UrBC, Moscow, February 7, 2019. 38% of Russians are unhappy with the state’s current trash pickup and waste disposal practices, the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center’s survey findings indicate. 58% of respondents say they find the situation satisfactory and 38% of those surveyed say they are unhappy about it. When it comes to cities with population of more than one million people and towns with population under 100,000 people, the number of dissatisfied respondents comes to as much as 40%; in towns with population of 100,000 to 500,000, the figure is 41%. Apart from this, 30% of

UrBC, Moscow, February 7, 2019. Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested extending the capital amnesty deadline for those taking their money back to Russian accounts by another year; the proposal was made during the Business Russia Forum on February 6. The current deadline has been set at March 1, 2019. Private individuals will face no liability for certain economic offenses or non-compliance with currency legislation or tax law. It could be expedient to extend the capital amnesty deadline for the Russian nationals taking their money back to Russia by another year at least, the President

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 6, 2019. Rosatom’s Yekaterinburg-based member enterprise SverdNIIkhimmash and NCCP Engineering signed a contract to develop project documentation for; manufacture; deliver; and carry out supervised installation of the equipment for transuranian element re-extraction at Siberian Chemical Combine in Tomsk Region, SverdNIIkhimmash’s press service reports. The equipment is scheduled to get delivered to customer at the start of 2020. The set of equipment in question is meant for the treatment of liquid radioactive used decontamination fluids coming from the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 6, 2019. According to MegaFon, companies operating in the Urals are now focusing more closely on mobile device security: the number of businesses that had their devices scanned with MegaFon’s anti-hacker app rose by 57% this year so far compared with lsat year, the company’s press service reports. ‘Nearly 2,700 corporate mobile devices got scanned with our Antivzlom App in the last month alone. Every one in two appliances is registered in Sverdlovsk Region. A user definitely needs virus protection, but some smartphone-friendly antivirus software is no longer

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 6, 2019. Ural Airlines are now operating more flights from Blagoveshchensk to Yekaterinburg and Moscow and back. According to the air carrier’s press service, the extra flights will get operated twice a week between February 14 and March 24, 2019: U6 30 Blagoveshchensk-Yekateirnburg-Moscow will be available on Fridays and Saturdays; U6 29 Moscow-Yekaterinburg-Blagoveshchensk will be available on Thursdays and Fridays. Additionally, you can also still fly on the daily U6300/299 flights. The extra options are meant to make traveling even more convenient. Prices

UrBC, Moscow, February 6, 2019. Russia’s Finance Ministry intends to direct RUB 194 billion to foreign currency purchases in February 2019. The purchases will be made between February 7 and March 6, 2019, with the average daily purchase amount at the equivalent of RUB 9.7 billion, the ministry’s website states. This specific amount of money has been allocated for the purpose this month based on the prediction that the extra oil and gas revenues in the national budget will amount to RUB 203.6 billion in February 2019 (given that the actual current oil prices are higher than the

UrBC, Moscow, February 6, 2019. AO Mercedes-Benz RUS, Mercedes’s official representative for the Russian market, is calling off 7,011 automobiles (Mercedes-Benz 205 and 253), Rosstandart reports. Subject to product recall are the cars sold in 2017 and 2018: there’s a possibility that the passenger front airbag status might not get displayed correctly on the operation panel. To deal with the problem, the Audio 20 software package needs to get updated. All the adjustments will be done at no extra cost to the car owners.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 5, 2019. EVRAZ Holding’s Raspadskaya Coal Company handed a tanker truck over to Mezhdurechensk Council rent-free as part of its CSR program. The truck will be used for drinking water delivery. According to the company’s press service, Raspadskaya Coal Company’s Deputy Tech Director Alexander Markov presented the truck keys to the town council’s First Deputy Head for Industry & Construction Sergey Perepilishchenko. ‘The new tanker truck costs more than RUB 3.5m. The vehicle was made in Russia and is suitable for all kinds of roads and any kind of weather

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 5, 2019. Ural Electromechanical Plant (UEMZ) and Rosatom Corporation’s Rusatom Automated Control Systems (RASU) are going to sign a contract for the delivery of components for the diverse protection system at Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant 2’s Power-Generating Unit 2 this February, UEMZ’s press service reports. The contract amounts to RUB 21.6 million all in all and has to be completed by June 24, 2019. ‘Processing an order that is this responsible in the amount of time that is this short (before the end of QII’19) means both extra workload for our production

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 5, 2019. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) raised the interest rates on both ruble and dollar savings deposits on February 1, the bank’s press service reports. The interest rate on Dokhodny Deposit is now 0.35% to 0.45% higher for the ruble options (depending on how long the money has been sitting in the deposit) and 0.1% higher for the dollar options on Days 1-90. Nakopiltelny Online Deposit (390 days/USD) now yields the annual interest rate that is 0.2% higher than before. Dokhodny and Nakopiltelny are among the UBRD’s most popular

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 5, 2019. EVRAZ Holding’s Nizhniy Tagil Metallurgical Plant (NTMK) received three awards for its efforts in the civil defense, emergency prevention, and fire safety sector, EVRAZ Holding Ural reports. The plant got awarded Russia’s Ministry of Emergencies’ Sverdlovsk Region division’s special certificate for the Best Training/Resource Base. The Nizhniy Tagil-based plant received the award for maintaining its protection facilities, employee training, and overall civil defense and emergency prevention work. ‘EVRAZ NTMK focuses very closely on emergency prevention

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 5, 2019. 467 counterfeit banknotes imitating the Bank of Russia’s currency units got detected within Sverdlovsk Region’s banking sector last year. This was 42% less than one year previously, when 812 fake currency units got detected, the Bank of Russia’s Ural division’s PR Department reports. The most frequently forged banknotes were 5,000-ruble ones: 339 such bills were found in 2018, which amounted to 73% of all the forged bills. Added to this were 88 1,000-ruble fakes (four times less than in 2017) and 3 2,000-ruble ones (very poorly and obviously forged).

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, February 4, 2019. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) provided five studio apartments to accommodate the young doctors from the plant’s Central Polyclinic 1, MMK’s Information, PR & Advertising Department reports. ‘The plant’s management is making efforts to relieve the medical staff shortage, which is the Russian healthcare sector’s most pressing problem these days. For one, we offer studio apartments to the young doctors from our clinic, who can live in their new homes rent-free. After ten years in the company’s employment, they will come to own their places.

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, February 4, 2019. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) was founded eighty-seven years ago this month (February 1, 2019). This is now one of both Russia and the world’s largest metallurgical enterprises. According to the company’s Information & PR Department, MMK considers February 1, 1932 its official opening date. One year later, in 1933, the open-hearth furnace facility complemented the original blast furnace division, so the plant started producing steel. In August 1934, Magnitogorsk’s first Section Mill 500 got launched as well. MMK made armor steel and armor

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 4, 2019. Sverdlovsk Region’s residents’ notional incomes amounted to RUB 1,856 billion in January-December 2018 (RUB 35,758.4 per capita a month), Sverdlovskstat reports. One year earlier, this figure reached RUB 1,832.4 billion, including the one-time pensioner allowance (RUB 5,000 per capita/RUB 6.8 billion altogether). People’s actual disposable incomes (incomes minus mandatory payments adjusted against the consumer price index) declined by 2.7% in January-December 2018 compared with January-December 2017 (the calculations were made without the adjustments for

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 4, 2019. EVRAZ Holding’s Kachkanar Ore Mining and Processing Plant (KGOK) launched its new NP1 locomotive and two motor-operated dump cars this month; the equipment was made at Novocherkassk Plant. According to EVRAZ Holding Ural’s Corporate Relations Center, NP 1 locomotives are specifically suited for deep, complicated mines. This particular traction unit (tractive power: 1,000,000+ kg; speed: up to 65 km/h; operational safety: four braking systems) was designed specially for EVRAZ KGOK. ‘NP1 units are very comfortable to operate: the operator’s pit is made to

UrBC, Moscow, February 4, 2019. 84,257 Toyota and Lexus units (Hilux, Auris, Corolla and ES350, GX 460, IS250, IS250C, and IS-F, respectively), are being called off the Russian market through Toyota/Lexus’s authorized representative for Russia OOO Toyota Motor. According to Rosstandart, the company recalls the automobiles sold between February 28, 2011 and June 27, 2018 due to driver and passenger front airbag module issues: the airbags might get improperly activated under certain circumstances. OOO Toyota Motor’s representatives are going to inform all the owners of the cars in question; the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 1, 2019. MegaFon now offers better mobile connection quality on Russian roads, the company’s press service reports. ‘MegaFon Ural’s customers are now spending more time on the road. The number of Russians who traveled around the country at least once this January was 33% higher than in January 2017. As many as 458 MegaFon SIM card users went on long-distance trips every hour last month,’ the press service says. MegaFon’s mobile connection is now available on 95.4% of thirty-two key highways (total length: almost 30,000 km). This was the best coverage performance

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 1, 2019. The price of diesel fuel rose from RUB 46.58 to RUB 46.92 per liter on Sverdlovsk Region market between January 21 and January 27; the price of liquefied natural gas rose from RUB 21.26 to RUB 21.28 per liter, Sverdlovsk Region’s division of Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service reports. Also, the price of gasoline (AI 92 (93)) dropped by RUB 0.11, down to RUB 41.21 per liter on average. The price of AI 95 declined from RUB 44.23 down to RUB 44.08 per liter on average (- RUB 0.15).

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, February 1, 2019. 29,809 automobiles got sold on credit in Sverdlovsk Region last year, which exceeded the figures for one year earlier by 21.7%, the National Credit History Bureau reports. 52,581 cars got sold on Sverdlovsk Region market last year all in all, with the share of the ones bought on credit at 56.7%. ‘In 2018, the car loan market recovered to the state of affairs as of 2014. Even though certain state-subsidized lending programs got discontinued, car loans remain a noticeable supporting factor for the car making industry. Car loans on used automobiles are