UrBC, Chelyabinsk, 05.06.2008 A new maintenance center will be set up at MMK Atakaş A. Ş., a Russian-Turkish joint venture, by the end of 2008. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) and Atakaş, the Turkish firm, are working on the construction of a metallurgical complex in Turkey. The new enterprise will have premises in Istanbul and in Iskenderun and is expected to produce over 2.3 million tons of flat stock a year. Two maintenance centers will be set up in Istanbul and Iskenderun as well as a seaport (capable of servicing vessels whose draught comes to up to 80,000 tons. The machinery

Aston, the local developer, is believed to postpone the commissioning of its Aston Plaza, an eighteen-storey building in Radischev-Gurzufskaya St, until the end of 2008. In the meantime, the builder’s official website still says that the building will be finished in the third quarter of 2008, even though their press officer does admit the terms have changed. Remarkably, Aston keeps putting up the building despite Sverdlovsk Region’s public prosecution authorities’ demands that the construction process should be stopped. The building in question has already been featured in eleven lawsuits,

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by UniCreditBank to state-run for-profit organizations for 91 to 180 days went down by 86.62% (from 134.5 million RUR to 18 million RUR) in January-May 2008.

The Bank of Russia came up with a report on the Russian bank cards market’s trends and prospects. According to this report, Russian citizens are starting to use their cards more often in their daily life; as for the credit cards, most of the cardholders are between twenty-five and forty-four years old. Last year, Russian cardholders performed a total of 1.6 billion card transactions (involving 6.5 trillion RUR) both within the country and abroad. These figures exceed the ones for 2006 by 36% and 47%, respectively. The country’s banks had issued 103.5 million cards by January 1, 2008, which is

Starting June 16, 2008, MegaFon Ural is to launch two new offers on text messages: a package of seventy-five text messages and a subscription with seventy-five text messages available. Both offers are available for 75 RUR (VAT included); the former will be valid for twenty days, the latter until the end of the current month. The terms of subscribing to the offers are the same as those for the company’s similar packages and subscriptions, MegaFon Ural’s press officer reports. At the same time, beginning from June 16, 2008, the package of one hundred text messages and the subscription with one

‘The so-called holiday loans naturally become much more popular in the summer, as the customers need to pay for their vacations, get ready for these trips and pack as well as make sure they have a certain sum of money on them when they go somewhere,’ says URSA Bank’s Ural branch’s Mass Lending Director Tatiana Sosnovskikh. She believes express loans enjoy the greatest demand, as it only takes a little time to get such a loan, while the amount will be quite sufficient for covering holiday expenses. ‘Most of our customers prefer to use credit cards instead of having to carry cash around,’

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Pervouralsk Joint Stock Commercial Bank to private individuals for 181 days to 1 year went down by 18.83% (from 30.327 million RUR to 24.615 million RUR) in January-May 2008.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Tagilbank to sole traders for 91 to 180 days went down by 82.53% (from 11.94 million RUR to 2.085 million RUR) in January-May 2008.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by SberInvestBank to nongovernmental financial institutions for 181 days to 1 year dropped by 66.59% (from 19.635 million RUR to 6.56 million RUR) in January-May 2008.

‘The recent increase in fuel prices is not going to influence food prices right now, and even if it does, it will only happen at the end of the season when farmers get the final data on the prime cost of their produce. Whether the prices will keep going up in the future depends on the global oil prices and the Russian Government’s stance on economic leveling of domestic market prices (through tax relief, for instance: this could make selling on the home market more profitable than exporting oil, so the prices might grow steadier),’ Alexei Podolyako of Alliance Non-Commercial Partnership said

‘The scheduled pressure testing of hot water pipes has been finished for the time being, so the dwellers of Yekaterinburg are going to have plenty of hot water until the next session of tests begins,’ the spokesperson for Yekaterinburg municipal council Konstantin Pudov said to UrBC. ‘Delivering hot water stably is something that differentiates Yekaterinburg from the other local towns. In Chelyabinsk, Nizhniy Tagil, and Kamensk-Uralskiy, for instance, hot water is frequently missing for months in the summertime. This wasn’t the case in Yekaterinburg — either last year or before. The only

This year, 460 school-leavers from Chelyabinsk Region will be given a chance to enter a college or a university with the help of the Governor’s full scholarship. The scholarship was introduced eleven years ago, and 3,500 people have used so far. The initial idea behind the introduction of the scholarship was to provide enough highly skilled college graduates for rural areas and small towns. Nevertheless, young people tend to prefer the urban lifestyle lately, so only about a half of students actually go back to villages and towns after getting their diplomas. This is why Governor of

Nizhniy Tagil Iron & Steel Works’ CEO Alexei Kushnarev and Social Issues Director Yuri Kuznetsov were given the International Demidov Fund diplomas for their contribution to the conservation and revival of Russia’s industrial and cultural heritage. The idea of the International Demidov Fund was first proposed by the UNESCO; the Fund aims to find and reward the most successful and active supporters of Russian industrial culture; in fact, one of the fund’s top executives is one of the Demidovs – the famous dynasty that founded the metallurgical enterprises in the Urals over three hundred

The Federal Antimonopoly Service took legal action against Uralsevergaz-NGK, claiming that the latter violated the federal bill on the protection of competition (part 1, Article 10) through imposing the disadvantageous agreement terms upon their customers. The lawsuit was initiated following Ural Gas Networks’ complaints. The spokesperson for the Service reports Uralsevergaz-NGK is currently Sverdlovsk Region’s only natural gas supplier and can boast a 65% share of the gas supply market. Ural Gas Networks owns a number of boiler installations in the region and depends on natural gas for fuel.

Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel met the new top executive of Confectionery Group SladCo. The spokesperson for the Governor reports the Norwegian Orkla’s CEO introduced SladCo’s new General Director Vadim Ter-Israelyan to Eduard Rossel. Deputy Head of Sverdlovsk Region Government and Minister for Agriculture and Food Sergey Chemesov, who was also present at the meeting, said the reconstruction of the confectioner’s business and certain degree of redundancy did not result in any social clashes, and suggested that the shareholders consider expanding the range of foods the company

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Sverdlovsk Gubernskiy Bank to state-run for-profit organizations for 1 to 3 years dropped by 100% (from 2.916 million RUR to zero) in January-May 2008.

Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (part of ChTPZ Group)’s finishing center now became the site for assembling the OCTG production facility. At the moment, the workers are piecing together the equipment meant for manufacturing of fittings with the diameter of up to 195 mm. The shop has already been fitted with two stampers and two rinsers as well as an automated conveying system in between. Next, two saws supplied by Austrian Linsinger will have to be installed. In addition to the assembly jobs, the workers are busy with the start-up and commissioning. The enterprise is about to receive SMS Meer’s

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Bank24.ru to for-profit financial organizations for over 3 years went down by 97.83% (from 18.599 million RUR to 403,000 RUR) in January-May 2008.

RusRating estimated URSA Bank’s eighth bond issue at BB+ (Stable Outlook), which means that the agency sees URSA Bank’s financial affairs as satisfactory and steady. The bank went through with its eighth bond issue (filing number 40800323В) worth 10 billion RUR altogether on April 17, 2008. 6.203 billion RUR worth of bonds was sold during the auction, while the annual interest rate was determined at 11.19% a year. Based on this year’s performance, the profitability of the issue is expected to come to 11.5% a year. RusRating reports the bond issue’s rating is connected with the bank’s credit

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Pervouralsk Joint Stock Commercial Bank to private individuals for 31 to 90 days plummeted by 98.07% (from 3 million RUR to 58,000 RUR) in January-May 2008.