According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Uralprivatbank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for up to 30 days went down by 100% (from 1 million RUR to zero) in January-November 2007.

The Kommersant-Bank magazine came up with a rating of the CIS’ largest banks. The rating features banks located in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Byelorussia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Kirghizia, Georgia, and Moldova and is based upon their activity over the last six months. According to the rating, most of the top two hundred positions have been filled by Russian banks, including twelve banks from the Urals (four of which are based in Sverdlovsk Region). SKB-Bank was able to improve its net assets rating by four positions and was thus rated 123d. The volume of SKB-Bank’s net assets

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by VUZ Bank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for 31 to 90 days went down by 14.13% (from 96.08 million RUR to 82.506 million RUR) in January-November 2007.

Ural Airlines keeps selling more and more tickets online. E-tickets for two more flights (Yekaterinburg-Yerevan-Yekaterinburg flight 2949 and Yekaterinburg-Prague-Yekaterinburg flights 701 and 702) became available in November 2007. This means e-tickets are used for three of the carrier’s flights (including a flight to Dubai that has been using e-tickets since September 2007). Over 300 e-tickets are sold every month. The new technology is gradually being employed for flights bound for Moscow and Saint Petersburg; so far, e-tickets have been made available for the airline’s staff, but very

'Aviaprad’s stockholders suggested that we buy the company, so the carrier’s owners and Kras Air are now negotiating on the issue of acquiring a share in Aviaprad. We haven’t got any specific details to speak about yet,’ Kras Air’s press officer said to UrBC. At the same time, there have been media reports about the recent acquisition of Aviaprad’s shareholding by AiRUnion, of which Kras Air is a member.

Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development (UBRD) conducts special workshops open for everyone who may be willing to attend them. Every single workshop is devoted to a certain aspect of investment activity. The workshops are held at the Investment Center, a specialized office of the UBRD where all the conditions for productive stock exchange trading have been created. A first-time investor can see how QUIK-Broker system works as well as look at the bank’s tariffs and sign agreements on any investment services. The Bank’s website has a special section that provides all the updates on the

Russia New Growh Fund managed by Troika Capital Partners completed the acquisition of 7.94% of URSA Bank’s voting stock on December 5, 2007, the bank’s chairman Igor Kim announced at a Russian Banking Forum in London. 'Having a new shareholder is going to give us new exciting ideas and great expertise,’ he said. 'URSA Bank was chosen by the Fund for its active development, nice regional coverage, and good management,’ the Fund CEO notes. The bank’s shares now belong to chairman Igor Kim (35.55% of voting stock), BOD members Andrei Bekarev and Alexander Taranov (8.28% each), SM.art

The value of net assets of Energy - Mixed Investments (the unit investment trust) managed by Eurogreen Management Company Ltd. went down by 2.84% between December 3, 2007 and December 4, 2007. According to Eurogreen’s website, the company’s net assets decreased from 3,794,625.68 RUR on December 3, 2007 to 3,686,937.12 RUR on December 4, 2007.

Chelyabinsk Tube-Rolling Plant won in the 3d All-Russian Environmental conference/contest supported by the Russian Federation Government, the Soviet of the Federation, and the State Duma as the country’s leading conservationist. A special medal for contribution to the development of large-scale environmental protection projects was given to General Director Vitaliy Sadykov, whereas a year earlier, an order was given to Chelyabinsk Tube-Rolling Plant. The medal proposal was made by Chelyabinsk Region Ministry for Environmental and Radiation Safety; the company’s conservation projects were

Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel is going to visit the Republic of Hungary as a member of a delegation led by Head of Russian Federation Government Viktor Zubkov. In Budapest, the Governor is going to meet Hungary’s chief architect and directors of a major bank, an insurance company, and a few other businesses in order to discuss the prospects of financing some construction projects in Sverdlovsk Region by the Hungarian investors. In addition, Mr. Rossel is going to take part in the signing of the Russian-Hungarian agreement on the setting up of a Hungarian Consulate-General in

RusRating confirmed credit ratings of forty-two Russian banks on December 1, 2007. SKB-Bank’s credit rating was confirmed at BB-, which is better than the rating of many large Moscow-based banks. SKB-Bank’s rating was originally confirmed by the agency at B+ in August 2006 and was promoted to BB- in July 2007, the bank’s press officer reports. The agency’s analysts say SKB Bank’s rating is based on the fact that SKB-Bank is a medium-sized provincial bank (one of the largest in Sverdlovsk Region, though) that has been cooperating intensely with the region’s authorities for a long time. In

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by AGROPROMBANK Credit to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for up to 30 days went down by 84% (from 12.5 million RUR to 2 million RUR) in January-November 2007.

Ural Treasures Bank gave away prizes to winners of their Internet Bank lottery. CEO Ilya Markov attended the prize-drawing ceremony and gave a welcoming speech on the bank’s e-service development. The first prize (a laptop) was given to the bank’s customer from the village of Reftinskiy, Sverdlovsk Region. The agenda of the event provided for a special quiz on the bank’s activity and history as well as on the Internet, with winners receiving promotional prizes.

'We have already agreed with the regional division of the Federal Antimonopoly Service that Koltsovo airport of Yekaterinburg should be allowed to raise aviation kerosene prices from 18,460 RUR per ton to 20,175 RUR per ton on December 4, 2007. This increase has to do with the growing purchasing prices, which, in its turn, is connected with the changing situation on both the domestic and global oil markets,’ Koltsovo airport’s CFO Anton Fedotov says. 'Besides, the traditional New Year’s hyper-demand for fuel has already led to certain shortage, so we would expect to raise the prices

‘NOVA Group, the construction holding, is a large and stably operating business whose entire activity is planned rigorously. Our customers know that the company always meets its liabilities in time and ends up with good quality products. At the moment, all of the holding’s top executives keep working as usual, as no new shareholders or proprietors have entered the company yet,’ NOVA Group’s press officer reports. In the meantime, media report Chairman Oleg Cherepanov has sold the business recently. ‘These reports only mean the company is investor-attractive, so we can’t help feeling proud,’

The communal housing and services companies of Kamensk-Uralsk (Sinara Group) owes IES Multiutilities 84 million RUR (as of December 1, 2007), which is 6 million more than in November 2007. The debt is, in fact, an unpaid hot water and electricity bill. Sinara was supposed to have paid the supplier 38 million RUR in November 2007, yet the debtor announced at the beginning of the month that they were only able to pay 34 million RUR. By the end of the month, however, they said they could only pay 25 million RUR, and ended up paying 14 million RUR, the spokesperson for IES Multiutilities said to

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Tyumenenergobank to nongovernmental financial institutions for 181 days to 1 year went down by 19.11% (from 157 million RUR to 127 million RUR) in January-November 2007.

The value of net assets of Energy - Mixed Investments (the unit investment trust) managed by Eurogreen Management Company Ltd. went down by .14% between November 30, 2007 and December 3, 2007. According to Eurogreen’s website, the company’s net assets decreased from 3,799,896.11 RUR on November 30, 2007 to 3,794,625.68 RUR on December 3, 2007.

The Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development is celebrating the New Year by offering its customers a chance to open or top up a bank deposit through an ATM. The offer is available for four types of deposits that can employ different currencies. The minimum amount of money one can deposit is 3,000 RUR, $100, or Ï100, and this amount can be deposited for anything between one hundred days and nine months. Depending on the type of deposit chosen, the interest can either be added up to one’s deposit or placed in the bank card account. The bank’s press officer says their customers can now save

Ural Airlines is going to add a Kemerovo-Baku flight to its winter timetable on December 21, 2007. Kemerovo is now the home of one of Russia’s largest Azerbaijan communities, so Ural Airlines actually decided to introduce this flight in order to meet this group of customers’ demands. This is going to be a scheduled flight, to be operated using a modern and comfortable TU 154M. The plane is to take off in Baku at 1.55 PM every Thursday and to arrive in Kemerovo at 9.05 PM, then the plane is to leave Kemerovo at 11.05 PM on Fridays and to arrive in Baku at 12.30 AM the next day. The cheapest