Rus-Rating confirmed VUZ-Bank’s rating at BB-, with Indefinite Rating Outlook. The agency’s chief analyst Victoria Belozerova believes the bank’s current status’s strengths are the obvious support from Life Group’s key Probusinessbank (which has enough potential to aid VUZ-Bank financially even under current trying circumstances), the bank’s rather impressive share of the regional market, and lack of resource and liquidity dependence on the country’s interbank loan market. ‘At the same time, VUZ-Bank’s stability might be shattered because of possible greater resource dependence in terms of

The Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development-finance (the Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s 100% daughter enterprise) paid 25,243,245.72 RUR on its second issue’s bond’s 10th coupon on January 11, 2009. 31.16 RUR was paid per each 1,000 RUR bond (at 12.5% annual interest rate). It was determined by the issuer that the coupon yield for 9th to 12th coupons would come to 12.5% a year, or 31.16 RUR per each 1,000 RUR bond. The coupon payments on the 11th coupon are to be made on April 2, 2009; those for the 12th coupon are to be made on July 2, 2009, alongside with the retirement

Russian Trading System’s securities trading volume totaled to $13.7bn (385.7 billion RUR) in December 2008, including all kinds of transactions, even off-exchange ones. Gazprom’s (GAZP) common stock topped the stock market’s turnover rating with its $46.7m worth of transactions, followed by Sberbank of Russia’s (SBER) $46.6m worth of common stock deals, and the common stock of LUKOIL (LKOH) with its $22.2m worth of transactions in December 2008. These companies’ market shares thus came to 22.99%, 22.97%, and 10.92%, respectively. URALSIB’s (USBN) common stock soared by 100% (up to $.006) and

URSA Bank made $7.8m worth of coupon payments on its LPN bond issue coupons. The coupon yield was determined at the interest rate of 12% a year. The bank went through with its $130m LPN Eurobond issue on June 27, 2006. The bonds are to be in circulation for five years. Ireland-based Sibacadem finance PLC was the issuer, with coordination by Barclays Capital.

Ural Airlines is already offering its customers tickets to the popular summer holiday destinations in the south of Russia. The tickets are available for all the flights that are to be operated throughout the entire summer season, which means the company’s customers can book the tickets several months in advance at current prices and thus avoid the high-season 25% to 35% price increase. ‘We are trying to steer clear of special offers that promise extremely low prices, since there have been plenty of other airlines that have announced very low-price sales and then fell through in the coming

SKB-Bank’s private individuals’ deposit volume exceeded 11.78 billion RUR on December 31, 2008. The bank reports this figure is even greater than what the company had been planning for the year 2008. ‘Patriot is definitely the most popular deposit type by now, as 2.11 billion RUR have already been invested via this deposit in just three weeks (the deposit offer was launched on December 8, 2008),’ SKB-Bank reports.

763 companies from ten Russian regions opened a deposit at the Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The bank’s press officer reports the number of deposits opened by legal entities and sole traders was a record-setting figure throughout the bank’s entire eighteen-year-long history. ‘The number of deposits opened in December was greater than our most optimistic analysts could imagine. We hope we manage to retain this achievement this year as well, and we are glad that such advantages of using our bank as free e-banking installation, online payments, and united cash services system

‘Our bank’s offices are operating in a brand new format now. They used to be classic and conservative and now they are becoming innovational and open. Our experts are thinking over the idea of automated self-service through electronic cash registers, improved ATM systems, and specially trained staff,’ says Bank Monetniy Dom’s Deputy Chair of the Board Oleg Antonov. Bank Monetniy Dom’s new office opened at 37 Vosmoye Marta St. in Yekaterinburg on December 26, 2008. The ceremony was attended by the bank’s BOD Member and President of Ural Financial Holding Vladimir Shulgin, Chair of the

The Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development raised the interest rates on deposits that have to be opened and topped up through the bank’s ATMs on December 25, 2008. The increase involved the entire range of these deposit types and came to 2% for ruble deposits and to 1% for foreign currency ones. The bank introduced these ATM-linked deposit schemes over a year ago. ‘Our ATMs operate in a very convenient mode, most of the time they are actually available 24/7. The bank’s ATM network comprises more than 270 machines throughout the country and keeps on expanding. This means a customer who

The state authorities report people have stopped taking their savings out of the banks. What is more, they have actually been depositing more money with the banks since the beginning of winter. First Deputy Head of Government Igor Shuvalov announced last week that the Russian banks’ total deposit volume had gone up over December 1-15, 2008. He said the banking system could already boast a certain surplus, with the banks getting more money than giving any out. At the same time, the Central Bank of Russia was reported to announce that most banks had a zero-sum balance sheet as recently as

‘Happy New Year! Happy New Shop!’ These are the words ChTPZ Group has welcomed the New Year’s Eve for the second time this year. Last year, the celebration took place on the premises of the new rider plant (part of the company’s O&G maintenance division). This December, the Group’s workers will be ‘presented’ with a new hi-tech OCTG finishing center built on the site provided by Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant, the Group’s press officer reports. This year’s party is to be attended by the company’s best workers from Chelyabinsk, Pervouralsk, Moscow, Magnitogorsk, and other Russian cities. A

The company’s customers have eaten the contents of 1,550,517 lunch boxes and read 180,000 copies of Ural Airlines Magazine aboard the carrier’s planes since January 1, 2008. In addition, 3,515 bottles of air fresheners, 428 liters of liquid soap, and 1,687,500 wet wipes have been used in flight. As far as the strong drinks offered aboard the plane are concerned, vodka, of which 814 liters have been drunk this year, was the third most popular drink, preceded by cognac, of which 1,045 liters have been consumed altogether. Table wine has definitely been this year’s most wanted strong drink: Ural

Bank Monetniy Dom’s new office opened at 37 Vosmoye Marta St. in Yekaterinburg on December 26, 2008. The ceremony was attended by all of the bank’s management, including Chair of the Supervisory Board Elena Nesterova, as well as the company’s partners and customers. The inspiration behind the introduction of the new office was the bank’s strategy aimed at becoming one of Ural Federal District’s Top 5 in five years. This is Bank Monetniy Dom’s 13th office located in Yekaterinburg and Sverdlovsk Region and the first one launched under the new brand. ‘We feel it’s really important to set up more

Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) trade union committee designed a set of measures aimed at additional social protection of the company’s employees. According to the committee’s Chairman Alexander Derunov, the collective agreement signed by the plant’s management and the trade union and employed in 2006-2008 has been renewed for the year 2009 as well. The important thing is that this agreement provides for a whole range of socially important provisos. For one, the benefits package the metallurgists get under this agreement has remained the same. At the same time, some of the addenda

Ural Airlines held its third annual contest (called Our Wings Through Media’s Eyes) involving the Ural Federal District’s leading mass media agents. The competitors presented this year’s essays, articles, and TV or radio features on civil aviation where the airline’s brand had been mentioned. UralBusinessConsulting Agency of Information and Analytics won the first prize in the Great Professionalism in Ural Airline’s Activity’s E-Coverage category. The first prizes in the other categories were awarded to Expert-Ural magazine, Echo Moskvy-Yekaterinburg radio station, and Ermak, the TV Company.

‘The price of gold determined by the Central Bank’s rate has increased by 12% since our Gold Deposit was first offered to customers. This means that the first prize grows more and more substantial not only because of increasingly more companies taking part in the offer, but also because of gold growing more expensive,’ the spokesperson for the Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development said to an UrBC reporter. The sum of the prize is calculated by multiplying the number of businesses opening an account at the bank before December 29, 2008 and the price of gold on this last day of the

SKB-Bank’s deposit volume rose by 121 million RUR in just one day on December 24, 2008. ‘The bank’s latest deposit offer known as Patriot definitely enjoys the greatest popularity. The deposit was introduced at the beginning of December, and our customers have already deposited 1.375 billion RUR with us using this deposit type,’ the bank’s press officer reports. The minimum amount of money one has to deposit comes to 10,000 RUR; the deposit period lasts 100 days, with the annual interest rate coming to 16.01%. What is more, foreign currency deposits are available as well, and UAZ Patriot, the

Koltsovo Airport of Yekaterinburg’s passenger turnover is expected to come to more than 2.55 million RUR in 2008, which would exceed the figures for 2007 by 8.8%, the airport’s press officer reports. The airport’s cargo turnover also rose by 3.3% against a year earlier. At the same time, these figures actually indicate a decrease in the airport’s performance, since Koltsovo Airport’s passenger turnover came to 2.34 million people in 2007, which was 32.9% better than in 2006. The airport’s management explains this dampened turnover growth has to do with the economic troubles in Russia and the

RusRating promoted Yekaterinburg-based Bank Severnaya Kazna’s credit rating from BB- to BB+, with Indefinite rating outlook. ‘This rating promotion stems from the bank’s being acquired by a new, financially strong majority stockholder (Alfa-Bank), which definitely supports the troubled bank’s finances,’ says RusRating’s leading analyst Elena Nikolaenko. ‘In addition, the bank was aided by the government through credit resources. Apart from being supported by the state and the strong proprietor, the bank can also boast a stable position on the regional market. Nevertheless, the bank’s

The Profile magazine’s experts looked into the Russian banks’ performance in January-October 2008 and came up with their list of the country’s Top 200 banks, rated in accordance with their net asset volume as of November 1, 2008. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development was given the 59th position in the ranking. ‘The bank, with its 49.77 billion RUR worth of assets, left all the other provincial banks behind. The bank’s experts believe its impressive financial base is a great advantage on the market at the moment,’ the Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development reports. ‘It’s hard