UrBC, Magnitogorsk, June 7, 2019. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) plans to work with Deloitte to develop the company’s digitization strategy; the agreement to this effect was signed at Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum this week. According to MMK’s Information, Advertising & PR Department, the plant decided to have its digital portfolio upgraded as part of the company development strategy for 2019-2025. Deloitte will have to design a roadmap for MMK’s digitization in the medium term. The roadmap will cover the most efficient project that will help the company reach

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 7, 2019. EVRAZ Holding intends to direct over RUB 6.3bn to environmental projects as part of the National Environment Project in 2019-2024, EVRAZ Holding Ural’s Corporate Communications Center reports. The agreement to this effect was signed by EVRAZ Senior Vice President for Commerce & Business Development Alexei Ivanov, Russia’s Minister for Natural Resources & the Environment Dmitry Kobylkin, Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Evgeny Kuivashev, and Governor of Kemerovo Region Sergey Tsivilev at Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum. ‘Under the terms of

UrBC, Moscow, June 7, 2019. Head of Russia’s Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina said the increase in the amount of loans Russians had to pay out was brought about by poor living standards. This was the statement made at Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum, RT refers to the official as saying. According to Nabiullina, the tremendous amount of bank loans the Russians have applied for and taken out in the last few years is not a bubble; rather, this comes from poverty issues. The Central Bank is now trying to slow the process down, but, as a matter of fact, the booming consumer lending

UrBC, Moscow, June 6, 2019. As the Russian market is now switching to the 5G network, MegaFon, Rostelecom, and Nokia made their first international video call within the system, MegaFon’s press service reports. ‘Russia’s first international 5G-standard video call signifies the takeoff of the practical application of new-generation mobile network throughout the country. Rostelecom’s President Mikhail Oseyevsky and Chief Technology and Innovation Officer (CTIO) at MegaFon Frederic Vanoosthuyze called President of Mobile Networks and Member of Group Leadership Team at Nokia Tommi Uitto in his

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 6, 2019. Ural Airlines launched their Yekaterinburg-Magadan-Yekaterinburg flight in the course of a solemn ceremony at Yekaterinburg’s Koltsovo International Airport on June 3. There were 190 passengers on the flight, the air carrier’s press service says. ‘Passengers on the newly introduced Magadan flight could get their photos taken together with the airline’s flight attendants next to the check-in desks. They also received some travel-handy souvenirs and gifts. Once the crew and passengers on Magadan-Yekaterinburg flight arrived at Koltsovo Airport, they were

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 6, 2019. Ural Airlines are introducing more Yekaterinburg-Simferopol flights in the summer, with up to four flights available daily. According to the air carrier’s press service, the flights will get operated on the European Airbus liners. ‘Certain passenger categories are eligible to apply for state-subsidized, reduced-price tickets, wit prices starting from RUB 3,750 (one way). Russian nationals who are a) under 23 years old, b) women over 55, or c) men over 60 can get their subsidized tickets on the company website and at booking offices. Other passengers who are

UrBC, Moscow, June 6, 2019. 51% of Russians who took part in a recent opinion survey believe the country is currently in a state of a financial crisis, Romir Holding’s research findings indicate. ’38% of respondents said they were aware of certain economic problems. Only 5% of those surveyed said the country was not struggling with any economic issues whatsoever. The majority (79%) said they defined a crisis as growing prices and inflation. Besides, the share of respondents whose salaries and wages shrank doubled from 21% to 42% in the last eighteen months. Every one in three people complains

UrBC, Moscow, June 6, 2019. Russia’s Finance Ministry intends to buy RUB 310.3 billion worth of foreign currency for its reserves in June, the ministry’s website states. ‘The overall amount of money directed to foreign currency purchases comes to RUB 310.3 billion. The purchase transactions will take place on June 7-July 4, 2019 (RUB 16.3 billion worth of foreign currency will get purchased every day),’ the website says. According to the Finance Ministry, they expect RUB 324 billion in extra oil and gas revenues in June, as the actual oil prices are now higher than what the predicted base

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 5, 2019. SKB-Bank Group and Otkritie FC Bank merged their ATM networks into one, the former’s press service reports. As a result, either bank’s cardholders can now take out cash from both banks’ ATMs commission-free. The merged network now comprises more than 6,000 units in different Russian cities, including 400+ ATMs in Moscow, 200+ ATMs in Saint Petersburg, and the (formerly unavailable) ATMs in Barnaul, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Ufa, Pyatigorsk, Norilsk, and other locations. SKB-Bank Group comprises SKB-Bank as its core as well as Gazenergobank, Kaluga Region’s largest

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, June 5, 2019. MMK Lysva Metallurgical Plant’s output more than doubled in the course of one year, MMK’s Information & PR Department reports. The plant made 110,100,000 kg of goods in 2017 and 248,500,000 kg in 2018. The goal is to raise the output by another 20% so that the final figure comes to 300,000,000 kg, Director-General Sergey Dubrovsky said during his meeting with Governor of Perm Territory Maxim Reshetnikov (who visited the plant during his business trip to Lysva). According to Perm Territory Government’s press service, Sergey Dubrovsky and Governor

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 5, 2019. Ural Airlines started operating flights from Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport to Bordeaux and Montpellier last weekend, the air carrier’s press service reports. ‘We first operated a Moscow-Bordeaux flight on June 1 and a Moscow-Montpellier one on June 2. The plane arriving to Moscow back from Montpellier received a water-arch welcoming ceremony, and passengers received some souvenirs and could take part in a bit of festivities to celebrate the occasion,’ the press service says. Domodedovo-Montpellier-Domodedovo flights get operated on Wednesdays, Fridays, and

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, June 5, 2019. The 26th International Trade Fair for Coal Mining Technology, Preparation and Materials Handling (UGOL ROSSII & MINING) began in Novokuznetsk this week; Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) is taking part in the event, the company’s Information & PR Department reports. UGOL ROSSII & MINING is the country’s largest exhibition project for every sector of the ore mining industry and a unique platform for presenting new technologies. MMK is featuring its heavy-duty, wear-resistant MAGSTRONG steels at the event. The steels are used for making and

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 5, 2019. 23 Ural Federal District-based lending institutions held banking licenses allowing them to deposit natural persons’ money as of April 1, 2019, the Deposit Insurance Agency reports. ‘Additionally, twelve local banks were undergoing liquidation procedures at the time, which means that there were 35 banks in Ural Federal District as of April 1, 2019 all in all,’ the agency says. The amount of money private customers placed with Ural Federal District-based banks rose by RUB 4.6bn (1%) in the first quarter of 2019 compared with the start of the year and reached

UrBC, Moscow, June 4, 2019. The debt ratio that Russia’s self-employed are currently facing rose by 1.7% in the last six months and now comes to 29.3%, the National Credit History Bureau’s press service reports. Workers in the pharmaceutical and medical professions, social service, private security firms, and the self-employed have the highest debt ratio as of April 2019: 32.9%, 32.8%, 30%, and 29.3%, respectively. Workers in the IT sector, telecom, and marketing, PR, and advertising have the lowest debt ratio as of April 2019: 12.4%, 13.9%, and 18.6%, respectively. In the last year, the debt

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 4, 2019. EVRAZ Nizhny Tagil Metallurgical Plant (EVRAZ NTMK) recently coordinated a series of job skills contests which involved 190 employees in the 18-45 age group. This year, the age bracket got extended so that not just the younger workers but also the more experienced ones could compete. According to EVRAZ Holding Ural’s Corporate Communications Center, the contests were held in eight professional fields and covered a multiple choice test on theory, an interview with the judges’ panel, and a practical task. ‘Welders had to do butt weld and a T joint on plates

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 4, 2019. 33,000 claims related to unpaid energy bills have been placed against Sverdlovsk Region’s residents since the start of the year. 17,000 enforcement orders have resulted in RUB 55.7 million in paid debts, including RUB 37 million withdrawn from the debtors’ credit/debit cards, EnergosbyT Plus’s Sverdlovsk Region division’s press service reports. Sverdlovsk Region-based users currently owe more than RUB 1.1 billion in energy bills, which exceeds the figures for one year earlier by RUB 173 million.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, June 4, 2019. The founding ceremony for Preobrazhensky Park took place in Yekaterinburg’s District Akademicheskiy on Saturday, June 1. Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Evgeny Kuivashev, Mayor of Yekaterinburg Alexander Vysokinsky, and a number of local residents planted the park’s first trees themselves. The fifty-hectare-large park is expected to house 16,000 trees (pine trees, fir trees, rowan-trees, willows, and lime trees) within an eight-hectare-large allotment. The planting ceremony took place on International Children’s Day. Several hundred young trees got planted

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, June 3, 2019. Students from Children’s Singing School (set up at the initiative of and with financial support from ChelPipe Group’s shareholders Andrei Komarov and Alexander Fedorov) are to present The Cat’s House, a children’s opera, on June 1. According to ChelPipe Group’s press service, thirty-five young actors/singers will be performing on stage for four hundred young spectators for the very first time at Chelyabinsk State Drama Chamber Theater. The play gets performed for charity purposes and is meant as the International Children’s Day present for children from local

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, June 3, 2019. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) was once again acknowledged as Russia’s largest supplier of rolled metal goods for welded pipe manufacturers during a recent conference, the company’s Information & PR Department refers to MMK’s Head of Sales to Pipe Manufacturers Alexander Kadoshnikov as stating. The 9th Steel Pipe Industry Regional Sales Conference took place in Rostov-on-Don. Kadoshnikov gave a talk there and said that the pipe-making industry was one of MMK’s key home market customers, with over 25% of the plant’s Russian market sales being

UrBC, Moscow, June 3, 2019. Every MegaFon subscriber used 10.7 Gb of online traffic in the first quarter of 2019 on average, which exceeded the figures for one year earlier by 27.6%, the telecom company’s press service refers to their financial/performance report for the first three months of the year 2019 as stating. The increase in traffic had to do with the users’ growing interest in Internet services. MegaFon’s recently updated payment plans, upgrades of popular options, marketing campaigns (‘Buy one Samsung smartphone and get one free’), Gigateka, and other data transfer-related special