The drawing procedure of URSA Bank’s prize-winning lottery known as Cozy Deposits took place on December 1, 2007. All the lottery participants (deposit holders who opened any deposit worth at least 50,000 RUR, $2,000, or Ï2,000 between October 1, 2007 and December 1, 2007) had their chance, and 242 customers won various prizes, the bank’s press officer reports. The first such drawing took place on November 3, 2007. ‘URSA Bank has just come with two new offers: New Year Hit and Hot Sampling. We are inviting our customers to sample our deposit offers, which is why we’ve introduced some

Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel met a group of IKEA delegates headed by IKEA GD in Russia and the CIS. According to IKEA’s top executive, the company would like to put up some lumber mills and furniture factories in Sverdlovsk Region and is willing to invest 2 billion RUR in the project. The Governor was requested to decide what land allotments with some timber reserves nearby would make suitable premises for the plants and factories. Mr. Rossel replied that Sverdlovsk Region’s timber industry was a rather developed one, so it’s a bit peculiar to see that IKEA only does business

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Uralfinance Bank to natural persons for 91 to 180 days went down by 90.07% (from 10.37 million RUR to 1.03 million RUR) in January-November 2007.

The volume of the Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development’s customers’ operations at RTS (FORTS) doubled in November 2007 and reached 25.8 billion RUR. This is why the bank was promoted to the 16th position among 131 organizations. In addition, the bank was given the 11th position in a special rating of companies with largest option transaction volumes, which is four positions better than in October 2007. What is more, the bank was rated 38th out of 50 leading MICEX operators, as its share marker turnover came to 6.6 million RUR in November 2007.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Tagilbank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for 91 to 180 days went down by 93.73% (from 4.788 million RUR to 300,000 RUR) in January-November 2007.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by UralFinPromBank to sole traders for 31 to 90 days went down by 21.3% (from 1.5 million RUR to 1.18 million RUR) in January-November 2007.

The Moscow representation of Siemens has been searched by the police within the framework of a criminal lawsuit filed against a company’s employee in Yekaterinburg. The alleged offender is accused of selling tomographic scanners to local hospitals at prices that were unfairly high. One of the top managers from the company’s head office is reported to have been detained, yet his name and position have been kept confidential. The inquiry officers believe two Siemens tomographs were bought at prices that were too high, and Siemens representative in Sverdlovsk Region Lev Dubnov has already been

Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel met the French consul-general in Yekaterinburg; it was announced in the course of the meeting that the French consulate will start operating in Yekaterinburg in December 2007, whereas the solemn opening ceremony with a lot of French businessmen present has been scheduled for the end of January 2008.

The Beverage Testing Institute (Chicago, Illinois, USA) published the result of its international drinks contest; it was reported that BLAGOFF vodka had won the gold medal, leaving many globally recognized brands behind. The Beverage Testing Institute is a respectable American organization founded in 1981 and an independent strong drinks observer. Their team of experts and sommeliers is completely objective. About 1,300 strong drinks from all over the world take part in the contest annually, with the results published by The New Yorker Magazine, Wine & Spirits и International Wine Review.

According to RBC.Rating’s research that features Russia’s largest banks in January-September 2007, seven Ural banks hit the top one hundred positions in terms of their net assets; three of them are based in Tyumen Region, three banks are located in Sverdlovsk Region, and one bank is located in Chelyabinsk. SKB-Bank was given the 75th position. RBC.Rating’s analysts report the company’s volume of net assets has exceeded 28.533 billion RUR by October 2007, which is 53% better than at the beginning of the year. Thanks to this impressive asset growth, the bank’s rating was promoted by eight

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Ural Innovational Commercial Bank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for 1 to 3 years went down by 28.09% (from 100.429 million RUR to 79.253 million RUR) in January-November 2007.

The Hungarian consulate is going to start operating in Yekaterinburg at the end of December 2007, the spokesperson for the Governor of Sverdlovsk Region reports. On December 7, 2007, Governor Eduard Rossel visited the Republic of Hungary as a member of an official delegation headed by Head of Russian Government Viktor Zubkov. While there, Mr. Rossel took part in some intergovernmental meetings and was present at a number of document-signing ceremonies, including the one regarding the introduction of the Hungarian consulate-general in Yekaterinburg.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Sverdlovsk Gubernskiy Bank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for 1 to 3 years went down by 8.83% (from 1,066,036,000 RUR to 971,929,000 RUR) in January-November 2007.

On June 23, 2007 Rostransnadzor and Rosaviation (the state transportation watchdogs) imposed bans and limitations on flights to the EU operated by some Russian air carriers. Ural Airlines, for one, was restricted in the type of aircraft it could use for these flights, namely, the airline was not permitted to use its Tu 154M planes until those were brought in compliance with the international regulations. Ural Airlines’ performance in the summer was flawless; in addition, the airline strictly obeyed all the instructions, so all the limitations imposed on the carrier have been canceled. This

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by SberInvestBank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for 1 to 3 years went down by 15.25% (from 122.011 million RUR to 103.4 million RUR) in January-November 2007.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by UralTransBank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for 181 days to 1 year went down by 100% (from 308,000 RUR to zero) in January-November 2007.

URSA Bank paid 143.6 million RUR worth of coupon yield to its partners and investors. This are the bank’s third bond issue coupons (40300323 В), and the sum of the profit was determined by the interest rate of 9.5% a year, so 47.87 RUR was the amount paid per bond. URSA Bank went through with the three-billion-ruble bond issue on June 8, 2006, expecting it to be valid for three years. The issue was coordinated by Gasprombank and Citibank at was launched at MICEX Stock Exchange. The repayment is expected to take place on June 4, 2009.

SKB-Bank keeps setting up more ATMs in Russian regions: another new ATM was introduced in Urai, Tyumen Region. The machine can be found by the cardholders in SKB-Bank’s Uraiskiy office and is available from 9 AM to 7 PM on weekdays and from 9 AM to 4 PM on weekends. This is Urai’s first and Tyumen Region’s tenth ATM belonging to SKB-Bank. The bank’s ATM network covers nine Russian regions at the moment; its 220 machines are located in Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk, Tyumen, Volgograd, and Rostov Regions as well as in Perm Territory and Moscow. ATMs are situated in business centers, residential

Uralmash Machine-Building Corporation is going to resume its independent production of oil and gas machinery. The company’s top executives believe this re-introduction of drilling machinery sector will make it possible for the enterprise to use its production capacity to the fullest and provide work for a whole range of shops and facilities, including a plant set up specifically for making drilling tools. The share of this equipment in the company’s total goods output is expected to be gradually raised to 19%. Ivan Rozhnov, Director of O&G Drilling Machinery Division, says the plant will

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Plato Bank to sole traders for 1 to 3 years went down by 100% (from 1.66 million RUR to zero) in January-November 2007.