The Bank of Russia came up with data on bank card transactions performed in different Russian regions in the third quarter of 2007. Moscow and Moscow Region, with their 44.8 million cardholders, and Saint Petersburg, with its 4.6 million cardholders, were traditionally the most developed parts of the country in this respect, while Sverdlovsk Region was given the fourth position. There were over 3 million registered cardholders there on October 1, 2007. SKB-Bank reports the region’s dwellers performed 19.2 million bank card transactions worth 72 million RUR in July-September 2007. Actually,

'The price of a product should depend on the quality of the strong drink rather than on the type of bottle and packaging used. Khortytsa sees its products’ outstanding quality as the company’s utmost priority, so the statistical data we have are hardly surprising: anyone who’s tried our drink at least once will stay loyal to the brand forever. We are already supplying alcohol to seventy-seven different countries, which means we’ve managed to win our customers over as well as convince them that our vodka is a great quality product,’ Khortytsa’s Marketing Director Sergey Velichko says. In

Ural Airlines was able to keep its Yekaterinburg-Irkutsk flight in its winter timetable. The flight is operated twice a week (Tuesdays and Sundays) using a modern comfortable A 320 plane. Each Tuesday and Sunday, the plane leaves for Irkutsk at 5.05 AM and 2.25 AM respectively. Every Wednesday and Sunday, the plane takes off in Irkutsk at 12.35 AM and 10.05 PM respectively. 'A 320 is the most suitable type of airplane for this destination: it’s very fuel efficient, which is why we can still afford to use it in the winter even though the passenger traffic is on the decrease,’ says Ural

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by UralFinPromBank to sole traders for 31 to 90 days went down by 21.33% (from 1.5 million RUR to 1.18 million RUR) in January-October 2007.

Olips, one of Yekaterinburg’s major developers, is going to present its projects at MAPIC commercial estate exhibition in Cannes on November 14-16, 2007. Olips’s presentation will be made within the framework of the Russian Trade Center Union’s exhibition project and is to cover the company’s four current projects: the Dirigible Mall, Parkoviy Trade and Entertainment Center, Magnet Trade and Entertainment Center, and Fashion Gallery. MAPIC is one of the world’s most respectable commercial estate exhibitions. ‘Apart from giving one a chance to be in the know of all the news in the field and

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by UralPrivatBank to sole traders for 91 to 180 days went down by 100% (from 75,000 RUR to zero) in January-October 2007.

Engine-house employees from Sverdlovsk-Passagirskiy, Perm-2, Perm-Sortirovochnaya, and Vologda depots decided to join in the Russian Railways Public Company’s personnel strike scheduled by their trade union for the end of November 2007. The decision was taken at the trade union meeting after the company refused to meet the union’s demands.

Sverdlovsk Region’s division of Federal Antimonopoly Service claims that Koltsovo airport of Yekaterinburg, RusAviaJet Ltd., Ural Oil Company, and Aviaprad have been violating the Federal Competition Protection Act, the regional spokesperson for the Service reports. The Service found out the four businesses had apparently colluded in such a way that could lead to unjustifiably differing prices determined for one and the same kind of product. Then, Koltsovo airport is reported to be pursuing a pricing policy that could limit or even completely eliminate the market competition and infringe on

Sverdlovsk Region’s division of Federal Antimonopoly Service keeps collecting evidence for the upcoming court hearing of UralTransBank and Bank Severnaya Kazna’s case; the two companies are accused of violating the antimonopoly legislation. 'Our division is now busy piecing together all the customers’ complaints about overpriced insurance tariffs these banks imposed on their loans,’ Deputy Head of Sverdlovsk Region’s division of Federal Antimonopoly Service Sergei Volkov said to UrBC. The Service claimed UralTransBank and Bank Severnaya Kazna violated the Federal Competition Protection

The awarding ceremony of the first All-Russian Person of The Year in Metallurgy and Metal Trading 2007 competition took place in Moscow. The contest is largely targeted at making the achievements of metallurgical enterprises better known to the general public. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) Chairman Viktor Rashnikov won in the Business Reputation category, MMK’s press officer reports. The award was given to him to signify his great contribution to the development of Russia’s largest metallurgical enterprise. With Mr. Rashnikov in management, the company was able to double its metal

According to a rating compiled by the Delovoy Kvartal magazine, SKB-Bank proved to be one of Sverdlovsk Region’s banks with the greatest number of offices and subsidiaries throughout Russia: the bank is reported to have set up eighty-two offices (nineteen of which are located in Yekaterinburg, thirty-one in Sverdlovsk Region, thirteen in Ural Federal District, and nineteen in other parts of the country) by November 1, 2007. Apart from that, SKB-Bank is the region’s most dynamically expanding bank with the greatest number of subsidiaries introduced in January-October 2007. Moreover, SKB-Bank

Whether Absolut is going to be sold by auction has not been settled yet; however, a few companies have already placed their bids, and Khortytsa, a major Ukrainian strong drinks producer, was one of those. Vadim Drobiz, the spokesperson for the Union of Strong Drink Market Players, says the tender might never take place after all. ‘The global liquor market is experiencing a huge vodka boom at the moment, and this boom is likely to last for a decade or so, which means the price Absolut can be bought at now ($5.5bn) is going to rise by $1bn a year on average. So the brand is bound to cost much

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by TyumenEnergoBank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for 31 to 90 days went down by 85.63% (from 567.03 million RUR to 81.506 million RUR) in January-October 2007.

ChTPZ-Complex Pipe Systems had its Transcert certificate (level 2) renewed. The certificate is part of the facultative certification system and was given to the company in 2006 by the National Institute of Transport Standardization, Expertise and Certification. In fact, these certificates had earlier been given to all the member enterprises of ChTPZ-Complex Pipe Systems: to a pipe plant in Chelyabinsk, MSA a.s. based in the Czech Republic, and an enterprise located in Magnitogorsk. Having this certificate as a proof of the quality of services rendered by Russia’s major oil transportation

Olips, a developer from Yekaterinburg responsible for the Dirigible Mall project, is about to start making the design and concept of the mall (developed by Cushman&Wakefield Stiles&Riabokobylko) a reality. Firstly, the company needs to put up an extension to the existing mall: a three-storey building with the total area of 48,740 square meters with a gallery that will connect it to the older building. The ground floor will be given to a hypermarket, the other two floors are meant for shops and entertainment. There are going to be 32,000 square meters to rent altogether. In addition,

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Sverdlovsk Gubernskiy Bank to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for 31 to 90 days went down by 75.23% (from 176.067 million RUR to 43.606 million RUR) in January-October 2007.

The Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development raised its core capital and was therefore promoted to the 86th position in Interfax-CEA’s Russia’s Top 100 Largest banks rating. According to this rating, the bank’s core capital amounted to 2,774,900,000 RUR on October 1, 2007, which was 26.3% better than at the beginning of 2007. 'Bank capitalization growth can be observed throughout the entire country; banks need to survive despite the fierce competition and the customers’ growing demands, so they are trying to accumulate some assets of their own,’ the Ural Bank for Reconstruction and

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by VUZ Bank to sole traders for 31 to 90 days went down by 34.71% (from 3.48 million RUR to 2.272 million RUR) in January-October 2007.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by AGROPROMBANK Credit to for-profit self-regulatory organizations for 91 to 180 days went down by 43.64% (from 770.281 million RUR to 434.158 million RUR) in January-October 2007.

The value of net assets of Energy - Mixed Investments (the unit investment trust) managed by Eurogreen Management Company Ltd. went down by .08% between November 6, 2007 and November 7, 2007. According to Eurogreen’s website, the company’s net assets decreased from 4,043,827.89 RUR on November 6, 2007 to 4,040,717.02 RUR on November 7, 2007.