January 22, 2013. The Russian Public Opinion Research Center recently carried some data on how Russians think of their financial status and on how they are planning to spend their money in this new year 2013. The center analysts observe that the Russian citizens’ estimates of their own economic situation improved considerably last year and reached an all-time high: the corresponding index came to 68 points compared with only 58 points a year earlier. About 12% feel that their economic situation is ‘good’, while 72% estimate their status as ‘average’. The share of those who think of their

January 22, 2013. Ural Airlines announces its prices for flights to Yekaterinburg to Barcelona, Munich, and Tel Aviv are going down. Starting January 21, the airline’s customers can book tickets at very appealing prices: starting from 18,200 RUR for Yekaterinburg-Barcelona flight and from 18,600 RUR for Yekaterinburg-Munich flight. This is the price of a round trip tickets with all the fees and charges included. This offer stands till March 9. The price of a round trip ticket from Yekaterinburg to Tel Aviv comes to 14,500 RUR with all the fees covered. Tickets can be booked for departure

January 22, 2013. Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation won in three categories of the All-Russian Government & Municipal Purchases Leaders in 2012. The corporation was placed on the federal registers of the Russian economy’s key enterprises, conscientious suppliers, and budget-efficient customers, the corporation’s press officer reports. The competition was coordinated by the International Investment Consulting Center. Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation proved its compliance with the Russian Federation law as a budget process participant, its capacity

January 22, 2013. Verkh-Isetsky division of Russia’s Federal Service of Court Officers Sverdlovsk Region Department instituted criminal proceedings against a sole trader, with charges based on Article 177 of Russia’s Criminal Code, Russia’s Federal Service of Court Officers Sverdlovsk Region Department’s press service reports. The court actually pronounced its ruling as early as 2010, but the accused Yekaterinburg dweller never complied with it, so criminal action was taken. Under the ruling, the sole trader had to pay a bank 4,280,851.24 RUR (debt plus legal fees). The court officer of

January 21, 2013. In 2012, all the Nizhniy Novgorod Region-based defense enterprises fulfilled their government-placed orders, Governor of Nizhniy Novgorod Region Valery P. Shantsev said in the course of his visit to Burevestnik Central Scientific Research Institute on January 16; this visit was part of a plan to get acquainted with the regional defense enterprises, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press secretary says. During his visit, the Governor was introduced to the institute’s main activities, looked at how the production facilities were reconstructed, and saw how the production and

January 21, 2013. Eight multi-functional manufacturing systems produces by the Austrian company WFL and a polishing unit made by the German firm EMAG have recently been added to Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant’s (ChTZ, part of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation) fleet of machines, the corporation’s press service reports. The delivery of this machinery became the reputed global manufacturers’ largest order from this company to date. Now the number of ChTZ’s modern digitized mills that were purchased under the corporate technical upgrades program will rise by a third. The recently

January 21, 2013. Sinara Pipe Plant (SinTZ), a member of Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK), was given a certificate of compliance with the quality management system requirements set out in STO Gasprom 9001-2006, TMK’s press service reports. SinTZ’s own initiative to undergo the certification procedure serves as one more example of how TMK implements its key policy principle: being customer-oriented, which means ongoing technological improvements at the company’s member enterprises, including the necessary certification procedures. The company was prepared for the audit by a work team of

January 21, 2013. About 11,000 ChTPZ workers underwent professional training programs in 2012. This figure included 4,000 managers and white-collar workers and about 7,000 blue-collar workers. 1,550 managers and over 4,000 blue-collar workers were actually the ones employed at Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant, the company’s press service reports. It is announced that the most popular programs are the ones aimed at retraining or versatility training as well as professional development courses. The most popular jobs are: metal sorter, strapper, repairman, and pipe-cutter. Depending on the type of

January 21, 2013. Ural Airlines has created a new link between Chelyabinsk and the Chinese capital: the new scheduled Chelyabinsk-Beijing flight will be operated every Wednesday on a comfortable Airbus 320 plane starting from March 6, 2013, the airline’s press officer reports. The cheapest round trip tickets are available for ?490 (excluding the fees and charges). These can already be booked and purchased. The airline says a trip to Beijing means an opportunity to encounter the ancient history and the amazing traditions of the Celestial Empire as well as to do the shopping of one’s dreams at

January 18, 2013. In 2012, the number of serious industrial accidents was on the decrease in Sverdlovsk Region, says Sverdlovsk Region Government’s Press Service & Information Administration. ‘365 grave accidents occurred in the region last year compared with 394 accidents in 2011. The number of fatal accidents dropped by 11.2: there were 87 such cases last year against 98 cases a year earlier. The number of victims of fatal accidents at work declined by 13.2% last year: 99 workers were killed in 2012 and 114 workers were killed in 2011,’ Sverdlovsk Region Labor & Employment

January 18, 2013. Ural Airlines announces that it started selling tickets for Cologne-bound flights to be operated in the spring and summer 2013. Special prices are offered between January 21 and March 31 for flights to be operated between May 10 and July 31, 2013. The special offer is valid for all of Ural Airlines’ connecting flights to Cologne with a convenient stopover in Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport. Tickets for a Yekaterinburg-Cologne flight are available for ?288, those for Chelyabinsk-Cologne flight are available for ?308, those for Rostov-on-Don-Cologne flights can be purchased for

January 18, 2013. Eight multi-functional manufacturing systems produces by the Austrian company WFL and a polishing unit made by the German firm EMAG have recently been added to Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant’s (ChTZ, part of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation) fleet of machines, the corporation’s press service reports. The delivery of this machinery became the reputed global manufacturers’ largest order from this company to date. Now the number of ChTZ’s modern digitized mills that were purchased under the corporate technical upgrades program will rise by a third. The recently

January 18, 2013. The world’s leading railway haul expert DB International GmbH (a division of Deutsche Bahn AG) became one of Development Corporation’s stockholders recently, the Corporation’s press service reports. Last December, a meeting took place which DBI Financial Director Andreas Wegerif, the Quality Management & Audit Director Thomas Bayer, Head of DBI for Eastern Europe & Russia Oliver Pitz, and Development Corporation’s Director-General Alexander Beletsky. During the meeting, DBI representatives said they were interested in the purchase and long-term ownership of

January 18, 2013 Simelt Micro, an up-to-date power regulator for a ladle metallurgy facility, was commissioned at the electric furnace shop of Seversky Pipe Plant (STZ, a member of Pipe Metallurgical Company/TMK). Now that the automated control system is modernized with the help of Simelt Micro electrodes, the ladle furnace can be used in a more energy-efficient and productive way; besides, the electrodes can now be positioned with absolute precision and so the furnace is compatible with any automated control system. The beauty of the new electrode control system Simelt Micro lies in the

January 17, 2013. A corporate data transmission system was launched at Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Enterprise’s head plant. The main idea behind the project is to have all the services centralized and to ensure a swift access to the greatest number of those services to any end user, from any part of the enterprise, the corporation’s press service reports. The company used to rely on its ADSL lines or local access. Now the system performance is supported by over 60 km of fiber optic cables that connect about 2,000 PCs, 7 distribution nodes, 2 nuclei, and a data-processing center

January 17, 2013. In 2012, the Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development offered its customers a total of nearly $200m in the form of foreign trade contracts financing. The contracts mainly had to do with the purchase of commodity goods like foods, electronics, machinery, and raw materials,’ the bank’s press officer reports. ‘The bank’s proactive position on the international markets struggling with challenging macroeconomic conditions is one more proof of our foreign creditors’ faith in the bank; this also promotes economic development in all the parts of Russia where the UBRD operates,’

January 17, 2013. WorldSkills Russia, the country’s first mechatronics championship, supported by ChTPZ Group, will be held in Pervouralsk. WorldSkills is an international movement aimed at popularizing blue-collar jobs through professional skills contests around the world, the company’s press service says. Russia’s first championship will take place on the premises of ChTPZ Group’s education center in Pervouralsk, with some help from the Russian Education & Science Ministry and the Strategic Initiatives Agency. The country’s strongest teams will take part in the event, including those

January 17, 2013. Serbia is planning to go through with a ruble Eurobonds issue worth $250m; banking analysts feel quite skeptical about this initiative. Bank Koltso Urala’s Monetary & Financial Transactions Director Igor Nesterovitch believes the ruble is still an exotic currency on the Eurobonds market, so most of the deals will be only a one-time thing. ‘On the whole, however, decisions like this one is good news for both the market and the ruble, since accumulating some good history is an important factor for a market as conservative as the one that the bonds market is,’ the expert

January 17, 2013. A group of experts was invited by the Federal Education & Science Surveillance Service (Rosobrnadzor) to conduct an audit of Ural Federal University. The experts will check the university’s study programs’ compliance with the federal educational standards and will visit the places where students do their internships, UFU press service reports. ‘Experts, including the provosts of Russia’s leading colleges, will be inspecting our divisions through January 19. At the same time, our students will also be tested. At the end of the week, a report will be written that will

January 16, 2013. An eminent designer of Russian armored vehicles Leonid Kartsev, who was the Chief Designer of Ural Transport Machine-Building Office (part of Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) Scientific & Production Corporation) for more than ten years, was awarded the Order of Honor. The Russian tank industry’s living legend received the order for his contribution to the industry’s development and on the eve of his 90th birthday, the corporation’s press officer reports. The long-service employee is currently being treated in hospital due to not feeling well; the order was given to him by