VUZ-Bank presented four students of Ural State University of Economics with gift certificates allowing them to get their MasterCard Standard ISIC cards. The students won in the ISIC by VUZ-Bank contest that was coordinated within the Financier’s Day celebrations, the bank’s press service reports. The jury comprised of bank officials and representatives of Russia’s Federal Financial Market Service Ural Federal District Division considered ten student presentations of the ISIC program; four best presentations were selected and given the prize certificates by VUZ-Bank’s Direct Retail Sales

Russia’s Ministry for Economic Development offered to have the shares of Uralvagonzavod Scientific & Production Corporation privatized in 2013-1014, the Ministry’s Property Relations Director Alexei Uvarov told reporters. The official explained the enterprise was placed on the privatization list for 2012-2014, but the transaction as such was not likely to occur any earlier than after 2012. Besides, he added, the company will probably go private through an additional share issue. ‘This could be an IPO, since the company might need to obtain some outside funds,’ RIA Novosti quotes Alexei

An official delegation of Sverdlovsk Region representatives headed by Governor Alexander Misharin will come to Azerbaijan on September 19, 2011. The Governor is expected to hold talks with the heads of Azerbaijan’s government authorities regarding the promotion of the Urals-based manufacturers’ produce on the local markets and setting up joint ventures (where Sverdlovsk Region-based enterprises would be involved) in the Republic of Azerbaijan.

Officers of Nizhniy Tagil Customs confiscated 1,178 presumably counterfeited items from the local stores. 761 items did turn out to be fakes; most of them were shoes and sportswear bearing the famous Lacoste, Adidas, and Umbro logos. The damage done to the trademark holders has been estimated at 950,000 RUR. Since the start of 2011, the local customs officials and law-enforcement officers have already conducted thirty-three inspections aimed at protecting intellectual property rights.

Sverdlovsk Region Arbitration Court started the new hearing of the claim laid by Element Trade (Monetka supermarket chain) against the tax inspectorate of Yekaterinburg’s Chkalovsky District. The retailer disagrees with the defendant’s claims to 113.4m RUR worth of unpaid income tax that was allegedly to have been paid in 2006-2008. The fiscal body believes the supermarket chain signed fictional contracts with an affiliated Cyprus-based company for the purchase of Monetka trademark; the contracts amounted to 472.5m RUR, which resulted in an artificial decrease in the total profits,

A press conference dedicated to the development of the special economic zone known as the Titanium Valley was coordinated at the recent international arms exhibition in Nizhniy Tagil. Titanium Valley Management Company’s Director-General Artemiy Kyzlassov told the reporters that the construction of infrastructure, including temporary engineering networks, roads, and a small town, would begin in November. All the necessary construction jobs are expected to be completed by April or May 2012, whereupon the valley’s residents (three or four companies) will be able to start the construction of

The situation at the region’s two largest enterprises Uralvagonzavod and Kurganmashzavod looks particularly worrying. The former was able to get out of the red last year, but mainly due an increase in the output of civil produce (railway carriages). The future of tank production at the enterprise is unclear at the moment. The Defense Ministry is only planning to have its old T 72 tanks overhauled and upgraded this year,’ Plenipotentiary Representative of Russian Federation President in Ural Federal District Evgeniy Kuivashev said in his interview to Kommersant. As for Kurganmashzavod, things

Sverdlovsk Region Railways is doing its best to make sure the airports of Yekaterinburg, Tyumen, and Surgut have uninterrupted jet fuel supply, the railway company’s press service reports. Not a single halt or interruption occurred in our supply services. Quite on the contrary, if our consignors need the jet fuel to be delivered as quickly as possible, Sverdlovsk Region Railways tries to meet the oil suppliers’ needs and, upon their application, ensures express delivery by giving priority to this type of cargo and by providing dispatcher tracking over the containers in transit,’ the company

Even though this is a rather difficult project, Rosnano feels that Russian Magnesium is an interesting and promising initiative. The company’s other stockholders and our company are currently working on structuring the deal and on the detailed assessment of risks,’ Rosnano State Corporation’s press officer Maria Silayeva told UrBC. The corporation was unable to provide more detailed comments. Sverdlovsk Region Government representatives announced in the spring of 2011 that the state corporation might become one of the founders of Russian Magnesium as soon as June or July 2011. The Minister

Sverdlovsk Region is working on the creation of a railway machine-building cluster that will allow Russian railways to get a modern set of carriages and locos. This means the region will become Russia’s key location for carriage- and locomotive-building, Governor Alexander Misharin announced at a plenary session of the 3d Railway Exhibition EXPO 1520. The Governor explained the emerging cluster would comprise over forty production, scientific, financial, and transportation organizations. The cluster is already affecting the region’s economy in palpable ways. In 2010 and 2011, these were the

Siemens experts are planning to help train employees for the railway machine-building industry once Russia’s second training center opens in the Mid-Urals. The agreement to this extent was reached by Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Alexander Misharin and Siemens Chairman of the Supervisory Board Peter Loescher, the Governor’s press service reports. Most significantly, the locals who undergo training in the center will be able to do an internship in Germany. Alexander Misharin explained that the new center will be set up in cooperation with Ural Federal University, Academy of Railway Transport,

Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service instituted legal proceedings against UC RUSAL Trading House; the company is suspected of abusing its dominant position on the aluminum market. The FAS looked into a complaint placed by one of aluminum consumers and determined that UC RUSAL Trading House violated Article 10 (part 1, paragraphs 3 and 8) of the Competition Protection Act, namely, it infringed upon its contractor the terms of aluminum supply agreement that were not beneficial for the contractor or not related to the subject matter of the contract. What is more, the alleged offender created

Nazim Efendiyev has recently been appointed Deputy Director-General of MetalloInvest Management Company. The company reports he is now going to be in charge of MetalloInvest Holding’s interaction with the federal and regional authorities. Nazim Efendiyev worked in Yekaterinburg in 2007-2009 as the Director-General and BOD Chairman of Uralmash Machine-Building Corporation. He also was a deputy of the regional House of Representatives in Ordzhonikidzevsky District. Efendiyev was the Managing Director of Ural Steel prior to his latest appointment.

Yekaterinburg-based Koltsovo International Airport is not facing any jet fuel shortage problems at the moment, and the current supplied should provide for the smooth operation of the airport for five to seven days. By now, 11,500 tons out of 14,000 tons needed for September have already been contracted, the airport’s press service reports. Moscow and Yekaterinburg airports faced some jet fuel supply problems at the end of last week. For one, the jet fuel suppliers did not confirm Koltsovo’s order applications that had been submitted to them in full. The suppliers referred to lack of

Sverdlovsk Region Railways handled 82.7m tons of shipments in eight months of 2011, which exceeded the figures for eight months of 2010 by 3.6%. The railway company’s press service explains the shipments of ferrous metals and chemicals decreased by 9% and 16.5% in August 2011 compared with the year earlier due to accidents at Nizhneserginsky Metal Goods Plant and Sredneuralsky Copper-Smelting Plant.

About 12,000 Sverdlovsk Region residents were not allowed to go abroad in the eight months of 2011. 2,000 of them had about 1.5m RUR worth of unpaid alimony, while the rest had unpaid loans, unpaid road accidents fines and so on,’ says deputy head of Sverdlovsk Region division of the Federal Court Officers Service Albina Sukhorukova.

It has recently been reported that the police officers allegedly engaged in some illegitimate activities during their raids and searches at Yekaterinburg-based Tagansky Ryad market; besides, a number of entrepreneurs with businesses based in this market placed their complaints with the regional public prosecution authorities. Therefore Sverdlovsk Region’s Public Prosecutor Yuri Ponomarev ordered that an investigation of the legitimacy of the police officers’ actions be conducted. An ad hoc committee was set up of prosecution officials and officers from Sverdlovsk Region division of Russia’s

Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service made Yves Rocher Vostok pay a 100,000-ruble fine for violating the advertising law, the FAS’s press service reports. The Service’s committee declared earlier that the cosmetics and perfumes ad by Yves Rocher was inappropriate because the advertisement drew unfavorable comparisons with the competitors’ products and offered inaccurate data on the natural origin of Yves Rocher cosmetics. Now content-related cosmetics and perfumes ads by Yves Rocher could be seen online, in Yandex and Google search engines in November and December 2010. The perfumes and

Starting October 5, 2011, Ural Airlines will operate direct scheduled flights from Chelyabinsk Airport to three international destinations: Vienna, Dubai, and Harbin, Ural Airlines’ press officer reports. The airline was chosen by Chelyabinsk Region Government and the management of Chelyabinsk Airport as their main international carrier. Ural Airlines has a long-standing reputation on the international market; the airline holds an IOSA security standards compliance certificate and is a member of IATA Clearing Chamber as well as of MITA, the multilateral interline agreement. The air carrier is

Rosimushchestvo put up to auction 100% of Ural Hydro-Geological Expedition’s shares; this news is available via the agency’s official website. The shares are expected to be sold in a single lot; the opening bid comes to 52.5m RUR. Ural Hydro-Geological Expedition specializes in research and practical tasks in the hydro-geological, geological engineering, and geo-environmental fields.