May 13, 2013. The consumer price index came to 100.5% in April 2013, and to 102.4% since the beginning of the year, while the most basic grocery basket’s monetary equivalent rose by 2.1%, Rosstat reports. Vegetable prices grew most noticeable last month: onions, potatoes, and beetroot became 11.4% to 16.5% more expensive, while the price of fresh tomatoes, cabbage and carrots increased by 7.8% to 10.5%. Semolina became 1.8% more expensive, while buckwheat prices, on the other hand, dropped by 1.1%. Besides, salmon caviar, strong wine and Russian-made brandy are now 1.5% more expensive,

May 7, 2013. Rosneft bought a dozenB-10M2 marsh bulldozers from Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ), Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service reports. The oil company ordered the vehicles with hydraulic-mechanical gear that makes the bulldozer easy to operate and a planetary final drive that enhances the reliability of the machine; all of the customer’s specifications were taken into account. The customer, one of Rosneft’s daughter companies, also demanded that the vehicle should be no more than 7 meters long, to make sure that these could be transported via a regular trawl. The blade is

May 7, 2013. The net loss of the state-run Yugoria Insurance Company rose by over 9 times in 2012 and amounted to 2,803bn RUR, the insurer’s accounting report (drawn up in accordance with the Russian Accounting Standards) states. The total amount of accumulated insurance premiums shrank by 5% down to 8.685m RUR, while insurance payments increased by 7% and exceeded 5.8bn RUR, Insurance, a web portal, says. Thus the negative result from the insurance transactions amounted to 1.805bn RUR in 2012 against +979bn RUR a year earlier. In 2012, the Government of Khanty-Mansiysky Autonomous District,

May 7, 2013. ‘Such high-profile events are typically held in Moscow, but Moscow is a rather developed city as it is. This is why Yekaterinburg was chosen. An initiative like this can result in two things: firstly, this is the event per se, and secondly, this is the area’s development,’ Russian Vice Premier and Head of EXPO 2020 Coordination Committee Arkady Dvorkovitch said in an interview to the Italian media. ‘We decided on Yekaterinburg for a number of reasons. This is a city with a rich history, even from the industrial point of view; this city is related to the Revolution of 1917 events

May 7, 2013. A new five-euro bill was put into circulation on May 2. The bill retained the old design with the antique arch, but it grew brighter and was given additional forging-prevention features. For example, the digit 5 that indicates the value of the banknote turned from grey to emerald green; besides, a protective thread and a relief print were added, SKB-Bank reports. Yet the main difference is that you can see the water mark and a hologram with a portrait of the mythical princess Europe on it on the bill. The entire series of the new banknotes was named after the princess: larger and

May 7, 2013. The property income tax imposed on private individuals living in Sverdlovsk Region increased by 9% on average in 2012, Sverdlovsk Region division of the Federal Tax Service states. The scaling factor was determined by the regional government’s decree 9-PP dated January 11, 2012 and amounted to 51.9 and 53.6. This means the taxation base rose by 9% in 2012 on the previous year. As far as private individuals’ income tax is concerned, the taxation base stems from the total inventory cost of the assets subject to taxation that belong to a taxpayer and are located within a single

May 6, 2013. Russian President Vladimir Putin asked his Plenipotentiary Representative in Ural Federal District Igor Kholmanskikh to draw up a development plan for Nizhniy Tagil; this happened when the President met with his representative and some members of the city community recently, RBC reports. ‘I propose the following: let us have a single plan for both the city and Sverdlovsk Region and point out the cases when federal support is going to be indispensable,’ Putin said. During the meeting, the local public representatives spoke about problems such as lighting the streets, the need for

May 6, 2013. 3,000 employees of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s head plant took part in the annual clean-up Saturday, the corporation’s press service reports. Under the Director General’s order, all of Uralvagonzavod’s structural divisions had to make sure some of their employees took part in the event on April 24-27. Cleaning up the company premises and the streets of the neighboring Dzerzhinsky District is one of the corporation’s old-time customs. The streets look quite dirty after the long winter and during the snow-melting period, so cleaning up is a necessary

May 6, 2013. On April 25-26, the 11th Young Workers Conference took place at Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s head plant. This year’s reports had one theme in common: the corporation’s development potential in the context of entering the global economy, the corporation’s press service reports. Supporting the young employees’ activity and improving their professional skills as well as getting them involved in the company life were the main goals of the conference coordinators. More than 600 young workers and managers from 117 divisions of the corporation took part in

May 6, 2013. The Labor & Employment Department of the Turkish Province of Hatay declared MMK Metalurji (a member of MMK Group) the winner of the Best Employer contest in 2012, MMK PR Department reports. The Labor & Employment Department of the Turkish Province of Hatay, where ММК Metalurji facilities are located, spoke very highly of the company’s contribution to creating jobs in the area and thanks MMK top management for their efficient interaction with the local authorities and improving the situation on the local labor market. The awarding ceremony took place in Antalya on April

May 6, 2013. Chelyabinsk Tube-Rolling Plant (ChTPZ), Russia’s leading pipe good manufacturer and supplier of integrated solutions for the O&G sector, came up with a performance report for 2012. The company’s revenues went up by 3% last year and amounted to 116,882m RUR, the company’s press service reports. The plant’s gross profit increased by 8% against 2011, its EBITDA rose by 17% and came to 20,210m RUR, which was the record figure in the last 5 years. Its EBITDA margin rose by 2.2% and amounted to 17.3%. The increase had to do with larger volumes of weldless pipe shipments, including

May 6, 2013. Yekaterinburg is now third in the national rating in terms of the number of hypermarkets operating here, INFOLine Information Agency’s website states. Remarkably, even though there are quite a few big supermarkets already present there, it was Saint Petersburg where most new hypermarkets opened last year – Prisma-3, Auchan, Okay and Russia’s currently only FMCG K-Ruoka run by KESKO Group – seven stores altogether. INFOLine analysts looked at over 240 non-capital cities with the population of over 50,000 people and found out that there are now hypermarkets in 130 out of the 240

April 30, 2013. UV-Logistic became the owner of 10,000 carriages today, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service reports. ‘We congratulate the company team on this event,’ the enterprise’s message says.

April 30, 2013. Ural Transport Machine-Building Design Office – a member enterprise of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation – received an employer trust certificate recently. The certificate was signed by heads of Sverdlovsk Region division of State Labor Inspectorate, Sverdlovsk Region Union of Industrialists & Employers, Ural Chamber of Commerce & Industry, and Federation of Sverdlovsk Region Trade Unions. The certificate was given to the company at the international conference dedicated to labor safety as part of a good job. The famous tank-designing office’s

April 30, 2013. A protocol of intent was signed by the Mid-Urals Government and the Japanese holding Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Environmental & Chemical Engineering Co. Ltd. This has to do with the decision to set up an enterprise that will deal in design and production of waste-burning equipment in the Titanium Valley Special Economic Zone. The protocol was signed by Governor Evgeny Kuivashev and the Japanese company’s President Kazuaki Kimura. Now Japan is currently the world’s leader in the waste-recycling industry: 1,800 out of 2,400 waste-recycling plants that exist all over the

April 30, 2013. ‘How much money does one need to feel they can afford anything they want?’ – that was the question that the Public Opinion Fund analysts asked Russian citizens. In fact, they found out what Russians thought of their financial status first. It turned out that the overwhelming majority of respondents rated their family’s quality of life as average, including those respondents whose monthly income comes to more than 30,000 RUR and those who make less than 10,000 RUR a month, SKB-Bank’s press service reports. In their answer to the question, ‘What monthly income do you feel would

April 30, 2013. Koltso Urala Bank paid the coupon yield on the second coupon period of its own 01 Series bonds. The bond owners received the coupon yield of 57.66 RUR per bond, given that the coupon interest rate comes to 11.5% a year. So the total interest paid on the second coupon amounted to 57.66m RUR, the bank’s press officer reports. Now Koltso Urala Bank went through with the first issue of 1bn-RUR worth of 01 Series bonds on April 27, 2012. The bonds are to be in circulation for three years (1,098 days), with an offer option in one year’s time. On April 17, 2013, the issuer declared

April 29, 2013. A pilot oil tank car 15-5117 meant for transportation of light oil got assembled at Uralvagonzavod’s pressing and welding department. One of the new tank’s peculiarities consists in a light-weight platform framework and additional strength added to the tank, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press officer reports. This is the second pilot oil tank-car 15-5117 assembled at the plant; the first sample is being subject to a mechanical run test at the moment. The new product from Uralvagonzavod’s pressing and welding department will soon undergo trial testing at the company’s

April 29, 2013. Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ, a member of Uralvagonzavod Corporation) completed the assembly of four multi-functional processing centers produced by the Austrian firm WFL, Uralvagonzavod’s press service reports. The units are installed on the promising technologies production sites, and they now operate 24/7. The new machinery will be used to produce car parts for different series of engines, including the new engine family T. All one has to do is feed a billet into the system in order to get a part that has received completed mechanical treatment at the exit. A single

April 29, 2013. The recent annual meeting of Sverdlovsk Region Union of Machine-Building Enterprises was attended by the region’s Vice Premier Alexander Petrov. The Union Chairman Alexei Molotkov reported on the regional machine-building industry’s performance in 2012 and on this sector’s targets and development prospects in 2013, Sverdlovsk Region Government’s Press Service & Information Department reports. ‘The year 2012 was quite successful for the local machine-building sector: the revenues kept going up, as did the shipment volumes. An overwhelming majority of enterprises came back