On July 12, 2007 Federal Financial Market Service provided Ural Treasures Bank with non-expiry type licenses entitling it to dealership, security trust management, brokerage operations, and depository operations; these licenses are to replace the earlier ones that were only valid for three years, the bank’s press officer reports.

Revda’s public prosecution authorities completed the investigation of a criminal suit related to the accident at Nizhneserginskiy Hardware Plant on May 11, 2007. Some safety violations like noncompliance with labor safety requirements and maltreatment of explosives resulted in a major blow-out of steam that was emitted by the steel-smelting furnace. Eight people were wounded, with one of them passing away later on and two victims getting very badly hurt. The shopfloor manager and the steel maker have already been accused of safety violations when operating highly explosive machinery that led

43 business hubs with the total area of over 2 million square meters will have been put up in Yekaterinburg by 2015, the spokesperson for the city council reports. This is part of the Business Hubs Program adopted by the city council and targeted at turning Yekaterinburg into a competitive business estate market that would meet all the international standards. The council thus aims to redistribute the existing demand in favor of better quality offices, have the old office buildings replaced with new ones, improve on the office management and building maintenance practices, and develop the

Lending agencies’ investments included in Sverdlovsk Gubernskiy Bank’s liabilities list amounted to 380,073,000 RUR on July 1, 2006, which falls short of the figures for a year earlier (that is, 918,573,000 RUR) by 58.63%, or 538,500,000 RUR. This information was presented in media reports.

Bank 24.ru’s Instant Payments system now offers the bank’s customers an opportunity to top up their GoodLine and SimTravel tourist SIM card accounts without any commission. The new e-application forms are available via Internet Bank (the Mobile Communication Payments section/ International Cell Phone Calls subsection). The bank’s offer is supported by Autocard Holding. A tourist SIM card is a way of making one’s phone calls much cheaper, since using this card when you are abroad is considerably less costly than using your mobile operator’s roaming services. Otherwise, a tourist SIM card is no

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of non-resident legal entities’ investments in METCOMBANK valid for over 3 years went down by 90.3% (from 103.28 million RUR to 10 million RUR) in January-June 2007.

Lending agencies’ investments included in Sverdlovsk Gubernskiy Bank’s liabilities list amounted to 380,073,000 RUR on July 1, 2006, which falls short of the figures for a year earlier (that is, 918,573,000 RUR) by 58.63%, or 538,500,000 RUR. This information was presented in media reports.

Central Bank of Russia reports the volume of loans given by GRAN Commercial Bank to natural persons for a term of 90 days to 180 days went down by 79.5% (from 5.415 million RUR to 1.108 million RUR) in January-June 2007.

Bank 24.ru’s Instant Payments system now offers the bank’s customers an opportunity to top up their GoodLine and SimTravel tourist SIM card accounts without any commission. The new e-application forms are available via Internet Bank (the Mobile Communication Payments section/ International Cell Phone Calls subsection). The bank’s offer is supported by Autocard Holding. A tourist SIM card is a way of making one’s phone calls much cheaper, since using this card when you are abroad is considerably less costly than using your mobile operator’s roaming services. Otherwise, a tourist SIM card is no

SKB-Bank was included in the list of Russia’s Top 100 largest banks in terms of assets in the first half of 2007; this list was compiled by the Interfax-Center for Economic Analysis (Interfax-CEA), The Center reports seven banks from the list are based in Ural Federal District and most of them managed to raise the volume of their assets within the given six months. SKB-Bank was declared Russia’s 81st largest bank; the bank’s assets rose by 28.6% and reached 23.697 billion RUR in January-June 2007. This is the most impressive growth result among the Ural banks that made it possible for

Olips, the local developer, signed an agreement with Knight Frank, the London-based consultancy, regarding the design and development of a business hub at 13 Repin St. in Yekaterinburg. Knight Frank, founded in London over a hundred years ago, has been operating on the Russian market for over ten years now. The company is the leading player on the office, storehouse, trade, and housing estate markets. Knight Frank is expected to design the general concept of a business center that will be based in the north-eastern part of the city, at the intersection of Repin St. and Kraul St.,

Uralsevergas made a list of debtors consisting of Sverdlovsk Region-based housing maintenance and utilities services that haven’t been paying their gas bills for over two months. The greatest debtors are the town of Nizhniy Tagil, with its 244,007,509.78 RUR worth of debts, Revda, with its 19,623,154.22 RUR worth of debts, Ivdel, with its 105,568,662.32 RUR worth of debts, and Severouralsk, with its 101,901,571.1 RUR worth of debts.

The value of net assets of Energy – Mixed Investments, the unit investment fund managed by Eurogreen Management Company Ltd. keeps going down. According to Eurogreen’s website, the company’s net assets decreased from 5,291,664.05 RUR on June 26, 2007 to 5,175,234.42 RUR on July 27, 2007, or by 2.2%.

The volume of advanced mortgage repayments came to 113.01 million RUR in 2005, including 92.203 million RUR worth of ruble repayments and 20.807 million RUR worth of payments made in foreign currency. Last year, the volume of advanced mortgage repayments came to 471.152 million RUR, including 403.175 million RUR worth of ruble repayments and 67.977 million RUR worth of payments made in foreign currency.

Governor of Chelyabinsk Region set up a special committee responsible for managing the drain area of Shershnevskoye Pond. The spokesperson for the Governor reports the committee will have to make sure all the environmental, economic, and social factors are taken into account when buildings are put up in the vicinity of the pond; the committee, chaired by Deputy Governor Vladimir Dyatlov, will also be in charge of approving of the city planning papers as far as this territory is concerned. Shershnevskoye Pond is Chelyabinsk and its satellites’ only source of drinking water. The regional

Head of Sverdlovsk Region Government Viktor Koksharov is reported to be going on vacation; according to the spokesperson for the Governor, Mr. Koksharov is expected to be back by August 6, 2007.

The balance of foreign trade within Ural Customs Administration zone reached $5 billion in January-March 2007, which falls short of figures for a year earlier by 43.1% due to a 45.9% increase in import figures and a 26.5% decrease in export ones, Ural Customs Administration’s press officer reports. The total value of exported goods amounted to $8 billion in January-June 2007, with 80.4%, or $6.4 billion worth of goods shipped far abroad and 19.6%, or $1.6 billion worth of goods shipped to the CIS. The export volume reached 10.4 million tons, with 31.7%, or 3.3 million tons shipped to the CIS

The net profit of UralSvyazInform (the regional mobile operator and telecommunication provider) went down by 12.58% or 151.049 million RUR in the second quarter of the year. The figures decreased from 1,200,784,000 RUR in January-March 2007 to 1,049,735,000 RUR in April-June 2007. This information was published in compliance with the demand that an issuer and/or a joint stock investment fund must promptly reveal any information that could influence its stock price.

Central Bank of Russia reports volume of loans given by Uralprivatbank to natural persons for 181 days to 1 year went down by 56.1% (from 35.041 million RUR to 15.369 million RUR) in January-June 2007.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Tagilbank to profit-making self-regulatory organizations for 181 days to 1 year went down by 45.9% (from 59.1 million RUR to 31.941 million RUR) in January-June 2007.