The Chairman of RAO UES of Russia Anatoly Chubais is going to visit Yekaterinburg for one day. He is expected to join Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel in the launching ceremony of Yemelino substation, conduct a media briefing and take part in a meeting devoted to evaluating the effectiveness of the agreement signed by RAO UES of Russia and Sverdlovsk Region Government some while ago.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Tagilbank to natural persons for 181 days to 1 year went down by 21.49% (from 20.387 million RUR to 16. 005 million RUR) in January-November 2007.

Bank UralSib is going to be given professional counseling on how to best sell a part of its stock in January 2008. The name of the consultant is not being revealed until all the tender procedures have been formalized, RBC daily reports. The bank’s Vice President Alexader Vikhrov was unwilling to provide any comments, yet RBC says the bank appears to be quite prepared to give up on the idea of an IPO and is reported to be negotiating for selling 25% to 49% of its shares to a western bank. In the meantime, the bank’s net loss reached 2.87 billion RUR in January-June 2007.

UC RUSAL acquired 25% plus one share of Norilsk Nickel from ONEKSIM Group. The company’s press officer reports this transaction is seen as UC RUSAL’s first step towards creating Russia’s first global and diversified mining and metallurgical enterprise. The acquisition agreement was signed in November and came into effect on December 21, 2007. In return, ONEKSIM Group is going to get 11% of RUSAL’s shares, some money, and a membership in the company’s Board. 'We intend to set up a global mining and metallurgical enterprise that is to become one of the world’s Top 5 metallurgical giants.

The share of overdue debt in VUZ Bank’s portfolio rose by 2.7%, or 6,626,000 RUR in January-November 2007 against 66,778,000 RUR in January 2007. This information is available from Severnaya Kazna Bank’s official website in the report on the performance of largest banks located in Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, and Tyumen Regions and Perm Territory in five months of 2007.

Overdue debt on UralTransBank’s consumer loans reached 118.443 million RUR on December 1, 2007, which exceeds the figures for January 1, 2007 by 3.7%, or 4,472,000 RUR. This information is available from Severnaya Kazna Bank’s official website in the report on the performance of largest banks located in Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, and Tyumen Regions and Perm Territory in five months of 2007.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of for-profit self-regulatory organizations’ deposits in Uralprivatbank valid for 181 days to 1 year went down by 8.22% (from 112.55 million RUR to 103.3 million RUR) in January-November 2007.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by AGROPROMBANK Credit to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for over 3 years went down by 11% (from 411.905 million RUR to 366.495 million RUR) in January-November 2007.

Ural Airlines now has special hot breakfasts on its business class menu; some of the company’s customers have already tasted the fresh omelets, yogurts, cottage cheese puddings, and jam-filled pancakes offered by the carrier now. The spokesperson for the company says these new breakfasts are only available for Yekaterinburg-Moscow flights for the time being, since this direction is most popular with passengers who prefer European-style cuisine, including European breakfasts. 'A carefully thought-through menu is one of the major components of a good mood in the mornings. If our passengers

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Universal Bank to natural persons for 181 days to 1 year went down by 99.85% (from 6.03 million RUR to 9,000 RUR) in January-November 2007.

The Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development looked at the results of its activity in January-November 2007. Over these eleven months, the bank’s assets rose by 27% and reached 33,699,753,000 RUR. The volume of clients’ accounts increased by 31.9% and came to 27,618,408,000 RUR; this includes a 36.1% increase in the volume of natural persons’ deposits (these amounted to 19,269,971,000 RUR). The bank’s experts believe this growth has been brought about by two factors: firstly, people are now less interested in making savings in foreign currencies due to the dollar’s plummeting exchange

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Pervouralsk Joint Stock Commercial Bank to sole traders for 1 to 3 years went down by 21% (from 39.581 million RUR to 31.262 million RUR) in January-November 2007.

Uralmashzavod’s average wage went up by 40% in May-November 2007 and reached 23,300 RUR a month. The enterprise now has one of the highest wages among machine-building enterprises based in Yekaterinburg and Sverdlovsk Region, with skilled workers’ wages being considerably higher than the company’s average pay. For instance, lathe operators and electrical/gas welders get up to 45,000 RUR a month, gear-tooth grinding operators, drillers, oxygen-cutting operators, blacksmiths, fettlers, metalwork locksmiths, and smelters get up to 40,000 RUR a month, and bench molders get up to 35,000 RUR a

Severnaya Kazna Bank introduced a day limit of 15,000 RUR/$600/Ï450 for its cardholders located in Great Britain, Australia, Thailand, Japan, and a number of other countries. This information is available from the bank’s official website.

The value of net assets of Energy - Mixed Investments (the unit investment trust) managed by Eurogreen Management Company Ltd. went down by .2% between December 18, 2007 and December 19, 2007. According to Eurogreen’s website, the company’s net assets decreased from 3,476,698.54 RUR on December 18, 2007 to 3.469,889.11 RUR on December 19, 2007.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of call loans given by VUZ Bank to natural persons went down by 35.36% (from 14.683 million RUR to 9.491 million RUR) in January-November 2007.

‘Some 700 people from Yekaterinburg and Sverdlovsk Region became victims of the fraudsters from Gorod, the regional public fund that operated in the area in 2000-2003. Approximately 3,000 people suffered in the other regions of Russia. These data haven’t been finalized yet, as not all of the victims actually filed their complaints. The criminal suit proceedings involving accusations of fraud (Article 159 (part 4) of the Russian Federation Criminal Code) and organized crime (Article 210) began in 2003. At the present moment, the case has been placed with the regional court,’ Ivan Yablokov of

The retail goods turnover came to over 300bn RUR in Sverdlovsk Region in 2006, the regional Minister of Trade, Provision, and Services Vera Solovieva announced at today’s press conference. According to Ms Solovieva, this exceeds the figures for 2005 by 27% in purely finance terms and by 17% in terms of physical volume. Foods turnover amounts to 15bn RUR out of the total sum. Traditionally, the customers were most active in the fourth quarter of the year: the consumption ratio came to 21% in the first quarter, to 22%-24% in the second and third quarters, and to 30% in the last quarter of the

‘The region’s foreign trade turnover reached the point of $7.5bn in January-October 2006, which is 23.3% better than in the ten months of 2005. The export figures came to approximately $6bn (a 23.3%-growth), the import ones came to $1.5bn (a 23.3%-growth),’ the Minister of Economy and Labour Galina Kovaleva announced at the press conference devoted to the region’s socio-economic development forecasts for 2007. The consolidated budget profits amounted to 78.6bn RUR in January-October 2006, which exceeds the figures for 2005 by 42.4%. The budgetary subsidies and allotments plan was

The court hearing of Federal Antimonopoly Service vs. Koltsovo airport (based on the Competition Protection Act) was put off until January 30, 2007 The Federal Antimonopoly Service suspects that Koltsovo airport has overpriced its fuel; the Service has already found the airport guilty of violating the antimonopoly legislation in the past and ordered them to retain the so-called historic slots for Ural Airlines Moscow-bound flights and to annul their contract of tenancy with Aviaprad, the air carrier.