‘We invested 1.4 billion RUR in our networks’ development last year, originally hoping to get all the money through link-up fees. However, the money failed to arrive in time, which is why we had to get a bonded loan of 1 billion RUR,’ Yekaterinburg Electrical Network Company’s Deputy Strategic Development Director Sergey Semerikov announced at a press conference on March 13, 2008. He said the company was planning to spend 2.6 billion RUR on development in 2008, so additional (i.e. banks’) resources would have to be used. In addition, the company set up a contracts department in order to

SKB-Bank was declared Sverdlovsk Region’s fastest-growing bank in terms of assets and the most successful one in 2007. According to Expert RA and RBC Daily’s Russia’s Top 100 largest banks rating (based on the banks’ asset volume), the average growth rate of banks’ assets came to 44.1%, while the capitalization reached 57% a year. Remarkably, SKB-Bank was the only Ural bank whose growth in 2007 (62%) exceeded the whole system’s average figures. Moreover, SKB-Bank’s capital growth reached 74% a year and the balance sheet profit rose by 72% compared with a year earlier. At the same time, other

‘In case Koltsovo airport of Yekaterinburg does have an increase in rent, the carriers aren’t likely to feel it. Airlines only use 30 or 40 square meters of the airport’s premises, so even if Rosimuschestvo does increase the interest rates for the airport, the latter won’t charge the carriers much more, and the plane tickets won’t grow much more expensive. And, anyway, the Federal Antimonopoly Service has already determined the airport’s prices for this year,’ says Vasiliy Kovalev, the director of Transaero’s Ural branch. In the meantime, Rosimuschestvo filed a complaint with Sverdlovsk

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Perviy Respublikanskiy Bank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for over 3 years dropped by 100% (from 170 million RUR to zero) in January-February 2008.

‘Ensuring a company is economically secured has always been and will always remain one of the key components in business management. A proprietor needs to feel safe knowing that their assets are protected by professionals,’ Oleg Borisov, the General Director of Europe-Asia, the information and consulting center, said to UrBC. ‘Current economic growth means even more attention has to be paid to security issues. Business development, entering the new markets in neighboring regions and other countries, and cooperating with the new partners and contractors all require high quality support. The

The value of net assets of Energy - Mixed Investments (the unit investment trust) managed by Eurogreen Management Company Ltd. went down by 1.68% between March 6, 2008 and March 7, 2008. According to Eurogreen’s website, the company’s net assets decreased from 2,945,195.54 RUR on March 6, 2008 to 2,895,774.44 RUR on March 7, 2008.

Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) decided to form a strategic alliance with Belon, a large coal mining company. This alliance was made possible after MMK bought 50% of Onarbay Enterprises Ltd’s shares (the latter owns 82.6% of Belon’s share capital). MMK was thus able to increase its indirect participation in Belon’s management by 41.3%. The sum of the transaction came to $230.4m. Belon is expected to raise its coal output by 2.3 times, or up to 10.8 million tons a year, by 2012 using some investments. Investing in Belon will provide MMK with 55% of all coke-coal concentrate and 60%

According to the National Managers’ League’s profitability ranking of unit investment trusts as of March 11, 2008, the share price of Raiffeisen Funds’ Fund (Raiffeisen Capital Management Company) has gone down by 10.24% since the beginning of 2008.

Dwellings located in Sredneuralsk, Sverdlovsk Region, are to be converted from central to individual heating, the town’s mayor Alexei Danilov said to the Governor of Sverdlovsk Region. According to the mayor, the town’s heating networks are very badly worn out and the heat losses therefore come to 60% sometimes, while the detached houses sector is fully provided for by the central heating system. The municipal authorities have already started converting the houses back to individual heating through supplying the dwellers with energy-saving gas boilers. 1,000 houses are expected to be

The Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development was featured in MICEX’s Top 50 Trading Operators rating in February 2008. The fifty winners were picked out from 630 contestants; the Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development was given the 37th position in terms of stock market trading and the 46th position in terms of bond market repurchase agreement trading. Tellingly, the bank’s share trading turnover rose to 6.4 billion RUR against 6.2 billion RUR in January 2008, while its bond repurchase agreement trading turnover went up from 1.6 billion RUR in January 2008 to 2.3 billion RUR in

‘A short while ago, Sunrise tour travel agency’s fifty-six customers who didn’t have any direct agreement with Ural Airlines were unable to pass the border control at Koltsovo airport of Yekaterinburg and thus missed their chartered flight SVR 3603 due to lack of papers, visas, and passports,’ the carrier’s press officer said to UrBC. Based on its agreement with PGS Charter, Ural Airlines is to operate a chartered flight from Yekaterinburg, Russia, to Goa, India, and back from December 9, 2007 to April 2, 2008. Apart from flights operated from Moscow, this is the only flight to Goa available

It was announced in the course of a meeting chaired by First Deputy Head of Sverdlovsk Region Government Vladimir Molchanov that a regional state-run air carrier dealing in local and regional flights is to be set up in Sverdlovsk Region. The issue was first brought into the limelight during the Russian Federation Minister of Transport Igor Levitin’s visit to Yekaterinburg. The future enterprise will probably be based on the currently operating state-run organization that uses seventeen runways and owns a number of aircraft and some premises. The new business is expected to start operating in

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by UralTransBank to state-run for-profit organizations despite overdraft plummeted by 100% (from 5.967 million RUR to zero) in January-February 2008.

Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant and Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant (ChTPZ Group’s largest tube and pipe manufacturers) supplied their consumers with 256,800 tons of tubular goods in two months of 2008, which falls short of the figures for January-February 2007 (298,100 tons) by 14%, the Group’s press officer said to UrBC. ChTPZ Group sold 134,500 tons of tubes and pipes in two months of the year, which falls short of the figures for a year earlier (that is, 163,500 tons) by 18%. These figures include a 27% decrease in the amount of large-diameter pipes: his came to 70,800 tons compared with 96,800

Ural Airlines has recently come up with a new offer for its customers: a passenger buying a plane ticket to Moscow can make a hotel reservation at the Izmailovo Hotel and can get it confirmed right away. A passenger is thus offered a return ticket from Yekaterinburg to Moscow and back and one- to three-day stay at the hotel (breakfast included) at a lower price, the carrier’s press officer reports. If you stay at the hotel for one day, the price of the offer comes to 9,899 RUR per person in a double room and to 10,900 RUR in a single room; if you stay there for two days, the price will come

The Russian Federation Government assented to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ proposal that a trade department of the Kingdom of Denmark’s Embassy in Yekaterinburg could be set up in the city. The Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel was informed of the news; the proposal had earlier been coordinated by the Russian Federation Ministry for Economic Development and a number of other federal executive authorities as well as the Danish parties involved.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Tagilbank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for 181 days to 1 year went down by 31.37% (from 15.3 million RUR to 10.5 million RUR) in January-February 2008.

‘The gradual replacement of free fare privileges with monetary compensation is unavoidable. The federal authorities demand that we fully switch to monetary compensation of all social welfare benefits (including public transport fares and housing bills) before January 1, 2009,’ Head of Sverdlovsk Region Government Viktor Koksharov said at a briefing on March 11, 2008. ‘The issue is being hotly debated at the moment, with the region’s legislative assembly deputies contributing to the discussion. It isn’t clear yet whether the monetary compensations will have been introduced by July 1, 2008 or

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Bank Uralsib to sole traders for up to 30 days went down by 23.2% (from 42.066 million RUR to 32.308 million RUR) in January-February 2008.

‘Sverdlovsk Region’s concert entertainment market is saturated with operators of all sorts, who have to compete with each other as well as with the performers’ Moscow agents and directors (who don’t feel they can rely on anyone to take care of their stars,’ Intershow’s press officer Yulia Filatova said to UrBC. Ms Filatova reports fifteen to twenty concerts are held in Yekaterinburg weekly during the high seasons (that is, end of January to mid-May and September-December), so even a real enthusiast can’t possibly go to them all; besides, sometimes a few similar-style concerts are organized on