Finansoviye Izvestiya analysts and experts from the law-enforcement agencies made a list of places Russians tend to use for hiding their money; ironically, it is in these places that burglars find this money most often. People usually keep their savings in wardrobes, dressers, drawers, writing desks, or on the bookshelves . One can, however, protect one’s money quite painlessly by simply making a bank deposit, SKB-Bank’s Deposit Director Denis Belogurov believes. ‘A bank deposit is a guarantee of safety. Any sum ranging between 1 RUR and 400,000 RUR that is placed with a bank is protected and

22 shipments with the total weight of 838 tons coming from ten different countries were not allowed to enter Russia on June 1-10, 2007. Employees of Rosselkhoznadzor (the state agricultural watchdog) drew up 19 declarations on return of 376 tons of goods (including 263 tons of meat and meat products) to the EU (mainly to Germany, the Netherlands, and Italy). According to Rosselkhoznadzor’s press officer, the better part of the violations preventing the goods from entering Russia legally had to do with lack of entry permits and veterinary certificates; some foods were made at farms not

Olips, one of local developers, presented its projects related to creating mall concepts at a conference on chain development in Moscow. The presentation was made by the company’s Financial Director Boris Terentiev and Sales Director Svetlana Putsigova. The country’s best consultants (including GVA Vice President Evelina Ishmetova and Ilya Shuravin of S. A. Ricci and King Sturge) spend several hours scrutinizing the projects and giving advice on improvements. 'We chose to speak on two of our projects: Dirigible Mall and Parkoviy Trade and Entertainment Center. The new concept of the

A new head office of Sberbank’s Ural branch will be put up at the intersection of Kuibyshev St., Rosa Luxemburg St., and Gogol St. - right in the center of the city. The symbolic beginning of the construction process took place on June 27, 2007 when Head of Sberbank’s Ural branch Vladimir Cherkashin and Mayor of Yekaterinburg Arkadiy Chernetskiy placed a time capsule in the foundation. The ceremony was attended by Archbishop of Yekaterinburg and Verkhoturiye Vikentiy, Deputy Mayors Vladimir Kritskiy, Alexander Lyashenko, and Alexander Yakob, Head of the Central Bank of Russia in Sverdlovsk

A new rolled wire shop is going to be launched at Kyshtym Copper Electrolysis Works (part of Russian Copper Company) on July 14, 2007, Chairman of Russian Copper Company Igor Altushkin declared at a meeting with Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Petr Sumin. Mr. Altushkin said the new shop would be capable of producing up to 100,000 tons of rolled wire a year; both equipment and technologies were supplied by Southwire, a well-reputed American producer, so the company would be able to produce the best quality goods, namely, A-class rolled wire. Mr. Altushkin also spoke on the other upgrading

A power generating unit that was damaged by a major fire at Reftinskaya power station (part of OGK-5) is going to be restored in 2008, General Director of United Dispatch Control of Ural Power Networks Petr Erokhin announced at a press conference in Yekaterinburg. United Dispatch Control of Ural Power Networks reports approximately 2,000 megawatts were lost as a result of the accident at the power station. Mr. Erokhin says the new equipment will only be delivered to Reftinskaya power station in 2008. The fire broke out on December 20, 2006 and was classed as a third-degree one in terms of

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of non-profit NGOs’ deposits in Sverdlovsk Gubernskiy Bank valid for 91 days to 180 days went down by 88% (from 90 million RUR to 10 million RUR) in January-May 2007.

Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Petr Sumin met Chairman of Russian Copper Company Igor Altushkin to discuss the company’s investment projects in Chelyabinsk Region. Russian Copper Company has already managed to fully restore a number of industrial sites and put up some ore mining enterprises in the region. Mr. Altushkin spoke on the company’s prospective development in 2007-2010; the plan presupposes further expansion of business through setting up new enterprises, renovating and upgrading the existing ones, and introducing advanced industrial technologies. ‘Russian Copper Company will have

'Turkey and Egypt have been our tourists’ favorite destinations this season; people also enjoy going to Greece and Spain,’ Director of Alan Tour Travel Agency Angela Sergeenko said to UrBC. 'On average, it will cost you between $600 to $700 to go abroad this summer; most of our customers choose to stay in four-star hotels,’ Ms Sergeenko said.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by SberInvestBank to profit-making self-regulatory organizations for 181 days to 1 year went down by 29% (from 102.062 million RUR to 71.792 million RUR) in January-May 2007.

URSA Bank’s Ural Branch held a series of prize-winning lotteries in all of its offices on June 24, 2007. This was the climax of the bank’s two special offers known as ‘Bet on Comfort’ and ‘Weekend Prizes’. All the customers who deposited their rubles, euros, or dollars or prolonged their time deposits between April 24, 2007 and June 20, 2007 could use ‘Bet on Comfort’ and all the individuals who did the same and/or got a loan from the bank over the weekends between May 3, 2007 and June 20, 2007 could take part in the Weekend Prizes project. 'Our clients could win DVD players, home

CONTACT, the international money order system, announced it introduced 157 new terminals within just the first half of June. SKB-Bank’s Commission Services Director Lyudmila Belyaeva believes this means that this service has been enjoying great demand lately. 'Money orders are becoming increasingly popular. People are making more cash transfers both in the country on the whole and with the help of SKB-Bank in particular. The systems are trying to meet the demand and win their customers over by making more favorable offers on tariffs, introducing new services, and expanding

'The total area of malls and trade centers in Yekaterinburg increased by over 500,000 square meters last year when some new shops were introduced and some old buildings were renovated,’ Chair of Yekaterinburg Commodities Market Committee Elena Chernyshova announced at a press conference devoted to the opening of Eldorado supermarket. 'In my opinion, the number of malls in the city is already beyond all reasonable limits, even though some investors don’t think so and keep putting up more of them. We’ve got 650 square meters of trade areas per 1,000 city dwellers at the moment,

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by UralTransBank to sole traders for 31 days to 90 days went down by 27% (from 74.053 million RUR to 53.954 million RUR) in January-April 2007.

Ore Mining and Processing Enterprise of Kachkanar (aka Vanadium, part of Evraz Group) acquired some new railway engineering equipment: two industrial electrics meant for open-pit working were launched on June 26, 2007. These are already transferring ore from the company’s Main, Northern, and Western mines to the breaking plant as well as taking the mining waste to the dump. One electric with 11 dumpcars attached is capable of transporting about 10,000 tons of stuffs, the spokesperson for Evraz Group reports. 'These electrics were designed for the company by experts of a

Sverdlovsk Hotel is going to be sold by auction; the decision was taken by Yekaterinburg Municipal Duma on June 26, 2007. Shares of Sverdlovsk Hotel are to be put up to auction in September or October 2007.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Sverdlovsk Gubernskiy Bank to natural persons for 31 days to 90 days went down by 96% (from 745,000 RUR to 198,000 RUR) in January-May 2007.

Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel met United Company RUSAL BOD member Oleg Deripaska and Chairmen Viktor Vekselberg and Alexander Bulygin, who arrived from Moscow, at Koltsovo airport of Yekaterinburg on June 26, 2007. Special helicopters took the delegation to Krasnoturinsk, where a presentation on the developmental strategy of RUSAL-owned enterprises based in Sverdlovsk Region was made for them. The managers are expected to pay a visit to Bogoslovskiy Aluminum Plant as well.

DSG International (formerly known as Dixons) Board of Directors decided to waive the option they had of buying a share in Eldorado, a retail chain dealing in consumer electronics and home appliances. 'We’ve learned a lot about the company and the market it’s operating on. Our Board came to a conclusion that it’s not truly expedient to invest in it at the moment,’ DSG International General Director John Clare said. DSG International reports abandoning the option is not going to affect them financially; however, the company’s stock price dropped by nearly 5% on the very day of abandonment.

Finam analysts looked into the accounts and reports for the year 2006 drawn up by UralSvyazInform (one of Sverdlovsk Region’s major cell phone operators) in compliance with the International Accounting Standards. They believe the company showed some bad trends last year, for example, it grew less profitable in terms of OIBDA and net profit because of increasing revenue growth juxtaposed with a rising market. They still say it would be reasonable to sell both the ordinary and preference shares of UralSvyazInform with the target price going down, Finam.Ru reports.