ChTPZ Group’s pipe-making enterprises reorganized and improved their maintenance services, the spokesperson for the Group said to UrBC. Pervouralsk New Pipe Plant and Chelyabinsk Tube Rolling Plant, for example, needed one year to merge all the services meant for various shops in single maintenance centers. The idea behind these mergers was to cut down on costs through more effective cooperation among the main production shops and the auxiliary services. At the moment, the two plants’ maintenance centers employ over 6,000 people, who have to provide the shops with tools and equipment and

According to Interfax-CEA’s ranking of Russia’s top banks as of December 31, 2007, Ural Treasures Bank was Ural Federal District’s 15th largest bank and Russia’s 86th largest bank in terms of private individuals’ deposit volume. In addition, the bank was rated Ural Federal District’s 9th largest bank and Russia’s 185th largest bank in terms of asset volume. Ural Treasures Bank’s assets rose by 23.2% in 2007 compared to a year earlier.

According to the National Managers’ League’s profitability ranking of unit investment trusts as of February 12, 2008, the share price of Alfa Capital Index MICEX (Alfa Capital Management Company) has gone down by 12.35% since the beginning of the year.

According to the National Managers’ League’s profitability ranking of unit investment trusts as of February 11, 2008, the share price of VTB Stock Fund (VTB Asset Management Company) has gone down by 15.10% since the beginning of the year.

The Academic construction project manager Stanislav Pridvizhkin made a report on the implementation of the project at a meeting devoted to construction in Sverdlovsk Region. The meeting was chaired by Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel. The attendees were shown a few video snapshots made during the pilot launch of a powered balloon that is going to float above the construction site at the height of 100 meters, provided there is no strong wind. If this launch proves to be a success, the whole construction process could be monitored online.

According to the Bank of Russia, there were 1,135 crediting organizations in the country on February 1, 2008, which falls short of the figures for February 2003 by 115 banks. The maximum number of banks actually closed down in 2006. All these banks operate through 3,475 subsidiaries altogether; their number dropped by 99 outlets in 2003 and by 11 outlets in 2006, while the years 2004, 2005, and 2007 were the periods of extensive subsidiary network growth. 189 new bank subsidiaries were set up between February 1, 2007 and February 1, 2008. Besides, 20 new branches were introduced in January

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Uralfinance to for-profit self-regulatory organizations despite overdraft plummeted by 76.87% (from 4.268 million RUR to 987,000 RUR) in December 2007-January 2008.

Sverdlovsk Region Minister for Economy and Labor Mikhail Maximov announced in the course of a meeting devoted to the Great Eurasian University project and chaired by Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel that the project was not clear enough or elaborated enough yet. Mr. Maximov also called for keeping in mind that getting any substantial financing from the federal budget was not very likely. The Governor suggested that the meeting participants think carefully over the type of graduates this future university will produce, that is, the fields they’ll specialize in and the quality of

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by SberInvestBank to self-regulatory financial organizations for 1 to 3 years went down by 18.73% (from 24.71 million RUR to 20.08 million RUR) in December 2007-January 2008.

METCOMBANK offered its customers 763.5 million RUR worth of mortgage loans in 2007, which is 1,000 times more than two years earlier, the bank’s press officer reports. ‘Mortgages are a complicated and still unusual way of lending. Nevertheless, METCOMBANK is trying hard to make them both affordable and attractive. For one, we decreased the interest rates on mortgage loans last year. Besides, we started offering mortgages on country cottages and dwellings still under construction rather than just existing homes within the urban network. Moreover, we also moved from individual deals to offering

According to the National Managers’ League’s ranking of unit investment funds as of February 11, 2008, the share price of Raiffeisen Index MICEX (Raiffeisen Capital Management Company) has gone down by 15.11% since the beginning of 2008.

The Academic construction project manager Stanislav Pridvizhkin made a report on the implementation of the project at a meeting devoted to construction in Sverdlovsk Region. The meeting was chaired by Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel. According to Mr. Pridvizhkin, all the construction stages fit the schedule. So far, the developer has already signed an agreement regarding the design of socially important buildings and objects. Mr. Rossel said RENOVA Stroy Group (the builder) did meet all of its liabilities, so the first apartment blocks that the company was to put up would

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by UniCreditBank to local governments and Russian Federation subjects’ financial bodies plummeted by 90.67% (from 150 million RUR to 14 million RUR) in December 2007-January 2008.

SKB-Bank’s ATM located in Koltsovo airport of Yekaterinburg now offers its users some European currency if they want it. This is Yekaterinburg’s first ATM to provide this service, so both the city dwellers and visitors to the Urals can now obtain some Euros right before the flight or directly upon arrival to Yekaterinburg, the bank’s press officer reports. The ATM can be found in the A sector of the airport, which means passengers, those who meet or see off their relatives and friends, and the airport staff can all use the machine at any moment to get some cash, check how much money they have

Nizhniy Tagil Iron & Steel Works was Evraz Group’s first steelmaking enterprise to develop and produce the new kinds of steel with unique chemical composition. X70 and X80 steels are meant for production of large-diameter pipes used for high-pressure gas pipelines, the spokesperson for Evraz Group said to UrBC. X70 and X80 steels are particularly suitable for high-pressure pipelines thanks to their great durability and fineness. All the samples underwent many stages of testing, so when the experts from the plant’s central lab looked at them using the high-precision binocular optical

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by UralTransBank to state-run for-profit organizations dropped by 100% (from 5.4 million RUR to zero) in December 2007-January 2008.

According to the National Managers’ League’s ranking of unit investment trusts, the share price of UIF Triumfalnaya Ploschad - Russian Oil (Bank of Moscow Management Company) has gone down by 16.7% since the beginning of the year.

According to the National Managers’ League’s ranking of unit investment trusts as of February 8, 2008, the share price of CIT Fortis Index MICEX (CIT Fortis Investment Management Company) has gone down by 17.07% since the beginning of 2008.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by VUZ Bank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations despite overdraft dropped by 39.81% (from 40.542 million RUR to 24.401 million RUR) in December 2007-January 2008.

Sverdlovsk Region’s division of the Federal Antimonopoly Service detected some unfair advertising practices in IKEA International Group’s chain stores, the Service’s expert Svetlana Braun said to UrBC. The Service received a complaint from a customer who borrowed 6,000 RUR for the period of ten months using IKEA’s credit card (backed up by Renaissance Capital Bank) at the end of 2006. This credit card was, in fact, part of IKEA’s New Year offer. However, the store’s advertisements failed to provide the borrowers with all the details and terms of the loans. As a result, the unfortunate