The world is to wave good-bye to one currency type on January 14, 2011: the Estonian kroon will cease to exist, substituted by the Euro that will now have to be used for any transactions in Estonia. The country actually switched to the euro on January 1, 2011, with two currencies circulating around the country for the following two weeks. But, even if you didn’t have the time to exchange your kroons for euros, there is no need to worry, the Bank of Estonia’s representatives claim: the kroons can still be exchanged without a commission in all of the country’s banks until the end of the year.

Noviy Urengoi public prosecution authorities for transportation inspected OAO Airport Salekhard for compliance with the existing securities legislation and detected a number of problems, Ural public prosecution authorities for transportation’s press officer reports. It was revealed that OAO Airport Salekhard violated the existing law on securities while administering its stockholders register. For one, the joint stock company keeps a customer account and a report form of the issuer and not the customer account and a report form of a registered individual. Then, the extract from the company’s

The cities of Russia that have been chosen to host the World Cup in 2018 have to be united into a single high-speed railway communication network, RIA Novosti quotes Head of Russian Federation Government Vladimir Putin as saying. ‘I believe we need to come up with an improved high-speed railways development program, make sure the facilities get launched sooner, and provide some new routes as well. This also means the cities which will host the world football championship in 2018 have to be united into a single network,’ Vladimir Putin said. The Prime Minister pointed out that high-speed

‘Judging by the energy consumption rate, we haven’t reached the pre-recession levels yet,’ MRSK Urala PR & GR Director Dmitri Tyuktin told UrBC. ‘According to our forecasts, if the current dynamics holds on, we’ll reach the target figures in two to three years. However, the number of companies applying for the hookup is ever growing. We received 15,300 applications in 2008, 16,400 applications in 2009, and over 20,000 applications last year. This is why we cannot say enterprises are not willing to invest in getting connected to the power infrastructure. One should also bear in mind that

14 January 2011. After detention in Cannes of Mars Sharafulin on the request of the Sverdlovsk region law enforcement authority and the French court refusal to extradite him, Russian side closed the case. The charges against the businessman were dismissed by the rehabilitating reasons.

An accident that was actually identical to yesterday’s tragedy occurred at Krasnaya Shapochka mine on December 23, 2010. The management of Severouralsk bauxite mine (SUBR) claimed at the time that a rock mass movement was to blame, even though no such thing ever happened. Now they say the accident was caused by failing to observe safety rules during drilling operations, and they will certainly blame everything on the workers,’ says the message on SUBR Independent Trade Union of Russian Miners’ official website. Now the accident in question occurred at SUBR (UC RUSAL) Novo-Kalyinskaya mine in

A twenty-four-year-old worker was killed due to an accident at UC RUSAL’s Novo-Kalyinskaya mine. The Ministry of Emergencies reports a block of rock mass came off the mine surface, causing the misfortune. A response team from the Ministry of Emergencies’ Sverdlovsk Region division arrived at the scene of the accident to look into the matter. The mine keeps on operating as usual, with an ad hoc committee investigating the accident. It has preliminarily been reported that the accident was caused by non-compliance with the safety regulations during drilling operations.

OAO Bank24.ru has been texting its customers to advise them to beware of the swindlers; however, the bank representatives appear unable to explain why the need to warn their customers came up in the first place. For one, the bank asks the individuals not to react to messages that claim their bank cards have been blocked ‘Dear customers, In case you receive a text message telling you that your bank card has been blocked and you should call the number provided below, please do not call this number. This is a scam!’ OAO Bank24.ru’s message says.

Yekaterinburg managed to get through the recession as the unemployment rates nearly halved last year, Chair of Yekaterinburg Council Strategic Planning Committee Marina Andrus says. ‘We had 16,743 officially unemployed in December 2009, whereas a year later, the number dropped down to 8,738,’ Ms Andrus explains.

Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Alexander Misharin signed a decree on coordinating the 7th International Defence Expo event in Nizhniy Tagil. An ad hoc committee responsible for the organization of the ammunition, arms, and military equipment fair will be soon set up by Russia’s Industry & Trade Ministry Vladimir Khristenko’s order. The Governor’s decree also dwells upon a proposal for Nizhniy Tagil Metal Testing Institute: the organization is invited to design a promising upgrades plan for the local State Arms & Military Equipment Exhibition Center that will host the fair. ‘Both the

Over twenty complaints have been placed by Russian citizens with Rospotrebnadzor (the state consumer rights watchdog): customers complain about the flight delays in Moscow’s airports in December 2010; most claims are actually laid against Transaero, Rospotrebnadzor’s press service reports. Twenty-one complaints were submitted between December 25, 2010 and January 11, 2011, including eighteen claims against Transaero Airlines, one claim against Siberia Airlines, and one claim against Orenburg Airlines. Some of the complaints have to do with the consumers’ infringed rights. For one, some

Yekaterinburg-Bangkok flight by Norwind Airlines has been delayed by almost twenty hours. According to Koltsovo Airport’s interactive announcement board, flight 2422 by Norwind Airlines was supposed to have arrived in Yekaterinburg at midnight today. However, the arrival time is now rescheduled to 7:30 PM.

Capital Tour is about to start bankruptcy proceedings. Moscow Arbitration Court reports that the tour operator applied for bankruptcy in the capacity of both the debtor and the creditor. The date for the court hearing of the case has not been announced yet, the online portal TourBusiness reports. According to the Russian Tourist Industry Union, seventeen claims have been placed against the company since November 22, 2010 by both companies and private individuals. Travel agents make up the better part of the plaintiffs, with money claims ranging from 28,000 RUR to 8,000,000 RUR and totaling to

Metallosnabzheniye I Sbyt magazine came up with the results on the survey targeted at selecting the best ferrous and non-ferrous metals manufacturers and traders in the second half of 2010. The rating is compiled on the basis of the questionnaires filled in by the customers, the market experts’ responses, and a complex analysis of the companies’ activity. As for the criteria, what the magazine took into account was the business development dynamics, delivery volumes, the quality of services rendered, the quality of produce, and the ability to meet one’s contractual obligations under a

The top management of Aeroflot Airlines will have to make do without the bonuses they had expected to receive for the last quarter of 2010 because of the mess Moscow’s airport found themselves in at the end of December, Prime TASS reports. ‘We were faced with an abnormal weather phenomenon, the so-called ice rain that turned airplanes into icicles: the aircraft bodies were covered in five-centimeter-thick ice sheets in certain places,’ says the carrier’s General Director Vitaly Savelyev. Savelyev explains they had to spend a month’s stock of chemical reagents in just three days, between

The World Wildlife Foundation presented its regional forest administration rating to the public recently. The research was carried out with the help of the National Rating Agency. The fund looked into the quality of forest management, forest use coordination, the efficiency of law enforcement mechanisms in the field, quality of forest resources, the forests’ growth power, and the economic efficiency and environmental sustainability of and public contribution to forest administration. The rating was also officially supported by Rosleskhoz, Rossiyskiye Lesniye Vesti reports. Murmansk,

The Bank of Russia applied to Sverdlovsk Region Arbitration Court in order to make sure OAO Uralfinprombank is declared bankrupt. The court hearing has been scheduled for February 2, 2011. The bank’s license was actually revoked on December 20, 2010. Russia’s Central Bank reported the bank lost its own funds as it had no securities to account for and failed to meet its creditor obligations in due time. OAO Uralfinprombank was a member of Finpromco Group controlled by a businessman and a House of Representatives deputy Anatoly Pavlov. Once the group’s assets had to be divided, the bank was

Ural Public Prosecution Authorities for Transportation completed their checks aimed at whether the implementation of the national target-oriented programs in the field of aviation met the legal requirements. The programs were oriented at civil aviation development and enhancing the flight and aviation safety within the Ural division of the Federal Air Transport Agency’s jurisdiction. Some instances of non-compliance with the existing legislation were revealed in the course of the checks. It was detected that the division’s officials allowed for some violations of the requirements set for the

The international rating agency first affirmed OAO Khanty-Mansiysky Bank’s long-term B+ and short-term B credit ratings and then called them off upon the bank’s request. All of the organization’s liability ratings were recalled as well. ‘The affirmation of OAO Khanty-Mansiysky Bank’s ratings shows that Russia’s operating environment is still complicated and that the prospects of the bank’s upcoming going private are still uncertain. The bank’s strong ties with the administration of Khanty-Mansiysky Autonomous Region, its good financial performance, improved liquidity, and the asset quality

Flights keep getting canceled at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport; flights to Astrakhan, Yekaterinburg, and London were called off among others, Echo Moskvy, a radio station reports. Meanwhile, General Director of Aeroflot Vitaly Savelyev promised to reporters the other day that no more flights would be called off.