Urals Power Engineering Center made 1.77bn RUR worth of net profit in January-March 2012, which fell short of the figures for a year earlier by 17.3%, the company’s reports state. The enterprise’s revenues increased by 13% and amounted to 350.82m RUR over the same period, Interfax-Ural reports.

Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service considered the petition placed by OAO Development Corporation (based in Yekaterinburg and dealing in the management of financial/industrial groups) regarding the acquisition of a 54.73184793% stake in Polar Quartz (bases in Khanty-Mansiysky Autonomous Region Yugra and dealing in production and processing of quartz). Having considered Article 33 (part 2, paragraph 1) of the Competition Protection Act, the FAS decided to let the applicant go through with the purchase.

In the first quarter of 2012, the revenues of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation coming from the production and sales of special purpose machines and vehicles dropped by 43.7% against a year earlier, that is, from 2.37bn RUR down to 1.34bn RUR. This information is available in the company’s quarterly report uploaded on the enterprise’s website. ‘The decrease in revenues had to do with lack of shipments under the government contract,’ the report states.

The Production Management portal carried the annual rating called Russia’s Industrial Elite: 100 Best Production Managers 2012. The rating is primarily aimed at selecting, with the help of reputed experts, the most successful industrial sector managers who made a significant contribution to the development of their companies, their branch of industry, and the country’s economy on the whole. The rating was based on ‘the best choose the best’ principle. Over 500 respected managers from well-known companies acted as experts and offered their opinion on who they think are the best production

‘The work-related diseases situation in Sverdlovsk Region is not getting any better. What is more, the statistics for illnesses not directly related to one’s professional activity look dramatically worse. There are virtually no healthy people in the production process at the moment. We run special programs for children and retired workers, but no one takes care of those who produce the gross national product,’ head of Labor Surveillance Department of Rospotrebnadzor’s (the state consumer rights watchdog) Sverdlovsk Region division Vadim Ruzakov told Oblastnaya Gazeta. According to Ruzakov,

Yaroslav Zhdan, the Director-General of Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant (ChTPZ), was featured in the rating called Russia’s Industrial Elite – 100 Best Production Managers 2012. The rating is the Production Management portal’s initiative and is aimed at presenting the most successful industrial managers who have made a significant contribution to the development of their enterprises, their branch of industry, and Russia’s economy. The rating is based on the opinions given by over 500 reputed representatives of well-known businesses. The experts’ verdicts were based on such criteria as the

Uralvagonzavod Scientific Production Corporation’s total debts come to 25.84bn RUR, including 3.82bn RUR worth of overdue debts. This information is available from the company’s report for the first quarter of 2012 uploaded on the plant’s website. The debt to the state budget and the state-run non-budgetary funds comes to 244.98m RUR. ‘The debt repayments to suppliers and contractors are overdue as well. The reason for this nonpayment is mainly the fact that the contractors do not ask for the money,’ the report states.

Ural Airlines has once again become the laureate of the Russian Wings Prize, the air carrier’s press service reports. The annual awarding ceremony for the Russian air industry players took place in Moscow on May 14. This year, forty-eight Russian air carriers have been nominated for the title of Airline of the Year. This includes nearly all of the country’s aviation companies such as the major air carriers, regional-scale airlines, business flights operators, specialized freight forwarders, helicopter operators, and tour operators.

The teams participating in the world football championship of 2018 in Yekaterinburg could stay in the Novotel and the Moskovskaya Gorka hotels. This suggestion was made during the FIFA committee and the cup coordination committee’s recent visit to the city, Uralsky Rabochy says. Yekaterinburg was the 5th Russian city on the committee’s route. The delegation is responsible for drawing up a report on the thirteen candidate cities’ potential to host the World Cup 2018 games. The officials and other VIPs are expected to stay at the Hyatt and the Atrium Palace Hotel.

Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Alexander Misharin’s resignation and appointed Plenipotentiary Representative of Russian Federation President in Ural Federal District Evgeny Kuivashev acting Governor for the time being, the Kremlin’s press service reports. Misharin was proposed by United Russia as a candidate for the position in August 2009. On November 10, 2009, Russian President Dmitri Medvedev offered his candidacy for approval by Sverdlovsk Region Duma. On November 17, 2009, the two chambers of Sverdlovsk Region Legislative Assembly vested Misharin

Yekaterinburg’s Central Stadium and the potential fan zone were presented to the FIFA officials during their first inspection of the city, which is aspires to host the World Cup 2018. Head of World Cups 2014, 2018, and 2022 Jurgen Muller and Russia 2018 Coordination Committee’s Director-General Alexei Sorokin had a chance to evaluate the city’s preparedness for the championship and to inspect the key sites in the company of Head of Sverdlovsk Region Government Vladimir Vlasov, Physical Education, Sports & Youth Policies Minister Leonid Rapoport, and acting Mayor of Yekaterinburg Sergey

Polevskoy Cryolite Plant (the asset of United Company RUSAL) managed to decrease its net loss (calculated in accordance with the Russian Accounting Standards) by 34% in January-March 2012 compared with the first quarter of 2011, the company’s report says. At the same time, the company’s revenues rose by 58% and reached 557.6m RUR, Interfax-Ural reports.

Inter RAO UES is no longer a shareholder of Enel OGK-5. The company used to have a 26.4348% stake in the business. Enel OGK-5 operates two Sverdlovsk Region-based enterprises: Sredneuralskaya and Reftinskaya power stations.

Ural Instrument Making Plant that has a clash with the Italian company Esaote S.p.A. refuses to accept the verdict pronounced by Stockholm Trade Chamber’s arbitration authority. So Esaote S.p.A. placed its claim with Sverdlovsk Region Arbitration Court, asking for the Stockholm ruling regarding case 046/2011 dated September 30, 2011 to be confirmed and enforced. Esaote S.p.A. wants to be paid the money and the interest it is owed. Ural Instrument Making Plant, however, feels that the arbitration agreement the two parties signed within two contracts captured in 2008 should not be seen as an

Russia’s Foreign Affairs Ministry’s Yekaterinburg representation suggested that Ukraine’s Consulate-General appeal to Ural Real Estate Chamber for assistance in finding quarters in the Urals’ capital, the Chamber’s press service reports. Now the Ukrainian consulate for Siberia and the Urals is relocating from Tyumen to Yekaterinburg. The move is hindered by the need to find offices and long-term living quarters for the Consulate’s staff. ‘As for our support in finding long-term rental options, we have the honor to report that the representation is not in the position to process real estate

Sberbank of Russia still has not managed to make its MasterCard and Maestro cards routinely available for online transactions, the bank told Interfax AFI. ‘The problem is not solved,’ the bank’s call center reports. Now on May 10 Sberbank announced that online purchases with the help of its MasterCard and Maestro cards were temporarily unavailable; so were SecureCode-based transactions, too. ‘The initial glitch resulted in the server getting overloaded, therefore the problem still hasn’t been solved,’ the bank explained. The server overload also leads to sporadic glitches when Visa

A presentation of Yekaterinburg as a candidate city for hosting the world computer programming championship of 2016 will be made in Warsaw on May 13. The presentation will be made by a delegation consisting of Sverdlovsk Region Government, Yekaterinburg Council, Ural Federal University, and Ural IT Cluster representatives. In February 2012, an official letter signed by Governor Alexander Misharin was sent to director of ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest William Poucher; the Governor said they were willing to present Sverdlovsk Region and Yekaterinburg as the hosts of the world

In order to keep the public informed and to assess the impact of putting up power generating unit 5 at Beloyarskaya nuclear power plant, Concern Rosenergoatom is coordinating public hearings in Zarechny, Sverdlovsk Region. The evaluation procedure is to begin on May 12, 2012. The concern has already appealed to Zarechny’s authorities in order to have the public hearings organized. Now the local government, with Concern Rosenergoatom’s support, is responsible for coordinating the event.

The tour operator Mouzenidis Travel, which specializes in offering trips to Greece, is now selling tickets for the flights operated by the Greek Astra Airlines from Yekaterinburg to Saloniki. About 30 flights are to be operated before the end of August 2012, and seven flights have already been fully sold out. However, Rosaviation reports that the air carrier has no permission to operate the said flights, Kommersant says. A Rosaviation representative told the newspaper that the Saloniki-Yekaterinburg route was not stated in the aviation agreement signed by Greece and Russia. ‘This set of

Ural Airlines is re-launching one of its services: a free airport transfer via Air Express for Wings Club gold and silver cards holders. A free ticket to or from Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport is available from May 1, 2012 and can be booked via the air carrier’s official website, the airline’s press service reports. The comfortable Air Express trains give one an opportunity to commute to any of the capital’s three international airports from downtown Moscow, with no delays and regardless of what the weather and the traffic look like. Trains from Domodedovo Airport arrive at Paveletsky Station