UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 16, 2019. Ural Airlines will start operating Yekaterinburg-Magadan flights on June 3. According to the air carrier’s press service, the airline offers an extra discount on the state-subsidized tickets to Magadan for the first one and a half months: prices start from RUB 5,000 (one way) on May 15-June 30, 2019. Also, the prices for Moscow-Magadan flights (via Yekaterinburg) start from RUB 7,488 (one way, all fees included). The new Yekaterinburg-Magadan flights (with a stopover in Yakutsk) will get operated once a week on Mondays; Magadan-Yekaterinburg flights will get

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 16, 2019. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development’s customers spent money in eighty-four different countries during May break, the bank’s press service reports. ‘Europe proved by far the most popular travel destination, with UBRD customers checking in in forty different countries in the Old World. Australia and Oceania were the most exotic destinations our customers traveled to, whilst the countries in Western Asia were the ones where our customers spent the most,’ the press service says. According to the bank’s data, the most customer money got spent in

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, May 15, 2019. The 4th Specialized Exhibition and Steel Structures Business Platform in Russia/Steel Structures 2019 opened in Moscow on May 14. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) and the metal goods plant MMK METIZ are both taking part in the event. According to MMK’s Information & PR Department, the two companies’ stand features a wide range of products and technological solutions that will interest metal structure manufacturers. This particular produce type is the one MMK focuses on specifically. ‘We sold more than 630,000,000 kg of metal goods directly to

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 15, 2019. Borrowers based in Ural Federal District took out nearly 31,000 mortgages (total amount: RUB 61 billion) in the first quarter of the year; this was 7.8% less than one year earlier in terms of the number of loans taken and 1% less in terms of the total amount. According to the Central Bank of Russia’s Ural division’s press service, respective mortgage period is 17 years and 7 months long on average (as of April 1, 2019), compared with 16 years and 2 months as of April 1, 2018. The average mortgage amount rose from RUB 1.9 million to RUB 2 million. Ural

UrBC, Moscow, May 15, 2019. Russia’s Industry & Trade Ministry suggests that alcohol should not be used in pharmaceutical products. The draft bill with all the amendments is now available at regulation.gov.ru. The proposed amendments would modify Federal Act 171 FZ (On State Regulation of Production and Circulation of Ethyl Alcohol and Alcohol Products and Restriction on Alcohol Consumption) and Federal Act 61 FZ (On Circulation of Medicines). It is explained that the ban has been proposed because there is a need for stricter control over circulation and application of ethyl alcohol and

UrBC, Moscow, May 15, 2019. United Company RUSAL’s net profit (calculated in accordance with the IAS) reached $273m in the first quarter of 2019, which was 49.8% less than one year earlier, the company reports. UC RUSAL’s revenues dropped by close to 21%, down to $2.17bn. According to UC RUSAL’s Director-General Evgeny Nikitin, last year’s events had their full effect on the company’s performance in the first quarter of the year; among other things, this holds true for the OFAC sanctions that only got lifted on January 27, 2019. The OFAC’s policy resulted in changes in the company’s sales

UrBC. Moscow, May 15, 2019. Russia’s car imports dropped by 8% in the first three months of the year (total number: 61,500 units), Autostat reports. According to Autostat, $1.6934 billion worth of automobiles got imported in Russia in January-March 2019. The number of cars imported in March (29,300 units worth $826.3m altogether) exceeded that of cars imported in February by 43.7%. It is also reported that the imports of freight trucks rose by 23.4% (up to 6,000 units worth $489.9m altogether) in January-March 2019; 2,700 units (worth $193.3m altogether) got imported in March alone, which

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 14, 2019. EVRAZ Holding, Nizhniy Tagil and Kachkanar Councils, and Sverdlovsk Region Government signed a trilateral socioeconomic cooperation agreement, EVRAZ Holding Ural’s Corporate Communications Center reports. EVRAZ intends to co-finance the construction of a new bridge across Tagil Pond in Nizhniy Tagil. The company will direct more than RUB 1.3 billion to the project. The holding will also fund a number of other important social infrastructure projects in town (total amount of funding provided: RUB 1.9 billion). Also, a MMA Palace will get put up in Kachkanar;

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 14, 2019. A new turbine unit got launched at Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) central power station. The unit comprises a steam turbine and a generator, is more powerful than its older counterpart, and will reduce the per-kW heat spending by 15%. According to MMK’s Information & PR Department, Unit T 42/50-2.9 (power capacity: 50 MW) got manufactured at Ural Turbine Plant. The generator was made at Novosibirsk-based ELSIB Scientific & Production Association. The one-cylinder turbine is fitted with the most advanced automated control system available

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 14, 2019. Sverdlovsk Region came No. 14 in the rating of Russia’s top thirty constituencies with the largest car loan markets. The average car loan amount came to RUB 722,437 in Sverdlovsk Region in the first quarter of the year, which exceeds the figures for the previous quarter (RUB 658,766) by 9.7%. According to the National Credit History Bureau, banks operating in Moscow currently issue the largest average car loan amount (RUB 1,094,100), followed by those in Moscow Region (RUB 946,200), and Saint Petersburg (RUB 923,700). Banks operating in Kemerovo Region issue

UrBC, Moscow, May 14, 2019. The year’s inflation appears to be past its peak, as the VAT increase is becoming less of a factor and the temporary inflation-halting variables gain increasingly more impact, the findings of the Central Bank of Russia’s Research & Forecasting Department’s Talking Trends bulletin indicate. According to the bulletin’s April 2019 issue, the monthly growth of consumer prices (adjusted against the seasonal and other factors) falls within the Bank of Russia’s target range. Inflation forecasts tend to stay on the worse-case-scenario side (although to a lesser degree

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 14, 2019. The number of people moving to Sverdlovsk Region in the first three months of the year rose by 97% against one year previously and came to 1,836 people (compared with 931 people in January-March 2018), Sverdlovskstat reports. 25,030 and 23,194 people moved in and out of Sverdlovsk Region, respectively, in January-March 2019. One year earlier, the numbers stood at 26,076 and 25,145 people, respectively. 21,987 locals migrated to different parts of the country, and 20,725 people arrived from elsewhere in Russia. Also, 4,305 foreign nationals (including 3,663

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 13, 2019. Ural Airlines are currently offering their customers a 50% discount on Moscow flights; the promo code is available on the company website. The offer holds for flights operated from Yekaterinburg to Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport and Sheremetyevo Airport and back. According to the air carrier’s press service, you need to activate your MOSCOW promo code when booking your flight on the company website www.uralairlines.com in order to get your discount. ‘The offer holds on May 8-15, 2019 for flights operated between May 8 and June 30, 2019. The discount does not

UrBC, Moscow, May 13, 2019. The Central Bank of Russia incurred RUB 434.679 billion in losses last year (compared with RUB 435.3 billion one year earlier), the bank’s annual report indicates. The CBR’s assets, however, increased by RUB 8.6 billion and amounted to RUB 39.4 trillion altogether. According to the annual report, banks currently operating in Russia made RUB 1.3 trillion in net profit last year (compared with RUB 0.8 trillion in 2017). The banking sector’s performance kept getting affected by a number of banks undergoing financial recovery procedures in 2018. Without these banks’

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 13, 2019. EVRAZ Holding’s Raspadskaya Coal Company restored the war memorial in Osinniki in time for Victory Day (May 9), the holding’s PR Department reports. ‘The memorial features the names of 240 miners from Kapitalnaya Mine (now known as Osinnikovskaya Mine) who were killed in Great Patriotic War. The memorial was put up in Osinniki’s Stroygorodok area as early as 1985, in celebration of the 40th Victory Day. Raspadskaya Coal Company financed the reconstruction in March 2011, when 24 memorial plaques with the names of the war victims got installed. This year, the

UrBC, Moscow, May 13, 2019. Russia’s Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance (Rosselkhoznadzor) determined that 21.6% of dairy samples they took in 2018 got adulterated, and every one in five products on the store shelf failed to have the ingredients the manufacture claimed it did, the service’s press service reports. It is reported that some 5,500,000,000 kg of milk, 3,000,000,000 kg of dairy products, and 400,000,000 kg of ice cream get produced in Russia every year. Dairy products are invariably among the top ten export items as well. ‘Ready-to-eat animal produce

UrBC, Moscow, May 13, 2019. Russia imported $65.709bn worth of goods from the far abroad in January-April 2019, which was 0.8% less than one year previously, the Federal Customs Service’s report states. According to the service, $18.5279bn worth of goods got imported into the country from the far abroad in April 2019 alone, which exceeded the figures for March 2019 by 3.4%. The import of chemicals rose by as much as 9.1% and amounted to $3.755bn, that of machine-building produce rose by 2.4% and amounted to $9.357bn, that of food items and related raw stuffs rose by 1.5% and amounted to

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 8, 2019. ChelPipe Group’s member enterprise Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling Plant (ChelPipe) and Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (PNTZ) are going to coordinate a series of festive events dedicated to the 74th Victory Day anniversary; more than 4,000 people will attend, the Group’s press service reports. A special ceremony with war veterans, ChelPipe Group employees, and students on the Group’s Future of White-Coated Metallurgy Corporate Training Program will take place in Chelyabinsk on May 8. A concert will also be held for the plant’s long-service employees at ChelPipe Culture

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 8, 2019. Sverdlovsk Region’s micro-financing organizations issued RUB 1,307,624,000 worth of micro-loans in 2018, which was 26% less than one year previously, the Bank of Russia’s Ural division’s press service reports. The amount of micro-loans issued to private borrowers dropped by 35% and reached RUB 613,213,000. These were mostly ‘payday loans’ ranging from RUB 2,000 to RUB 30,000 (with the repayment period ranging from three to thirty days). At the same time, the amount of micro-loans issued to sole traders and the self-employed rose by 86% last year and reached

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, May 8, 2019. Following a recent auction, MegaFon got chosen as the primary Internet service provider for Yekaterinburg Underground. Their contract is now valid through March 2020, the telecom company’s press service reports. ‘MegaFon now provides a reliable connection and high-speed 3G and 4G traffic both at underground stations proper and at the organization’s HQ in Volodarsky St. Under the terms of the auction, eighty-seven employees will also be able to make within-MegaFon-network calls free of charge to ensure efficient co-worker communication,’ the press service