The first meeting of Uralmashzavod’s newly elected BOD took place recently. BOD Chairman of United Machine-Building Works Vadim Makhov was elected this Board’s Chairman. Uralmashzavod BOD appointed Andrei V. Saltanov the plant’s Director-General. Prior to his latest appointment, Saltanov was employed at United Machine-Building Works (OMZ) group in the capacity of the plant’s Deputy DG for Production and launched a number of successful development projects there.

A Finnair plane operating a flight from Yekaterinburg to Helsinki today had to go back to its airport of departure due to some technical problems, an Interfax reporter who happened to be on board the plane reports. The captain apologized to the passengers for the need to fly back to Koltsovo Airport but did not explain what exactly the problem consisted in. The plane landed at the airport thirty-five minutes after the take-off. No one was hurt.

OOO KESKO-Ural (now known as Kesko-Yekaterinburg-Center) lost the sixth out of sixth lawsuits against ZOOM ZOOM Photographers, a photo agency. In July 2011, Sverdlovsk Region Arbitration Court rejected KESKO-Ural’s claims against ZOOM ZOOM Photographers; the defendant insisted on being paid 223,000 RUR. The clash started when KESKO-Ural refused to pay the photo agency the money due for a photo shoot of the Yekaterinburg-based Novotel Hotel’s interior. ZOOM ZOOM Photographers placed a claim with the arbitration court. What is more, KESKO-Ural also placed a claim with the arbitration court,

An investment project for the construction of a surface grinding unit for sheets is now being implemented at Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK)’s Sheet Rolling Shop 9 (where its Plate Mill 5000 is located) The installation of the unit will allow MMK to produce sheets made from shipbuilding steels AB2-1 and AB2-2 whose surface necessarily must be conditioned on both sides, the company reports. Early this year, a contract was signed with Kolpinsky Scientific Research & Design & Experimental Metallurgical Machine-Building Institute (KO VNIIMETMASH) for the delivery of the new

Mayor of Yekaterinburg Alexander Yakob has officially launched the municipal authorities’ innovational project: a free Wi Fi Internet connection in the city’s Historic Square. Under this project, the coverage area includes Lenin Ave, Malyshev St, Voyevodin St, and Gorky St as well as the entire Historic Square: there will be no need to switch to a different Hotpoint if a user moves around the area. The hot-points meet the 802.11n, 802.11g, and 802.11b standards and are located no farther than 100 meters off the coverage area. The hot-points’ capacity does not exceed 100 mW, while their

The Ural tour operators are having trouble getting their customers’ visas issued by the Consulate-General of the Czech Republic in Yekaterinburg; this involves people willing to get a higher education in that country. ‘Visa issuance for educational programs has been dragging on at the consulate. The officials explain the existing quotas have been exceeded. At the same time, they do not say how big these quotas actually are. We are trying to find a way out, for one, we work with students from other regions more, as their visas can be issued through the Czech Republic’s Consulates-General in

Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Evgeny Kuivashev spoke to Head of the Governor Administration Yakov Silin about the strategic aspects of his work. For one, the Governor touched upon such projects as the Ural International Industry & Innovations Exhibition/Forum Innoprom. Kuivashev asked the new Head of Administration to take part in the preparations for the event. ‘If we really want Yekaterinburg and Sverdlovsk Region to be granted the right to host the World Fair EXPO 2020, we must learn to coordinate such exhibitions as Innoprom professionally,’ the Governor said. Kuivashev pointed out

Ural Heavy Engineering Plant’s Director-General Oleg Danchenko resigns before the end of his term. The decision to accept his resignation will be considered by the company’s BOD tomorrow. Besides, UrBC found out that Danchenko’s First Deputy and Director-General of Uralmash-Engineering Boris Belman is leaving office as well. Oleg Danchenko became Ural Heavy Engineering Plant’s Director-General in 2009. Prior to this appointment, he was head of Uralkhimmash.

On May 22, 2012, Sverdlovsk Region division of Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service declared the outdoor ad of KODU interior design boutique distributed by Sign & Hold inappropriate, as the ad demonstrates the process of smoking, the agency’s press service reports. The proceedings against Sign & Hold were instituted on April 26, 2012 when a complaint was placed by a private individual regarding an improper KODU ad on the front side of an apartment block. The ad was considered inappropriate because it demonstrated the process of smoking. Sverdlovsk Region division of Russia’s Federal

It is in Chelyabinsk Region where all the major investment projects aimed at industrial and metallurgical development are now being implemented at the moment, Russia’s Industry & Trade Minister Denis Manturov said in the course of today’s visit to Chelyabinsk. The minister arrived at the premises of Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant, where he looked at the LDP production department called Vysota 239. He expressed a particular interest in the ‘white metallurgy’ principle based on the combination of production culture, high-quality produce, environmental safety, and the worker’s great skills.

The Forbes magazine carried yet another rating called Best Cities for Doing Business 2012. According to the magazine’s analysts, the top ten municipalities are: 1) Sochi 2) Ufa 3) Chelyabinsk 4) Tyumen 5) Nizhniy Novgorod 6) Yekaterinburg 7) Makhachkala 8) Kazan 9) Ulan-Ude 10) Krasnodar.

Ural Locomotives (based in Verkhnyaya Pyshma, Sverdlovsk Region) started working on the foundation for the new production facility meant for the manufacturing of Desiro RUS (Lastochka) electric trains. At the construction site, the workers are currently busy preparing for the buildings and assembly jobs, installing the metal frameworks for the columns, covering the casing in concrete, and driving in piles along the axes of the foundation for the Desiro RUS main production building.

Yekaterinburg-based Koltsovo Airport is planning to invest 1.78bn RUR in its development this year, the company reports. This is a 27.7% increase in investments on previous year. For one, the company is planning to have the airport reconstructed on the inside this year. This is estimated to cost 1bn RUR, with the sum supplied from the airport’s own funds. The reconstruction project provides for connecting the airport’s two buildings together, which will result in a 50% increase in the amount of commercial space, Interfax-Ural reports.

‘The construction of garage sets in Yekaterinburg is unprofitable at the moment,’ the Director-General of YIT Uralstroy Roman Gibov said at a press conference. ‘Putting up parking lots brings no money no matter what kind of lot it is, be it a parking next to an apartment building or a separate parking facility. The people’s current mentality makes them unwilling to leave their cars at a distance, so they park in the front yard. Besides, buying a parking spot is a luxury. Not everyone can afford that,’ Gibov says. In fact, the company put up a separate 300-spot parking facility in Kosmonavtov

Polevskoy Cryolite Plant’s BOD suggested that the shareholders vote for passing the dividend for 2011 in the course of the annual general meeting. This recommendation was brought about by the fact that the company had made some losses in the previous year, the plant reports. The enterprise’s net loss (calculated in accordance with the Russian Accounting Standards) came to 406.76m RUR in 2011. In fact, the plant did not pay any dividend for 2010 due to net loss either, Interfax-Ural observes.

Before the end of this year, some fifty stores located in MEGA Yekaterinburg Shopping Center will launch new concepts, the company’s press service reports. For one, JS Casual, Camaieu, Svyaznoy, Baon, White Wind Digital, Salamander, Giovanni Boticelli, Pierre Cardin, and O’stin have already presented new concepts and moved to new premises. In addition, the food court zone is being renovated as well: D’Antonio Restaurant with a separate seating zone will be opened in the nearest future, followed by Subway, Paul Bakery (with a new design), and the pie place Stolle.

Koltsovo Airport intends not to pay any share dividend for 2011. This was a recommendation to the company’s stockholders from the Board of Directors. The recommendation was adopted by five votes, with three BOD members voting against this. The AGM has been scheduled for June 29, 2012 and is to take place in Yekaterinburg.

The Greek air carrier Astra Airlines operated its first chartered flight from Yekaterinburg to Saloniki. Kommersant refers to Mouzenidis Travel Director-General as saying that the flight was operated using a one-time permit issued by the Federal Air Transport Agency. The airline intends to operate about thirty flights from Yekaterinburg to Saloniki this summer. Rosaviation reported earlier that the air carrier had no permission to operate the said flights because this particular destination was not stated in Greece and Russia’s aviation agreement.

Sverdlovsk Region Arbitration Court will look into the claim laid by First Freight Company against Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation on June 14, 2012. The plaintiff insists on being paid 4.6m RUR. The sum in question constitutes the compensation of damage that the plaintiff claims was done to it when the defendant-manufactured carriages got broken in a train crash. While Uralvagonzavod disagrees with the claim, a number of third parties, including Russian Railways, Second Freight Company, ZHASO Insurance Company, and SOGAS have already supported the plaintiff’s claim.

Sverdlovsk Region announced the results of its Taxpayer of the Year competition. When making its decisions, the jurors mostly looked in such criteria as the increase in the amount of regional budget payments, involvement in the social programs and investment projects, the average pay, and other factors. In the course of the elimination round, the jurors’ open ballot resulted unanimously in the decision to award honorary diplomas of Sverdlovsk Region Government to Sinara Pipe Plant, Koltsovo Airport, Sverdlovsk Region Railways (a subsidiary of Russian Railways), Uralvagonzavod Scientific &