When the ambassadors of Mexico and Switzerland visited Yekaterinburg in preparation for InnoProm 2010 exhibition and forum, both of them said their countries would like to introduce the positions of their honorary consuls in Yekaterinburg. What is more, the position of the Slovak Republic’s honorary consul will be established in Yekaterinburg in the near future, Minister for International and Foreign Economic Relations of Sverdlovsk Region Alexander Kharlov announced today. ‘The Mexican and Swiss consulates will be set up within eighteen months’ time, whereas the Slovac Republic’s consulate

The German car manufacturer has called off 15,500 Corsa automobiles made in 2010 due to the possible hand-operated brake defect, RIA Novosti reports. The automobile concern is planning to fit the brakes with two additional backing plates or replace the brakes altogether if necessary. At the moment, the efficiency of these Corsa’s hand brakes is somewhat imperfect. It will take a car mechanic between thirty minutes to one hour to replace the brakes. Opel has already informed the Federal Motor Transport Authority in Flensburg about the problem, so the car owners have been receiving

On July 1, 2010, the Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development dismissed any fees previously charged for using their QUIK system. Now all the current users can sign the new agreements, while the new users can subscribe and work free of charge. What is more, some other changes were introduced in the system on July 1. For one, the brokerage operations fees have been decreased for customers performing marginal transactions. Also, no fee is no charged for performing depositary transactions with marginal securities. Finally, some little modifications were made in the other commission-based

OAO Sverdlovsk Gubernskiy Bank (SGB) was featured 61st in the rating of Russia’s Top 500 banks with the greatest private individuals deposit volumes. The ranking was compiled by RBC.Rating on the basis of data available for the first quarter of 2010. According to RBC.Rating, Sverdlovsk Gubernskiy Bank’s private individuals deposit volume reached 10.904 billion RUR on April 1, 2010. This was 62% better than twelve months earlier and ensured the bank’s rating improvement by eight positions up. As for the local ratings, rather than the country-wide ones, Gubernskiy Bank is currently one of

‘Renault Trucks and AMUR car factory are going to sign a framework agreement on their truck-assembling project on July 16, 2010, in the course of the upcoming InnoProm 2010 exhibition. The agreement will mean that Renault’s intermediary Midlum trucks will now be assembled in Novouralsk, Sverdlovsk Region, on the premises of ZAO AMUR. The negotiations took one and a half years to complete; Sverdlovsk Region, ZAO AMUR, and Renault Trucks reached an understanding on the point of cooperation in February 2010,’ Minister for International and Foreign Economic Relations of Sverdlovsk Region

‘An economic surge is not very likely to happen in the second half of the year. The Central Banks are considering cutting back on the stimulus money packages, while investors are not as optimistic any more as they used to be in the beginning of the year. The ruble-strengthening stage is over, so the ruble is now fluctuating between its ups and downs. Given the unsolved economic problems, the euro will probably cost 1.22 EUR/USD on average, whereas the dollar might come to the ratio of 31.7 to 32 RUR per dollar. As for the euro, it looks relatively stable at 38.7 to 39 RUR per euro,’ says

Moody’s Investors Services, the international rating agency, changed the outlook of MDM Bank’s D financial strength rating (BFSR) and Ba2 foreign currency deposit rating from Negative to Stable. The agency feels this promotion signifies the bank’s enhanced liquidity and great market capitalization as well as the successful completion of the merger between MDM Bank and URSA Bank. Moody’s reports the recently united bank preserved and improved its corporate structure and basic financial performance indicators. ‘The merger was generally beneficent for MDM Bank’s market presence, its brand

The employees of Lab Tests & Engineering Measurements Center’s Chelyabinsk Region division carried out a multi-faceted environmental inspection of Russian Copper Company’s ZAO Karabashmed at the end of June 2010. The experts’ conclusion states that the enterprise does not exceed the maximum permissible atmospheric discharge quotas set for its copper-smelting facilities No 0015 and vitriolic facilities No 0202. ‘Once I have become the company’s director, no emergency or excessive discharges ever occur. This is what the recent inspection proved. However, even the within-the-limits

The credit rating given to SKB-Bank by Rus-Rating was affirmed at BB+ once again on July 1, 2010. This is actually the greatest result among all Sverdlovsk Region-based banks. Rus-Rating’s analysts explain the SKB-Bank’s current strengths are the great probability of state support and the presence of financially strong proprietors with their help. They also point out the bank’s current share of the market, its reliable business customer base made up of Sverdlovsk Region’s large, credit-worthy enterprises, its lack of dependence on the international funding, and its capital adequacy. ‘SKB-Bank

On July 1, 2010, OAO METCOMBANK launched its new Visa Virtual bank card. This virtual card was designed specially for online transactions. Like any regular bank card, Visa Virtual has its unique number, validity period, and bank account. However, one can only use it to pay online, for example, for train or airplane tickets or in any online store. ‘The new card is targeted at modern urbanites that often make online purchases. The card allows the cardholders to differentiate between the online and other expenses and makes it unnecessary to provide any regular bank card details online, which

On July 10, 2010, Ural Airlines is to introduce its new cabin luggage rules. Thanks to its upgraded aircraft and relying mostly on the European concern’s Airbus airplanes, which have more spacious luggage compartments, the company can now allow its passengers to take bigger and bulkier items with them to the cabin, the airline’s press officer says. What is more, the weight of the passengers’ cabin luggage is now not counted as part of the free luggage allowance. Under the new regulations, business/comfort class passengers can also take two pieces of luggage to the cabin with them, as long as

Expert-Ural, an analytical think tank, came up with the list of Russia’s Top5 e-banks for private individuals. Telebank, offered by OOO Koltso Urala Commercial Bank, was featured 4th in this rating alongside with some big federal market players. The analysts looked into several parameters of e-banks along three basic categories: Functions (the number of services and settings), Online Penetration (the access to all of the bank’s services through e-banking), and Standard Payments (the number of contractors that payments can be made to using one form). According to Expert-Ural’s findings, Koltso

The public prosecution authorities of Sverdlovsk Region checked the local dwellers for compliance with registration and migration rules recently. As a result, numerous violations of the rules were detected and the culprits had to face administrative liability, the spokesperson for the authorities informed UrBC. In fact, over 450 cases of non-compliance with the federal law were revealed in the course of the checks, which resulted in 128 orders (84 of which have already been considered and enforced). Besides, sixty-one people had to face administrative liability. Since the beginning of the

OAO SKB-Bank offers a unique opportunity to its customers: one can have a settlement account opened free of charge in any of the bank’s Yekaterinburg offices between July 1, 2010 and August 15, 2010, the bank’s press service reports. What is more, all the customers who take advantage of the offer will be provided with free m-banking services until the end of the year. To find out more about the terms of the offer, visit SKB-Bank’s website or call the 24/7 contact center at toll-free number 8-800-1000-600.

The Government of Sverdlovsk Region has been given a 708-million-ruble loan for motorways development. The money is to be directed to the region’s three key objects: a major road junction in Yekaterinburg, a portion of Yekaterinburg orbital motorway, and a portion of Serov-Khanty-Mansiysk road, the region’s Minister for Transport and Roads Sergey Shvindt announced at a press briefing that followed the regional government’s meeting. ‘3.9 billion RUR worth of the regional budget’s money was originally provided for road-building for the year 2010. We then obtained a state loan for 708 million

The Profile Business Magazine recently carried the rating of Russia’s largest banks in terms of net assets. OAO SKB-Bank was featured 57th on the Top100 list. According to the data provided by the magazine, SKB-Bank’s net assets amount to 58,107,384,000 RUR; this is one of the most impressive figures in Sverdlovsk Region and Ural Federal District. All in all, three Ural banks have actually made it to the list of Russia’s Top100 banks. The magazine’s analysts compared the banks in terms of capital volume as well. SKB-Bank was thus declared No.1 among the Urals-based banks and Russia’s 61st

Once Russia has entered the Customs Union, some changes were made in the current customs law regarding the shipping of express parcels. Each parcel now has to be declared individually using a passenger declaration, which means the receiver’s passport details must be provided. The new rules also state that the receiver of the parcel or a customs broker might have to be personally present at the customs, which certainly slows down the customs traffic. In addition, the new customs code modifies some limitations that were earlier used at the Russian border. It is now possible to import up to 50kg

The Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development was given the status of a partner bank within the state program on the financial aid to small and medium enterprises. The program is currently being implemented by the Russian Development Bank. The money the UBRD has been offered will be used to give loans to SMEs and sole traders. ‘The long-awaited access to cheap loans that the government has promised will be welcomed by the businesses operating in Sverdlovsk and Chelyabinsk Regions, Perm Territory, and the Republic of Udmurtia,’ the bank’s press officer explains. The SMEs can use the loans

Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) has gone through the second stage of getting its automobile body sheets accepted by the foreign car makers and car parts manufacturers. The second stage involved MMK producing a series of pilot batches of high-strength hot rolled metal DP600 (in accordance with ТС 14-101-683-2008 standards) and S355MC (in accordance with EN 10149-2:2007 standards) as well as cold-rolled metal products HX220YD, HX220PD (according to DIN EN 10292:2005) and zinc-coated ones HX260LAD, HX300LAD, and HX340LAD (according to DIN EN 10292:2007) and DX54D (according to DIN EN

The revenues of Novolipetsk Iron & Steel Works (NLMK) decreased by 6% in the first quarter of 2010 compared with the fourth quarter of 2009 and amounted to $1.697bn, the company’s consolidated financial report says. The enterprise’s representatives explain the drop in revenues had to do with the declining prices and having to sell less expensive products. NLMK’s net profit went down by 55% in the first quarter of 2010 against the last quarter of 2009 and came to $132m. At the same time, the company’s net debt rose by 20%, that is, up to $955m. The company’s assets were estimated at $13bn