December 4, 2012. Every day, OOO Bank Koltso Urala sends over 10,000 text messages to its cardholders, the bank reports. Today, on December 3, 2012, the first text message ever sent celebrates its 20th anniversary; this was a GSM-based short message service. Matti Makkonen, a Nokia engineer sent on a business trip to Copenhagen in 1984, suggested using GSM networks for sending text messages. His project came true in a few years. The world’s first text message that read, ‘Merry Christmas’, was sent from a PC onto a two-kilo Orbitel 901 ‘mobile phone’ on December 3, 1992. According to the

December 4, 2012. According to the latest updates available, 81,469 local residents have applied to Yekaterinburg Employment Center since the beginning of the year. 51, 860 people enquired about the labor market situation in the city; this figure included both job-seekers and employers, Sverdlovsk Region Employment Center’s press service reports. The number of people who applied to Yekaterinburg Employment Center in order to find a job is 18,989, including 8,753 officially unemployed residents. At the same time, 12,096 people found some jobs in Yekaterinburg and 603 people joined community

December 4, 2012. Sverdlovsk Region Prime Minister Denis Pasler, President of EuroCement Group Mikhail Skorokhod, acting Mayor of Nevyansk Svetlana Kazantseva, and Director-General of Nevyansky Cementnik are to sign an agreement on the implementation of an investment project today, December 3, 2012. The project involves the construction of a cement-making station in Nevyansk, the regional Government’s Press Service Administration reports. The new technological cement-manufacturing line will be housed in the existing facility of Nevyansky Cementnik in Nevyansk. The line is expected to produce

December 3, 2012. The participants of Sverdlovsk Region Economic Committee’s Board meeting looked at the prices for water supply, water discharge, and sewage water treatment services that the regional communal housing department will provide to the end users in 2013, Sverdlovsk Region Press Service & Information Department reports. The rate that was introduced on September 1, 2012, will be used through July 1, 2013, that is, for ten months. Starting July 1, 2013, prices will go up within the range of the average rate growth set for Sverdlovsk Region by the Federal Tariffs Service, namely,

December 3, 2012. Russian Vice Premier Dmitri Rogozin had a chance to discuss issues related to military and technological cooperation, including Serbian military vehicles upgrades by the Russian parties, during his recent trip to Serbia. He held talks with the Serbian President Stanislav Nikolic, Prime Minister and Internal Affairs Minister Ivica Dačić, and Vice Premier and Defense Minister Alexander Vucic, Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s press service reports. Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s Director-General Oleg Sienko was one of the

December 3, 2012. Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s Transport Machine-Building Design Office (KBTM) was visited by the Russian State Duma Energy Committee Deputy Chairman and United Russia’s General Council Presidium Coordination Council for Energy-Saving and Enhancing Energy Efficiency Chairman Yuri Lipatov. He held a work meeting with Omsk Region officials to discuss the energy security of Russian Federation constituencies and industrial enterprises, Uralvagonzavod’s press service reports. The meeting was attended by Omsk Region Economics Minister Alexander Trippel, Omsk Region Minister for

December 3, 2012. Sinara Pipe Plant (SinTZ), a member of Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK), started mastering the technological know-how and the manufacturing of a pilot batch of insulated lift pipes (Type 13 Cr, super-chrome). This type of steel is particularly resistant to aggressive environmental condensations and is highly corrosion-resistant. Insulated lift pipes can be used as the upper section of the oil-well tubing in the Polar North regions. These pipes’ primary competitive advantage is its special design that prevents the thawing of the permafrost around the oil well. SinTZ is

December 3, 2012. In the nine months of 2012, 41.7bn RUR worth of taxes was directed to the federal budget by Sverdlovsk Region tax authorities; this is 1.4 times or 12.8bn RUR more than a year earlier, Sverdlovsk Region division of the Federal Tax Service reports. Sverdlovsk Region division of the Federal Tax Service held a collegial meeting dedicated to their performance in the nine months of 2012 and to the tasks that have to be completed by the end of the year. It was announced that the local tax authorities’ efforts were aimed at ensuring control over compliance with the tax legislation

November 30, 2012. Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation initiated the All-Russian Scientific & Practical Conference on the History, Historiography, Resources, and Museum Exhibitions on 20th Century Tank-Building. The conference will take place in Nizhniy Tagil on April 2-5, 2013. The event is also coordinated by S.I. Vavilov Natural Science & Technology History Museum of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Russian Culture Ministry’s Polytechnic Museum, the Corporation’s press officer reports. The conference is to become a major event not only for the domestic

November 30, 2012. SKB-Bank opened its first Far Eastern branch in Khabarovsk less than a year ago; this opening was followed by launch of outlets in Vladivostok, Magadan, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Yakutsk, Mirniy, and Neryungri. The branches are already heading towards their first anniversary with impressive performance results: businesspeople located in the Far East were issued 1bn RUR worth of SME loans, while the consumer loans volume came to more than 1.5bn RUR, SKB-Bank reports. The bank’s branches not only offer plenty of loans to private individuals and SMEs but also take a noticeable

November 30, 2012. Ural Airlines Director-General Sergey Skuratov was voted the No.1 candidate for the Delovoy Kvartal magazine’s annual prize Person of the Year. The prize was awarded at Yekaterinburg Opera House on November 28. Apart from Skuratov, five more heads of Sverdlovsk Region-based haulers were among the nominees for the prize, the airline’s press service reports. The Person of The Year Prize was founded by Delovoy Kvartal magazine and has been awarded for the 3d time this year. The prize is given to heads of companies for their contribution to the development of the transportation

November 30, 2012. Prices on Yekaterinburg existing homes market kept going up for the eleven months of 2012, Ural Chamber of Real Estate Reports. Housing prices have risen by 9% since January. According to the Chamber’s Analytical Department, the median price of a sq m of housing in the flats available for sale came to 63,836 RUR in December 2011 and reached 69,561 RUR in November 2012. The prices increased most dynamically in the spring and the fall. On average, figures go up by 0.2% a week, even though the figures for last week went up by 0.5%. As a result, the flat prices went back to

November 30, 2012. Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant (ChTZ) shipped its B-10M bulldozer to Chechnya; the vehicle will be used by the local forestry workers for fighting fire, Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service reports. The vehicle will be directed to Argunsky District forestry – this is the forestry that is most subject to the risk of suffering from natural disasters. Chechnya’s forestry fund is made up mainly of the valuable hard wood like oaks, beech wood, and ash trees, and the rational use of these resources might result in considerable profits for the local budget. Fitted with a tree

November 29, 2012. A group of Gazrprom technical supervisors arrived in Omsk on a business trip in late November. The delegation visited OAO KBTM – a member of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation – in order to consider specific proposals as well as look at products and machinery produced by Omsk-based enterprises, the Corporation’s press service reports. A specialized exhibition called Siberian Machine-Building for Gazrpom was coordinated at the regional ExpoCenter; KBTM presented its most promising developments there. Following a cursory and then a detailed tour of the

November 29, 2012. Sinara Pipe Plant successfully completed the scheduled overhaul of its Pipe-Rolling Mill TPA-140 that makes weldless hot-rolled pipes for the O&G industry, the enterprise’s press service reports. All the repair jobs aimed at restoring the capacity of the equipment back to the designed parameters in order to ensure its infallible performance for the next two years were completed in a fortnight. The overhaul involved modernizing the automatic control systems of the longitudinal pipe drawing mills; also, the lining and the metal structures inside the rotary hearth furnace

November 29, 2012. Some 81,424 new cars were sold in Yekaterinburg in January-October 2012. This is 18% more than a year earlier, Auto-Dealer-Yekaterinburg reports. 8,135 cars were sold in the city in October alone, which is 7% (or 517 cars) more than in October 2011. Lada is still the best selling make in Yekaterinburg; however, while this car’s sales rose by as much as 17% in September, all this growth stopped in October (compared with October 2011). As for the sales in the ten months of 2012, the figures have not increased on the previous year. As for the foreign cars, Chevrolet has been

November 29, 2012. Sinara Pipe Plant (a member of Pipe Metallurgical Company) coordinated its traditional KVN, a festival of stand-up comedians’ teams. The event was a part of the company’s youth and healthcare programs, Pipe Metallurgical Company’s press officer reports. The theme of ‘Once upon a time at a plant…’ provided for three types of contests: a team presentation, dubbing some movie extracts, and a musical performance that was prepared in advance. The third prize went to the team from Sinara Repair & Technical Service Center called ‘We’re from the Center’. The second prize was

November 29, 2012. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development is now one of Russia’s Top50 banks. According to the rating of Russia’s 200 largest banks in terms of net assets carried by Kommersant Publishing House’s Dengi, the UBRD is in the 39th position as of October 1, 2012, the bank reports. Dengi also states that the UBRD is the 27th out of 100 largest private banks in Russia in terms of own funds and also the 27th Most Retail Oriented Bank in Russia. As for the rating of the Most Investment-Oriented Banks, the UBRD was given the 25th position. In fact, the UBRD was also given

November 28, 2012. The final round of the traditional Mother’s Day contest was closed up at Uralvagonzavod. This year, 70 women employed at Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s head plant and at Uralcryomash took part in the competition. Mothers competed in two categories: ‘Great Children’ and ‘Mothers of Large Families,’ Uralvagonzavod Corporation’s press service reports. ‘Mother’s Day is your first and primary professional festival: it is the mother who brings the children up, it is the mother who is responsible for keeping the home fire burning. Raising children is a life-long job. I’d like to

November 28, 2012. Sverdlovsk Region-based machine-building enterprises produced 231bn RUR worth of goods in January-October 2012, which is 23% more than in January-October 2011, Sverdlovsk Region Government’s Press Service & Information reports. According to Sverdlovsk Region Deputy Industry & Science Minister Sergey Sarapulov, the increase had to do with modernization, launch of new facilities, and creation of new jobs at the region’s industrial enterprises. ‘This year, over 15bn RUR will be directed to production reconstruction jobs,’ Sarapulov says. For one, Uralmashzavod is