February 19, 2013. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) came up with a performance report on all the steps taken to reduce the energy resource spending at all of MMK Group’s departments and companies in 2012. Every year, MMK implements a number of corporate programs aimed at bringing down the energy resource spending; this covers electric power, fuel, fire and manufacturing water, heating energy, and air separation products. According to MMK Information & PR Department, 195 measures were taken last year altogether, which means the company has saved 45.5m RUR a year (against 36m RUR

February 25, 2013. Central Stadium is about to be reconstructed, Sverdlovsk Region Minister for Physical Education, Sports, and Youth Programs Leonid Rapoport said today. ‘I confirm that a tender has been held for the reconstruction of Yekaterinburg-based Central Stadium. The company that won the right to work on the design specification and documents must present several reconstruction options by the end of March. As soon as by 2017, Central Stadium will be ready for operation. The task is to reconstruct the facility as carefully as possible, as the building in question is actually on the

February 25, 2013. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development’s Board of Directors decided to increase the maturity terms for the three upcoming issues of their exchange bonds from three to seven years. These changes touch upon the bank’s BO-02, BO-03, and BO-04 issues, the UBRD’s press service reports. The decision to prolong the circulation period has to do with the coming into effect of the amendments to the Federal Securities Market Act; under these amendments, the stock market players must make changes in the documentation relating to the issues that haven’t been launched yet;

February 25, 2013. Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ) held a meeting with the Russian and foreign trade representatives and presented the company’s development strategy as well as some new designs and technologies to them, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press officer reports. Over 40 heads of companies that are all connected to ChTZ commodity distribution network looked into last year’s most noticeable achievements; the main one of them was definitely the 7% increase in sales. In 2013, the enterprise expects to deliver 1,362 vehicles to its customers, which is 10% more than a year earlier.

February 22, 2013. The Director-General of Uraltransmash (a member of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation) Sergey Soloviev and Deputy Mayor of Yekaterinburg for Strategic Planning, Economic Issues, & Finance Alexander Vysokinsky signed an agreement on setting up some work teams whose task it will be to work together on the development and testing of new tramway makes, Uralvagonzavod’s press service reports. An off-site meeting dedicated to the issue of producing modern trams in Russia took place in the Western Depot of Yekaterinburg Tramway & Trolley-bus

February 22, 2013. The representatives of railway carriage-repairing companies from Sverdlovsk, Samara, and Chelyabinsk Regions, Perm Territory, and Kazakhstan arrived at Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant to see the multi-purpose TMV-2 vehicle (produced by Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation) in action, the corporation’s press service reports. At the opening of the presentation, ChTZ-Uraltrac’s Deputy DG Andrei Sentyabov said that, starting from 2013, the new vehicle will be manufactured both at the corporation’s head office and on Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant’s premises. The

February 22, 2013. A group of delegates from Sverdlovsk Region headed by Governor Evgeny Kuivashev held talks with the representatives of Japanese titanium-processing enterprises on February 21, Sverdlovsk Region Foreign Economic Relations Ministry’s press service reports, The Japanese businessmen took a great interest in the presentation dedicated to the Titanium Valley, a special economic zone. The presentation was coordinated by Sverdlovsk Region Vice Premier Alexei Orlov and the Titanium Valley’s Director-General Artemy Kyzlasov. Our partners from the Land of the Rising Sun are planning

February 22, 2013. On February 20, Revdinsky Investigative Department of Russia’s Internal Affairs Ministry instituted criminal proceedings related to a vitriol spill on the premises of Sredneuralsky Copper-Smelting Plant in Revda; the charges are based on Article 254 (part 1) of the Russian Federation Criminal Code (Poisoning, contamination, or other damage to the soil through negligent storage, treatment, use or transportation of hazardous chemicals resulting in damage to human health or the environment), the spokesperson for Sverdlovsk Region public prosecution authorities reports. It was

February 22, 2013. The communal housing services managing companies based in Sverdlovsk Region and Yekaterinburg decided to direct a group of their employees to Chelyabinsk Region to help with clearing off all the damage caused by the recent meteorite shower, Sverdlovsk Region’s Press Service & Information Department reports. The region’s Energy & Communal Housing Services Ministry reports that a team of twenty rescuers was sent to the neighboring Chelyabinsk Region today. These people will take part in re-installing window panes in the apartment buildings and socially important

February 21, 2013. ChTPZ Group directed 724m RUR to the implementation of CSR programs in Chelyabinsk and Pervouralsk last year, the company’s press service reports. In addition to the obligatory welfare benefits and payments that the Russian law states employers must pay, the workers of Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant and Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant were offered an additional benefits package which included medical insurance (with services provided by the company’s medical unit), non-state retirement insurance, and vacation and healthcare options (available through the health resorts and

February 21, 2013. Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ) employees are sending their second set of five B-12 bulldozers to Vietnam. This shipment is part of a contract for the delivery of ten bulldozers to the Southeast Asian state that was landed at the end of last year, Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation reports. The 40ft sea shipping containers have been supplied to the plant’s assembly shop so that the B-12 bulldozers could be packed in there. The vehicles get dismantled into modules first, then they are re-painted and prepared carefully for the long trip. Before the end of

February 21, 2013. At the moment, the construction site for Polyarnaya Heat & Power Plant is busy 24/7, and all the necessary steps are taken to make sure the station’s first launching facility is commissioned on time (that is, at the end of 2013), the Development Corporation’s Deputy Director-General Sergey Shindyalov reports. More than 300 people and about 80 construction vehicles are currently being used in the construction process. All the jobs related to preparing the foundation for the main building are nearly finished: by now, 80% of the necessary poles have been installed. The

February 21, 2013. A group of Sverdlovsk Region delegates headed by Governor Evgeny Kuivashev are now on a business trip in Japan, and this is expected to ensure the successful fulfillment of the Land of the Rising Sun’s plans to establish a bilateral partnership with Russia. This was discussed at the Governor’s meeting with Takayuki Ueda, the director general of the manufacturing industries bureau of Japan's Trade Ministry, the Governor’s Information Policies Department reports. The Japanese party sees the year 2013 as that of great expectations and feels this is the start of a new era

February 21, 2013. Electric power will get accumulated at night time and used during the peak load hours in Yekaterinburg’s Academic District, the spokesperson for Renova-StroyGroup Akademicheskoye reports. The electric power accumulating system has the capacity of 150 kilowatts and will be installed in one of the buildings in Academic in the summer of 2013. ‘As the electricity rates are growing, so is the need for such kind of equipment. In addition to the intelligent energy control, the accumulating device can also ensure smooth end user supply even in case of a voltage jump and switch to

February 20, 2013. A group of delegates from Russia presented its Russia Arms EXPO-2013 (the 9th international arms, military vehicles, and ammunition exhibition to be held in Nizhniy Tagil on September 25-28) to the international experts and reporters at IDEX 2013. The exhibition is coordinated by Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation, Uralvagonzavod’s press service reports. The presentation included featuring the Nizhniy Tagil show’s new logo, based on a diamond shape this time. This symbol actually has a special meaning in the military sphere and is used to designate a

February 20, 2013. A delegation comprising the representatives of such diesel engine manufacturing enterprises as the German FEV GmbH and Ural Diesel Motor Plant (a member of Sinara Transport Machines) paid a visit to Lyudinovsky Locomotive-Making Plant (a member of Sinara Transport Machines). The visitors took a look at the company’s production departments and got acquainted with the process of the machines’ technological assembly and diesel installation. The FEV GmbH and Ural Diesel Motor Plant representatives also expressed an interest in the new carriage rolling stock designs elaborated

February 20, 2013. All the project documentation for Mikheevsky Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise has been approved by a board of state experts, which means this large-scale investment project can be now implemented in full, Russian Copper Company’s PR Administration reports. On January 11, 2013, Mikheevsky Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise was given an approval of Russia’s Glavgosekspertiza in terms of its project documentation and the findings of the engineering surveys on Mikheevsky Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise’s open-pit mine. On February 4, 2013, a state board of

February 20, 2013. 476,974 lawsuits were submitted to Sverdlovsk Region-based courts in 2012; this figure does not account for complaints and other types of papers, Sverdlovsk Region Court’s Press Office reports. According to the Press Office, the number of criminal lawsuits placed with the courts is in direct relation to the positive trends in the region’s crime rate at the moment. Last year, the number of such suits decreased by nearly 10% (33,767) in both the district and the municipal courts; in the magistrate courts, the figure dropped by over 11%. In addition, the number of the accused

February 19, 2013. Child dancers from Poisk, a drama club from Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant’s Palace of Culture run by Olga Osnovina, won in the international children’s art contest called On the Banks of the Neva. The children were given first prizes in two categories: folk and stage dance, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press office reports. The young first-time performers aged six to nine had to compete quite fiercely with the more experienced contestants from Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Samara, and other large Russian cities. However, the board of jurors found it quite fair to award two first

February 19, 2013. Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation presented its most advanced developments in the field of terrestrial and artillery weapons at IDEX, an international defense exhibition that took off in Abu Dhabi on February 17. The Russian pavilion’s solemn opening ceremony was conducted by Russia’s Industry & Trade Minister Denis Manturov. He commented on the upgraded T-90C tank and Terminator, a fire support combat vehicle designed by Uralvagonzavod for the combat in an urban setting; the vehicle can boast powerful multiple channel weaponry and strong