The court of Revda, Sverdlovsk Region, declared Ruslan Romanov, a sole trader, guilty of violating Article 146 of the Russian Federation Criminal Code (large-scale abuse of copyright). Mr. Romanov bought several pirated DVDs with feature films belonging to Universal Pictures International BV and CD Land+ in April 2007 and then tried to sell them in Revda. The law-enforcement officers later confiscated 254 pirated DVDs and 54 CD s. The sole trader’s offense is reported to have done Universal Pictures and CD Land + more than 2 million RUR worth of damage. The court found the offender guilty, so

Due to some technical maintenance operations in Bank Severnaya Kazna processing center, the bank will have to stop handling or accepting VISA/Master card from 4 AM to 6 AM on December 17, 2007. This means the bank’s ATMs and POS terminals are not going to be operating properly for the time being.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by SberInvestBank to sole traders for 181 days to 1 year went down by 98.87% (from 10.95 million RUR to 124,000 RUR) in January-November 2007.

URSA Bank now services VISA, Master Card, and Gold Crown in Jewelry 585 stores located in Siberian Federal District after a special agreement has been signed by the bank and the jewelry chain store, the bank’s press officer reports. 'According to this agreement, 41 stores in Siberian Federal District (including 12 terminals in Novosibirsk) are going to accept cards thanks to URSA Bank,’ the bank’s Plastic Card Director says. Next year, Jewelry 585 intends to set up sixty more stores in Siberian Federal District that will all use URSA Bank’s acquiring network. In addition, the bank

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by UralTransBank to non-profit NGOs for 1 to 3 years went down by 34.98% (from 15.307 million RUR to 9.952 million RUR) in January-November 2007.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Agroprombank Credit to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for 13 to 90 days went down by 18.58% (from 350.436 million RUR to 285.32 million RUR) in January-November 2007.

Raisa Sadykova stopped being a member of the Board of Directors of Uralfinprombank on December 10, 2007. This decision was made at one of the BOD meetings.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Bank UralSib to state-run for-profit organizations for over 3 years went down by 47.49% (from 412.553 million RUR to 217.73 million RUR) in January-November 2007.

Ural Airlines reports the company’s passenger turnover reached 2,823,610,000 passenger-kilometers in January-November 2007, which is 15% better than in January-November 2006. The carrier operated 10,190 flights between January 1, 2007 and November 31, 2007, which exceeds the figures for a year earlier by 11%. 1,043 million people have used the airline’s services since the beginning of the year, and this year’s millionth passenger was serviced three months earlier than in 2006. In addition, the carrier has already handled more cargo this year than a year earlier: over 5,000 tons of cargo and

The value of net assets of Energy - Mixed Investments (the unit investment trust) managed by Eurogreen Management Company Ltd. went down by .69% between December 7, 2007 and December 10, 2007. According to Eurogreen’s website, the company’s net assets decreased from 3,793,428.63 RUR on December 7, 2007 to 3,767,190.74 RUR on December 10, 2007.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Uralprivatbank to natural persons for 91 to 180 days went down by 98.85% (from 2.598 million RUR to 30,000 RUR) in January-November 2007.

The awarding ceremony of the Best Social Report/Sustainable Development Report 2007 contest took place last week. The contest first took place in 2006 within the framework of the ESRA-European Sustainability Reporting Awards in order to praise the Russian companies that are trying to both implement some social welfare projects and come up with social reports on this. URSA Bank received a decoration called Debut. This year, the bank has for the first time drawn up a social report that meets the international GRI G3 standards and has already undergone an audit procedure, the bank’s press

SKB-Bank was able to raise the amount of investments by natural persons by nearly 1 billion RUR in just one month, the bank’s press officer reports. The bank’s Deposit Director Denis Belogurov believes this has to do with the traditional increase in income Russian citizens usually experience at the end of the year: ‘Many companies give their employees end-of-year bonuses, some people get dividends and other types of seasonal income. Quite often, they don’t get to spend everything because of the holidays, so people choose to deposit this money with a bank.’ 'Besides, banks tend to raise

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Universal Bank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for 1 to 3 years went down by 47.17% (from 12.303 million RUR to 6.5 million RUR) in January-November 2007.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Tyumenenergobank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for 31 to 90 days went down by 69.07% (from 567.03 million RUR to 175.388 million RUR) in January-November 2007.

Ural Treasures Bank keeps expanding its ATM network in different parts of Russia, the bank’s press officer reports. A new ATM appeared at 60 Vetluzhskaya St., Perm, Perm Territory. The ATM is situated inside a supermarket, so it’s available from 8 AM to midnight. At the same time, the bank had to remove its ATM located at 41/1 Mira St., Perm, Perm Territory.

Standard & Poor's confirmed Sverdlovsk Region’s long-term credit rating at BB, while the raging outlook was changed from Stable to Positive. 'We reconsidered the rating due to the ongoing economic growth within the region,’ says Irina Pilman, Standard & Poor’s credit analyst. According to the agency’s official report, Sverdlovsk Region is one of Russia’s most developed industrial areas, yet its rating promotion is hindered by unstable budget, volatile profit tax income, increasing outgoings, and lack of investment. At the same time, these negative factors can be made up for

A heavy-duty crane made by Uralmashzavod has been successfully tested at one of nuclear power stations in India. This crane was shipped to the end user in June 2005; it weighs 600 tons and is capable of lifting up to 450 tons. The crane is extremely durable and has great operational capacity even under very trying circumstances. For instance, the crane can operate during a nine-point earthquake (on the Richter scale). This was the first time a crane of such durability and forbearance has been made in Russia. Uralmashzavod has made five cranes for the Indian power station altogether. Apart

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Pervouralsk Joint Stock Commercial Bank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for over 3 years went down by 30.69% (from 8 million RUR to 5.545 million RUR) in January-November 2007.

The awarding ceremony of National Purchase Transparency Rating 2007 took place in Moscow on December 11, 2007. This is the annual national rating that covers both the state and private largest purchasing agents and assesses them in terms of transparency and efficiency of their actions. The project is supported by a number of NGOs as well as the State Duma Anti-Corruption Committee and the Federal Antimonopoly Service. The rating featured 328 organizations, ranked along the transparency levels, from Guaranteed to Low, and along categories (federal, regional, municipal, and corporate purchasing