August 29, 2013. The EXPO 2020 Application Committee is announcing a photo contest called I am for EXPO in Yekaterinburg. The event will take place on August 23 to September 30, the official city portal states. ‘To take part in the competition, you have to present the photographs that reflect your support of the idea of hosting EXPO 2020 in Yekaterinburg; the photos should show how much you like this city, why you are voting for EXPO, how you see the world exhibition in this place, and why the city deserves to host the event,’ the message states. You can use the application logo or the phrase

August 28, 2013. Uralgidromed workers took part in a clean-up day on August 24 and cleared the shore of Shtangoviy Pond in Polevskoy, the press service of Russian Copper Company, of which Uralgidromed is a member, reports. ‘The clean-up day was organized by Enviro-Chemie GmbH and the Association of Environmentally Responsible Enterprises. In Polevskoy, these were Uralgidromed and Polevskaya Communal Company. The city residents and enterprises employees picked up and took away over seven trucks full of rubbish combed along the shore of the pond. The local schoolchildren were particularly

August 28, 2013. ChTPZ Group presented its new production developments and unique technological advances to Uzbekistan oil and gas market. The main idea behind this was to strengthen and expand the existing economic relations with the Uzbek customers and giving the partners and potential customers a chance to get acquainted with the Group’s competitive advantages and its new production philosophy – ‘white metallurgy’, ChTPZ Group’s press service reports. Experts from Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant, Pervouralsk New Plant, and ChTPZ Engineering took part in the presentation at

August 28, 2013. The All-Russian Intellectual Property Protection Organization demanded that Metro Cash & Carry should pay a compensation for violating the exclusive remuneration rights to public reproduction of music recordings; the compensation was estimated at 500,000 RUR, Arendator.ru reports. The Organization believes that 10 music recordings that were performed at one of the stores were not backed up by the agreement on compensating the Organization for the public performance. Metro, on its part, pointed out that the performances in question were aired on the radio, and the music

August 28, 2013. As of June 30, 2013, customers currently owe Sverdlovsk Heat Supplying Company (STK) 2.941bn RUR. The company’s press service reports most of these (2.116bn RUR) debts are the ones by management companies and communal housing services departments. State-run organizations owe STK 134m RUR (with 64m RUR worth of debts from the Defense Ministry). 225m RUR is in the form of overdue debts and the debts of insolvent companies. Among the long-time non-payers are SUERZH-SK (31m RUR), Verkh-Isetskaya Management Company (202m RUR), StroyTerra (23.9m RUR). Dom Service (21m RUR),

August 28, 2013. Pipe Metallurgical Company sold 2,175,000 tons of steel pipes, which is 3% more than in a year earlier. At the same time, the shipments came to 1,117,000 tons in the second quarter of the year, which was 6% more than in the four months of 2012. The company’s press service reports the increase in the shipment volume has to do with bigger supplies of line pipes and LDPs. The weldless pipes shipment volume remained nearly the same as in the first half of 2012 and amounted to 1,271,000 tons. The volume of OCTG sales was 1% lower than a year earlier. The welded pipes shipments

August 27, 2013. There are currently 1,122 km worth of abandoned roads in Sverdlovsk Region towns. These roads will soon come to be owned by the local towns, so a list of such objects is being compiled at the moment, Sverdlovsk Region Government’s Press Service & Information Department reports. The region’s Transport Minister Alexander Sidorenko says that since these roads are not on the municipal property list, no money is allocated for its repairs or maintenance from Sverdlovsk Region Finance Ministry, so registering these roads officially could ensure more revenues into the local

August 27, 2013. The retail turnover of foods amounted to 320bn RUR in Sverdlovsk Region in 2012. The share of local foods in the total volume was 68bn RUR, or 21%, Sverdlovsk Region Government Prime Minister Denis Pasler said during a work meeting with heads of the local agribusiness and retail trade. ‘The government’s key task is to make sure this territory provides for its own food. This is the top priority of the Sverdlovsk Region Food & Processing Industry Development Strategy in 2013-2020,’ Pasler said. He explained that the region’s Government came up with a schedule for the

August 27, 2013. The region’s government ruled that 8 commuter trains in Sverdlovsk Region will stop operating on September 1, 2013, the spokesperson for Sverdlovsk Commuter Company reports. The list comprises 4 electric trains bound for Koltsovo Airport (6036 from Yekaterinburg to Koltsovo Airport and the return train 6037, train 6040 from Yekaterinburg to Koltsovo Airport and the return train 6041) and 2 trains from Shalya to Kordon (6141) and back (6146). Also, electric trains from Yekaterinburg to Keramik (6006) and back (6009) were lifted as well. ‘The trains were canceled upon the

August 27, 2013. Sverdlovsk Region will receive 69m RUR from the federal budget next year to implement four water facilities overhaul project, the press service of the region’s Government reports. Next year, overhauls are expected to be launched at the waterworks facility on the River Bardym in Artinsky and at the waterworks on the River Sharama in Mikhailovskoye. Besides, the federal funding should cover the repairs at the waterworks on the River Irbit in Krasnogvardeyskiy and the waterworks at the River Salda in Verkhnyaya Salda. Sverdlovsk Region Government reports that the water

August 27, 2013. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) delivered special steel for Borei, the new strategic submarine cruiser, to Sevmash, MMK Information & PR Administration reports. Such A-subs with the intercontinental ballistic missiles make the core of the marine component of the Russian nuclear deterrence system. Yuri Dolgorukiy, the primary submarine of this series, was delivered to the Navy at the beginning of this year. By the end of 2013, Sevmash is going to deliver two more such strategic submarines to the Armed Forces. MMK can now produce a wider range of shipbuilding

August 26, 2013. On August 21, the national team of WorldSkills Russia met with the Russian Education & Science Minister Dmitri Livanov in Moscow; the meeting was dedicated to the results of the worldwide championship WorldSkills International that took place in Leipzig on July 2-7, and to the ways of improving vocational education in Russia. The meeting was attended by students of Pervouralsk Metallurgical College who are on ChTPZ Future of White Metallurgy Program: Alexander Litvinenko and Artur Islamov. The minister said taking part in the championship should help the participants

August 26, 2013. The administrative commission of Yekaterinburg Leninsky District court imposed a 10,000-ruble fine on the director of OOO RUS Burger for violating the urban improvement regulations, the spokesperson for Yekaterinburg Council reports. Some unauthorized waste dump was found in the backyard of 36 Malyshev St (the location of this Burger King restaurant) that contained consumer, production, and food waste. The administrative commission experts determined that this waste belonged to OOO RUS Burger (Burger King). A protocol regarding the violation of Article 15-1 of the

August 26, 2013. Ural Airlines came up with a new pricing system and early and late booking discount options for the season of fall/winter 2013-2014, the airline’s press service reports. The new system applies (among others) to flights operated from Yekaterinburg to Munich, Tel Aviv, and Harbin. The idea is that the price of a ticket depends on what date you book the flight on. The airline offers three price categories: the one for late booking (two or fewer days before the flight), the one for early booking (more than 30 days and fewer than 60 days before the flight) and the one for very

August 26, 2013. The city’s largest Preobrazhensky Park is going to be set up in Academic District of Yekaterinburg; it will be 4.5 kilometers long, Deputy Mayor of Yekaterinburg Sergey Myamin said at an off-site meeting dedicated to the city’s prospective development in the south-western direction, the city council’s press service reports. According to the developers, the project for the park layout is virtually ready. Preobrazhensky is expected to become a recreation area for the residents of Academic District as well as a cultural spot. In addition to amusements, fountains, and other

August 26, 2013. The share of foreign currency deposits in Ural Federal District-based banks in the total deposit volume rose by 1.1% and reached 9.9% in the first half of 2013. The volume of these deposits itself rose by 26.1% (by 18% in nominal terms) and reached 42.1bn RUR in the ruble terms on July 1, 2013. As for the national currency deposits, these went up by 10.5% and amounted to 382.7bn RUR, Deposit Insurance Agency State Corporation’s report states. In the first half of 2013, the long-term deposits (over 3 years long) proved those that have increased the most (by 28.7%); their share

August 23, 2013. 3.1bn RUR will be directed to road repair in Sverdlovsk Region in 2013 altogether, which is 2.5 times more than a year earlier, the Governor of Sverdlovsk Region’s Information Policies Department refers to head of Uralupravtodor (the local division of Rosavtodor, the road construction authority) Andrey Stolyarov as saying. Stolyarov explains that the funding of road repair jobs has increased considerably once the Federal Road Funds were introduced. ‘We expect the financing to remain at least no less than in 2013,’ Stolyarov says. Uralupravtodor is planning to use the money to

August 23, 2013. Some 10,000 residents of Yekaterinburg might face a winter without heating this year. Yekaterinburg Council’s press service reports this has to do with the fact that the Russian Defense Ministry’s facilities are completely unprepared for the winter season. The facilities in question are four boilers at military units 20421, 32979, and 71599, at Ural Military District’s headquarters, and Power Station 19 at Military Station 32. All of these heating facilities are maintained by three companies and provide heat to 102 buildings and 2 socially important objects. ‘The local

August 23, 2013. Machine-building and mineral production in Sverdlovsk Region proved one of the most highly-performing industries, Sverdlovsk Region Government’s press service reports. The machines and equipment production rose by 33.1% in the first half of 2013 against a year earlier, the mineral resources production output went up by 7%, the pulp and paper and the printing and publishing sector increased by 6%. At the same time, the transport vehicles and machines production declined by 23%, the oil production dropped by 24.5%. It was also reported earlier that Sverdlovsk Region industrial

August 23, 2013. The Labor Ministry drafted a project on changes in the pension insurance and the fees that will mean all the preferential terms offered to SMEs will be lifted. Within the next five years (starting from next year), the insurance fee will keep rising steadily from 20% to 30%. This means that by 2018, the rate imposed on the SMEs will be same as the one imposed on the larger businesses, Vedomosti reports. The rate increase will affect small businesses and sole traders involved in construction, building, or social (education, healthcare, sports, culture), sectors, pharmacy