grade wheat prices rose the most during one week. According to the data provided by Prozerno, local crop prices increased by 235RUR and came to 5,985 RUR per 1,000kg. In the south of Russia, the price went up by 65 RUR and came to 6,935 RUR per 1,000kg, in Central Russia, the price rose by 10 RUR and came to 6,125 RUR per 1,000 kg, in the Volga Region, the price rose by 115 RUR and amounted to 6,285 RUR. The cheapest wheat is found in Siberia, where it costs 4,965 RUR per 1,000 kg. As for the deep water ports, the price kept

October 2, 2013. A concert for the long-service employees of Pervorualsk New Pipe Plant (a member of ChTPZ Group) was given at the plant’s Palace of Culture in celebration of Senior Citizen’s Day, the plant’s press service reports. According to the press service, the enterprise usually makes every effort to show their care for the elderly. The plant’s social benefits package applies to over 12,000 long-service employees, which is comparable with the actual number of current workers. The company’s Collective Agreement provides for various kinds of support such as co-financing of medical

October 2, 2013. On October 1, 2013, MegaFon launched its 4G network in Yekaterinburg. The residents of the Urals’ capital can now enjoy their mobile Internet connection at the speed of up to 50 megabits per second. There are currently only two cities in the Urals that can benefit from the new service: Yekaterinburg and Perm. This year, the company is also planning to introduce the 4G connection in Novy Urengoy and Noyabrsk. At the moment, residents of only 8 Russian cities with population over 1m people have access to the 4G. Thanks to this 4G speed, MegaFon customers will be able to work

October 2, 2013. Kamensk Uralsk Customs officers confiscated a large batch of fake sports shoes imitating Nike, Adidas, Reebok, and Puma Solomon brands, Ural Customs Administration’s press service reports. The police and the customs officers pulled over two freight trucks from Central Asia that contained sneakers with logos of famous brands. As the goods were not accompanied by proper documentation, and because of the way they looked, the cargo was confiscated. An examination by independent experts from Russia’s Federal Customs Service Forensic Agency revealed that 9,627 pairs of shows were

October 2, 2013. Major-General Sergey Miroshnichenko assumed office of the Ministry of Emergencies Ural Regional Center’s Head today. The news was confirmed by the spokesperson for Sverdlovsk Region division of Russia’s Ministry of Emergencies. Yuri Naryshkin, who retired in April 2013, was Miroshnichenko’s predecessor. Between April and October, First Deputy Head Sergey Petrovsky was acting Head of the division. Prior to assuming new office, Sergey Miroshnichenko was First Deputy Head of the Ministry of Emergencies’ National Crisis Management Center.

October 2, 2013. 4 B-10M bulldozers from ChTZ (a member of Uralvagonxavod Corporation) that were named after the four leading players of the Tractor team were delivered to the Far East so that they can be used for restoring the infrastructure destroyed by the flood in the area, Uralvagonzavod’s press service reports. All in all, 12 vehicles bearing the hockey club logos and the players’ names and autographs will be shipped to Khabarovsk. This was a special promotion event that the plant workers decided to coordinate in order to support their favorite team that was set up at the plant in 1947

October 1, 2013. A new combat platform will be presented at Russia Arms Expo 2015, Director-General of Uralvagonzavod Oleg Sienko announced during the third day of RAE 2013, the corporation’s press office says. On September 27, on the third day of the event, the business agenda for the day covered a discussion on the prospects of the defense industry development. Uralvagonzavod’s stand and the open-air pavilion with the company’s integrated structure innovative products were visited by a number of foreign delegations. Negotiations were held with the company’s potential partners. In addition

October 1, 2013. President of Sinara Group Dmitri Pumpyanski and Governor of Volgograd Region Sergey Bozhenov signed a cooperation agreement on the multi-faceted development of some territories in the region; the land allotments will be used for housing construction. The agreement was signed at the 12th International Investment Forum in Sochi. Sinara Development, a member of Sinara Group, is going to act as the developer for the project, the company’s press service reports. The document, which was signed by both parties involved in this public-private partnership, confirms Sinara Group’s

October 1, 2013. The Director-General of Uralvagonzavod Oleg Sienko received a thank-you wire from Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Evgeny Kuivashev that expressed the latter’s gratitude for the great organization of the 9th International Arms, Military Vehicles & Ammunition Exhibition Russia Arms Expo 2013 (RAE). ‘The exhibition has shown to the whole world once again that Sverdlovsk Region’s defense industry has gigantic potential and that the latest developments by the Urals-based enterprises have all the might, energy, and competitiveness imaginable,’ Governor of Sverdlovsk Region’s