UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 12, 2010. Carbon monoxide, one of the most toxic components of the poisonous mix that is released in the air during fires, is gradually building up into a sort of ring in the mid-latitudes of the northern hemisphere. Such was the conclusion made by NASA upon the basis of data provided by its Aqua satellite which is fitted wit a special infrared sensor. The carbon monoxide content comes to about 160:1,000,000,000 in these regions now; the main culprits are the forest and peat fires in Russia and Canada, RIA Novosti says. Scientists reported earlier that the total

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 12, 2010. In the first half of 2010, Moscow remained Russia’s No.1 city in terms of the number of customers buying new cars. 17.3% of all the new cars registered in Russia were registered in the capital. Moscow Region proved the second most active automobile-buying place in the country as usual, with 9.4% of all the new cars registered there. The data are provided by Avtostat. As for Saint Petersburg, 5.4% of all the newly bought automobiles were registered in this city, so the latter kept its status of the third most active car-buying area. Saint Petersburg was

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, August 12, 2010. Peat-bogs are still on fire next to Ganina Yama church site near Yekaterinburg. ‘According to the preliminary data available, the fire area comes to 200 sq m. At the moment, the peat deposit is being washed through,’ Sverdlovsk Region’s division of Russia’s Ministry of Emergencies informed UrBC. The Ministry says the fire is not dangerous for the church buildings.

UrBC, Moscow, August 12, 2010. Integra Group (LSE: INTE) and United Capital Partners (UCP) group of companies announced the completion of a transaction through which Integra sold its Yekaterinburg-based drilling machine-manufacturing business. The transaction was officially announced on June 4, 2010 and stated that Integra was to sell its 100% shareholding in ZAO URBO to UCP for $40m plus transaction expenses compensation.

Six Ural Federal District-based banks were featured in the rating of Russia’s Top 100 banks with the greatest asset volumes. The rating, commonly known as Interfax-100, was compiled by Interfax-CEA (Center for Economic Analysis) on the basis of data available for the first half of 2010. Two banks from the Top 100 list are located in Khanty-Mansiyskiy Autonomous Region (Yugra), three are based in Sverdlovsk Region, and one is situated in Sverdlovsk Region. What is more, plenty of Ural banks improved their position in the rating over the last six months. For one, OAO SKB-Bank went three points

OAO METCOMBANK was declared one of Ural Federal District’s top three banks that proved the most effective in increasing their assets. The bank’s net assets came to over 40.65 billion RUR in the first half of 2010, which was 19.7% than six months earlier. The ranking was created by Interfax-CEA. Within this ranking, the bank also went seven positions up (from the 87th place on December 31, 2009 to the 80th one on July 1, 2010) on the list of Russia’s Top 100 largest banks. 974 Russian banks competed in Interfax-CEA rating altogether, including fifty banks from Ural Federal District.

20% of Sverdlovsk Region dwellers would like to leave the place; these figures correspond with the data available for the entire Russia’s average dissatisfaction level. The information is obtained from a research done by Public Opinion Fund. The locals’ migration mood fits in the ‘below average’ category, the fund’s sociologists say. As for the other parts of the Urals, a greater percentage of the population wants to move. 34% of people currently based in Kurgan Region would like to leave elsewhere. 21% of locals would like to leave Perm Territory as well.

Upon order 62-10-1100/pz-i of Ural Federal District’s division of Russia’s Federal Financial Markets Service issued on August 3, 2010, the issue of Sverdlovsk Region-based OAO Irbit Chemical & Pharmaceutical Plant’s registered non-certificated shares was halted.

Starting September 1, 2010, MEGA Yekaterinburg will no longer provide a free shuttle to the mall from Geologicheskaya subway station. The company reports that the promotional service was introduced for the launch period of the shopping center and will now give way to public transport. This measure is taken within the framework of IKEA’s federal program on the new ways of providing a link to MEGA centers. The free shuttle was first launched in October 2006. The mall says Yekaterinburg city council’s transport committee is already preparing to introduce two additional bus routes to the site.

The net profit of OAO CIT Finance Investment Bank decreased by 83.99 million RUR, or 82.21% in the second quarter of 2010, that is, from 102.17 million RUR in the first quarter of the year down to 18.17 million RUR in the second quarter. The company says this financial result has to do with the increased securities re-evaluation expenses and the dropping securities transactions yields.

Sverdlovsk Region’s law-enforcement authorities keep trying to counteract illegal gambling practices. An IT specialist found out when examining a computer club in Stroiteley St. in Yekaterinburg that the computers in the club were used to access foreign gambling websites online All the PCs were withdrawn for expert examination as well as so as to prosecute the culprits under the existing legal regulations. The club was, in fact, frequented by both adults and teenagers.

Sverdlovsk Region’s division of Rospotrebnadzor (the state consumer rights watchdog) inspected a number of stores located in Yekaterinburg’s Oktyabrskiy and Kirovskiy districts and thus revealed that some of them sold Colgate fluoride whitening toothpaste with three years of shelf life that did not meet the existing sanitary requirements. The toothpaste was manufactured in China by Colgate-Palmolive Co Ltd on November 21, 2009, the spokesperson for Rospotrebnadzor reports. ‘According to lab test record 746 issued on July 1, 2010 by Sverdlovsk Region Hygiene &Epidemiology Center, an

Moscow District Federal Arbitration Court postponed the hearing of the writ of appeal placed by IG Holding Ltd (Integra Group) until September 17, 2010. The writ concerns the registration of Uralmash Drilling Equipment trademark, the Russian Agency of Legal and Court Information (RAPSI) reports. The court states that the writ of appeal is not complete without the documents that could prove the payment of the state fees in their due amount or the applicant’s right to get state fees relief. Now IG Holdings Ltd would like the court of cassation to overrule the decision taken by Moscow

OAO CIT Capital was not allowed to transfer its case regarding the annulment of a land-renting agreement to Sverdlovsk Region Arbitration Court. The 12th Arbitration Court of Appeals supported the ruling of Saratov Region Arbitration Court, SaratovBusinessConsulting Information Agency reports. Now Saratov city council appealed to arbitration court in order to have its land-renting agreement annulled. The agreement concerned an 8.8-hectare allotment in Ust-Kurdyumskiy tract next to the turn to Zonalniy and was signed by the city council and Yekaterinburg-based CIT Capital in 2005. The latter

Plenipotentiary Representative of Russian Federation President in Ural Federal District Nikolai Vinnichenko awarded Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Mikhail Yurevitch with the Order of Friendship in the course of a solemn ceremony. The corresponding decree was signed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in December 2009; the ceremony took place in the Plenipotentiary Representative’s residence in Yekaterinburg. Mikhail Yurevitch was awarded for work achievements and many years of conscientious work. ‘The President’s decree was signed a long time ago, when I was still Mayor of Chelyabinsk, in

The Ural division of the Federal Environmental, Technological, and Nuclear Surveillance Service (Rostechnadzor) completed its investigation of the circumstances accompanying the large-scale accident at Kalyinskaya mine in Severouralsk, the spokesperson for the Service reports. Two workers of OOO SUBR-Stroy were badly hurt while doing some mine tunneling at Kalyinskaya mine at 4:00 AM on July 2, 2010. The accident was caused by a collapsing roof rock; one of the victims was, in fact, lethally injured. An ad hoc committee of Rostechnadzor’s Ural division came to the conclusion that the main

The Bank of Russia appointed its authorized representatives in twenty-eight Russian banks. As far as Sverdlovsk Region-based organizations are concerned, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation’s authorized representatives are still present in OAO Bank24.ru (the asset of Life Financial Group) and OAO Bank Severnaya Kazna (the asset of OAO Alfa-Bank). Besides, the Bank of Russia’s officials keep supervising such large banks as Sberbank of Russia, OAO Bank VTB, OAO Alfa-Bank, and a number of others.

The abnormally hot Russian summer might cause the country to lose up to 30% of its crop yield compared with the amounts harvested in 2009, RIA Novosti refers to head of Rosgidromet Alexander Frolov as saying. Frolov reports the weather service forecasts the yield of 67 to 70 million tons against the 97 million tons collected last year. ‘We expect a 30% drop in this year’s potato and sugar beet harvests due to the draught,’ Frolov announced at a recent press conference. In the meantime, the Russian Government imposed a temporary ban on the export of wheat, meslin, barley, rye, corn, and flour

Sverdlovsk Region Arbitration Court ruled on July 8, 2010 that case А60-11253/2010-С11 should proceed with OAO Sredneuralskiy Metallurgical Plant undergoing bankruptcy proceedings. Elena Batuyeva was appointed the company’s trustee in bankruptcy.

The foreign trade turnover in the Ural Customs area rose due to 31.8% and 94.5% more goods being exported to Kazakstan and Ukraine, respectively. In addition, 116.2% and 55.5% more goods were also imported from Kazakhstan and Ukraine, respectively. On the other hand, the export of goods to Uzbekistan went down by 9.1%, the Ural Customs Administration’s press officer reports. . In the first half of 2010, machines, equipment, and vehicles were the major import articles in Ural Federal District; these goods made up 33.7% of the total imported goods volume. 30.1% of all the goods imported was