November 22, 2012. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development’s BO-1 stock bonds were placed on the Central Bank’s Lombard list, which means that the bondholders can benefit not only from the profit guaranteed by the issuer but also from the Bank of Russia’s refinancing options, the bank’s press officer reports. ‘The fact that our bonds were placed on the Lombard list signifies the UBRD’s great dependability as an issuer. This will definitely make our securities more appealing to the potential investors,’ says Head of Financial Institutions and Investment Services Department Vladimir

November 22, 2012. Yekaterinburg’s application for the right to host the World Universal Exhibition in 2020 will be presented in the BIE Paris office on November 22. A group of delegates, headed by Russia’s Vice Premier Arkady Dvorkovitch, will join the 152nd General Assembly on November 21-22 in Paris, the application committee’s press service reports. EXPO 2020 Coordination Committee Chairman Arkady Dvorkovitch will give a report on the advantages Russia has as the potential host country and on the strong points of Yekaterinburg as a candidate for the host city. The voting to select the

November 22, 2012. The workers of Sinara Pipe Plant (SinTZ), which is a member of Pipe Metallurgical Company (TMK), were given state awards for their professional achievements, TMK press service reports. According to the Russian Federation President’s decree, head of pipe-rolling shop 2 (T-2) Nikolai Ponomarev was given the honorary title of Deserved Metallurgist of the Russian Federation for his contribution to the metallurgical industry and many years of conscientious performance. Head of the nondestructive screening and diagnostics lab (LNKiD) Sergey Aksenov was given the 2nd degree medal

November 22, 2012. Governor Evgeny Kuivashev’s initiative on putting the Yekaterinburg EXPO promotion campaign logo on aircraft now came true: Ural Airlines launched its first airplane with the exhibition symbols and a phrase ‘Ekaterinburg World Expo 2020. Candidate City’ on it, the air carrier reports. This long-term ‘coloring’ of the planes and the fact that Yekaterinburg is mentioned in the phrase is expected to enhance the city awareness on the international arena and to serve as additional publicity for the city. The Governor is positive that it is essential for the capital of Sverdlovsk

November 21, 2012. Several member enterprises of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation took part in the creation of containers meant for transporting propane, butane, and their mixtures. The cistern was developed at Ural Carriage Making Design Bureau (the head plant’s subdivision), while the manufacturing and certification procedures were handled by Uralcryomash. The cistern gets mounted on a railway platform with 18-100 four-wheel bogies produced by Uralvagonzavod. The cistern was actually ordered by UVZ Logistics, the corporation’s daughter enterprise that deals in

November 21, 2012. AKK (Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant’s (ChTZ) official dealer in Estonia) is buying a batch of export spare parts for tractors, Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s press service reports. These spare parts are nodes and parts for the T-170 and the T-10 tractors. The batch is now being compiled and prepared for shipment; the truck will set off in November. AKK head and the company’s long-time partner Koit Kuus will deliver these spare parts to consumer in the three Baltic States that operate ChTZ vehicles. The other set of the same spare parts will be shipped

November 21, 2012. The local legal entities’ debts to the tax authorities come to 30bn RUR at the moment, which is 7% less than in January 2012. Bankrupt companies owe about a third of this sum, Deputy Head of Sverdlovsk Region division of Russia’s Federal Tax Service Marina Ryabova said at a press conference in Yekaterinburg. Thanks to the tax inspections, an additional 7bn RUR was transferred to the budget. As for private individuals, only 70% of Sverdlovsk Region residents paid their taxes for 2011 in time. Those private individuals who were to have paid their taxes before November 1 now

November 21, 2012. According to the Ural Real Estate Chamber, the supply on the countryside real estate market decreased by 20% in the three quarters of 2012. Things look even bleaker in the townhouse sector, as the supply dropped by 30%. At the same time, the supply, the construction output, and prices on the existing homes market went back to their pre-recession figure of 48,000 RUR per sq m. At the moment, about 80% of the country estate market is constituted by non-contracted land allotments; cottage settlements make up about 10%, whereas in 2008, the share of land allotments was only

November 21, 2012. As of November 1, 2012, Russian enterprises outside the small business scope owe a total of 2,290m RUR in terms of wage arrears, which is 56m RUR, or 2.5% more than on October 1, 2012, Rosstat’s press service reports. The arrears of wages resulting from the companies lacking their own funds amounted to 2,198m RUR on November 1, 2012. This comes to 96% of the total amount of debt. This is also 4m RUR or 0.2% more than on October 1, 2012. Debts resulting from the untimely transfer of money from the budget resources at all levels reached 92m RUR and rose by 52m RUR, or by 2.3

November 20, 2012. An operation & maintenance center was set up at Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s head plant. The enterprise’s new division aims to centralize planning, analyze the equipment, buildings, and facilities maintenance expenses, come up with repairs schedules in order to avoid emergency stoppages, and cut down on the prime cost of projects, Uralvagonzavod’s press service reports. The center comprises the Chief Mechanic and the Chief Electrician’s divisions as well as some subdivisions of the Chief Energy Engineer’s division, the department for

November 20, 2012. A memorandum of understanding was signed by Siemens and Uralvagonzavod (UVZ) Corporation at the conference called Solutions for Cities. This conference was coordinated with the Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel holding intergovernmental sessions with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the corporation’s press service reports. The paper was signed by UVZ Director-General Oleg Sienko and Siemens AG President and Chairman of the Supervisory Board Peter Loescher. The memorandum will lay the foundation for the two parties’ mutually beneficial cooperation when launching the

November 20, 2012. Yekaterinburg Electrical Network analysts started their scheduled measuring the current burden on its electrical mains equipment at this time of the year’s maximum workload, the company’s press service reports. Thanks to this annual monitoring, the company experts can determine the actual burden on the distribution network equipment as well as assess the annual increase in the workload and analyze the degree of current burden during the fall/winter period for next year. The data obtained in the course of these measurements are taken into account when the company elaborates

November 20, 2012. Grain prices resumed going up on the markets of the Urals and Siberia last week after a month of stable prices occasioned by commodity interventions, the economic news agency Prime refers to the National Union of Grain Producers as reporting. In Ural Federal District, both fodder wheat and barley grew more expensive, with the price of the latter rising by 350 RUR over one week. All in all, 367,800 tons of 3d-grade wheat and 73,800 tons of 4th-grade wheat have been sold in the course of commodity interventions in Ural, Siberian, and Far Eastern Federal Districts since

November 20, 2012. The fact that the municipal authorities have proved as good as their word in terms of implementing the federal special program for supporting towns with only one primary employer means that Kamensk-Uralsky can get additional funding for working on a pipe cluster on the basis of Sinara Pipe Plant and on other projects targeted at diversifying the town’s economy, Governor Evgeny Kuivashev said at the opening ceremony of the new pipeline in the northern part of Kamensk-Uralsky; the pipeline was put up within the framework of the Sinara Pipe Plant-based pipe cluster project,

November 17, 2012. A new cafeteria fit for sixty people opened at Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s head plant recently. The project cost about 20m RUR to complete; the reconstruction of the canteen helped both to improve the quality of food serve and to make the cooks and janitors’ work easier, the corporation’s press service reports. The overhaul included replacing the main structures, plumbing and ventilations fixtures, and the electric power supply devices that are located in the cafeteria. Under the new sanitary norms and regulations, the area of the food court was

November 17, 2012. The region’s government is planning to elaborate a specialized industry development program for Sverdlovsk Region. This program will primarily be aimed at developing intra- and interregional cooperation. In fact, this will be the main topic for discussion at the round table meeting with the representatives of the regional defense enterprises in December, Governor Evgeny Kuivashev said today at a conference called ‘The Greater Urals Economic Growth Points,’ the Governor’s Information Policy Department reports. ‘Ironic as it may seem, Sverdlovsk Region, which can boast a

November 17, 2012. Yekaterinburg was given the 4th position in the general rating of Russian cities for 2011; this rating was compiled by the Russian Union of Engineers. The first three positions were given to Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Novosibirsk, the Union’s report states. Yekaterinburg got 20 points altogether, which was only 0.7 points less than what Novosibirsk got. For one, the capital of the Urals is behind the capital of Siberia in terms of affordability of housing, innovational activity, and quality of cadre. Yet Yekaterinburg does better in terms of residents’ welfare, societal

November 17, 2012. OAO Sinara-Development is currently putting up Novy Svet, a new district in Volgograd, well ahead of schedule. By now, the frames of 50% of the buildings are already at the 4th floor level, and the internal and external walls are being built on the first floors, Sinara Group’s PR Center reports. ‘This construction tempo leads us to predict that the four new five-storey apartment buildings in Novy Svet will be commissioned before the target date (the fourth quarter of 2013),’ says the developer company’s Director-General Timur Ufimtsev. Novy Svet District, which is located

November 17, 2012. According to Head of State Labor Inspectorate Fedor Kravtsov, the overall number of inspections and orders issued against legal entities and sole traders has gone down recently; so has the total number of accidents at work, says the press center of Sverdlovsk Region Executive Branch Federal Authorities’ local divisions under the Chief Federal Inspector for Sverdlovsk Region. On Wednesday, November 14, Chief Federal Inspector for Sverdlovsk Region Boris Kirillov met with the Head of State Labor Inspectorate for Sverdlovsk Region to talk about such important issues as

November 16, 2012. The new core-making division was launched at Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation’s head plant recently. This launch signifies a large-scale modernization of the whole department that will also involve the assembling of a powder-mixing section and a molding line, the corporation’s press service reports. The modern, robotized core-making facility supplied by the German company Laempe has been estimated to result in 25,000 car sets a year. Thanks to its launch, the process of core making will become faster, more precise, and more stable. The facility