Head of Government Mikhail Fradkov supported the Ministry for Industry and Energy in their decision not to allow AMUR car factory based in Novouralsk to deal in industrial assemblage of Chinese cars. Mr. Fradkov voiced his opinion in the course of the Government meeting where Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel presented a report on the region’s socio-economic development. 'If Chinese cars look like manna from heaven, it does make you question things,’ Mr. Fradkov is reported to have said. The assembly line meant for Chinese cars was launched at Automobiles and Motors of the

'Some small travel agents are going to leave Sverdlovsk Region market; however, all the major players who really shape the mass market demand are going to stay. The new legislation provides for a very clear division between travel agents and tour operators, which is only going to do us all good,’ Sverdlovsk Region Minister for Physical Education, Sports, and Tourism Konstantin Brylyakov said to UrBC. The law states that beginning from June 1, 2007, only the companies listed in the United Federal Register will actually be able to operate on the market.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Uralprivatbank to sole traders for 181 days to 1 year went down 17% (from 10.848 million RUR to 8.951 million RUR) in January-April 2007.

According to the Central Bank of Russia, volume of loans given by Agroprombank to profit-making NGOs for 181 days to 1 year went down 15% (from 1,666,270,000 RUR to 1,400,816,000 RUR) in January-April 2007.

General Director of SladCo Confectionery (part of Orkla Foods) Alexander Mikhailov decided to resign, the company’s press officer reports. Maxim Ivanov is going to be the company’s acting GD until the new GD has been appointed. Mr. Ivanov will be reporting to Paul Jordahl, Orkla Foods CEO in Russia and the Ukraine.

'Vista Travel Agency knew very well that it was going to make the Federal Antimonopoly Service in Sverdlovsk Region unhappy. By launching an advertising campaign as aggressive as theirs, they couldn’t but take into account the possible consequences like the sanctions the Service is highly likely to impose on them,’ Deputy Director of Bosfor Travel Agency Alexei Petrov said to UrBC. The thing is, Vista (half of whose shares (51%) was bought by Finpromco in March 2007) is about to face accusations of violating the federal advertising law and to have a lawsuit filed against them since their

Metallurgical Industrial Complex of Nizhniy Tagil (part of Evraz Group) produced its first set of rails for Turkish State Railways (TCDD). The railway company requested 4,000 tons of rails; some of them have already been shipped to Turkey, with the second shipment to be sent in mid-June. Metallurgical Industrial Complex of Nizhniy Tagil is currently negotiating for more supplies in the next two years, EvrazGroup’s press officer reports.

Rostourism has recently updated its lists of travel agents who managed to submit all the right applications and get on the United Federal Register. Only five Yekaterinburg-based ravel agents were actually able to make it: Ural Travel Company Ltd., Europort Ltd., More Travel Russian Club Ltd., Mega Tour Travel Company Ltd., and ProfService Ltd. The rest have only got until June 1, 2007 to apply for the registration. 'Beginning from June 1, 2007, unregistered travel agents will no longer be able to operate on the market. In case they try to, they will have to face a criminal suit and an

Regional statisticians report that retail trade turnover in Sverdlovsk Region grew by 27.3% in January-March 2007 against the first quarter of 2006, reaching 82.3 billion RUR. Yekaterinburg’s share came to 66.3%. In twenty-seven municipalities, retail trade growth rates exceeded the region’s average.

SKB-Bank experts report more mortgages were given to Russian banks’ customers in the first quarter of 2007 than a year earlier. Sverdlovsk Region with its 2.7 billion RUR worth of mortgages was No. 7 on the Top 10 list. 12.6 billion RUR worth of loans were issued in Moscow, Moscow Region with its 5.2 billion RUR worth of loans was No. 4 on the list, 5.5 billion RUR worth of loans were issued in Saint Petersburg, 5.6 billion RUR worth of loans were issued in Tyumen Region, banks of Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Region provided their customers with 3.06 billion RUR worth of loans, those based in

Ural Treasures Bank held its annual general meeting on May 30, 2007. The meeting resulted in the shareholders’ decision to approve of the bank’s annual report for 2006 as well as the balance sheet and appoint Yekaterinburg Audit Center the bank’s auditor. The new Board of Directors was elected as well. These are Deputy Head of Sverdlovsk Region Government Oleg Gusev, Vice Presidents of Ural Financial Holding Irina Lukyanets and Konstantin Pyzhov, Ural Treasures Bank CEO Ilya Markov, Chairperson of Mechel Bank Elena Nesterova, Counselor of Ural Financial Holding Anton Tretyakov, and President

The Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development was declared one of Russia’s Top 200 largest commercial banks list in the first quarter of 2007 by Kommersant Dengi magazine. The bank also hit Ural Federal District’s Top 3 list (as was the case last year); its equity capital amounted to 27,571,017,000 RUR and its net wealth rose to 28,690,942,000 RUR on April 1, 2007 the bank’s press officer reports. ‘The Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development was announced to have the most developed retail services in Ural Federal District; it also was Russia’s No. 29 in terms of individual

Czech Travel Center is going to operate in Yekaterinburg until the end of the year; the decision was taken by First Deputy Head of Sverdlovsk Region Government Vladimir Molchanov and First Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic when the two met at Sverdlovsk Region’s presentation in the Czech Republic. This information was reported by the spokesperson for Governor of Sverdlovsk Region.

Sverdlovsk Gubernskiy Bank placed its balance sheet data as of March 1, 2007 on the corporate website. According to these data, the bank’s assets placed with crediting organizations went down 69% between February 1, 2007 and March 1, 2007 (or from 97,091,000 RUR to 29,531,000 RUR).

'Aviaprad currently owes Koltsovo airport 500 million RUR,’ Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel announced at a recent press conference relating to the airport’s attempts to offer Ural Airlines’ slots to Aviaprad. 'Given the great debt this carrier has, one cannot help questioning this company’s future,’ the Governor said.

According to a rating published by Kommersant Dengi magazine (published on May 28, 2007), URSA Bank hit 20th on Russia’s Top 20 largest banks list in terms of net wealth and 22nd on Russia’s Top 20 largest banks list in terms of equity capital. 'URSA Bank was No.7 in terms of being the most customer-friendly and No. 12 in terms of most developed retail services and investments by natural persons; it was also 24th in terms of profits and 15th in terms of attracted investments and securities,’ the bank’s press officer reports.

'We are currently thinking of who is going to become the new general director of Koltsovo airport; as for the former GD Mikhail Maximov, he is guilty of a breach of law as well as of failing to comply with the orders issued by the Ministry of Transport since he chose to change the traditional flight schedule for Ural Airlines (the one the carrier has used for years) more or less ad libitum,’ Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel announced at a press conference on May 29, 2007. 'Mr. Maximov has received a number of warnings from the Ministry in the past, but he did not seem to

Aramil, Sysert, and Verkhnyaya Pyshma put up most houses (per 1,000 citizens) in Sverdlovsk Region in January-April 2007. No dwellings were commissioned in Volchanskiy, Krasnouralsk, Garinskiy, Staroutkinsk, Malyshevskiy, and Taborinskiy municipalities. These data were presented in the report on the regional cities’ socio-economic development in the four months of 2007 drawn up by Sverdlovsk Region Ministry for Economics and Labor.

A meeting of the city council’s exhibition coordinating committee was held in Yekaterinburg on May 29, 2007. The agenda of the meeting covered issues related to the implementation of the International Exposition Center project in the first quarter of 2007, Yekaterinburg Commodities Market Committee reports. The city is expected to host 179 exhibitions this year altogether; 45 of them have already been organized in January-March 2007. The average number of visitors per exhibition amounted to 8,116 people; the average stand area reached 7.4 square meters; the average number of foreign exhibits

Governor of Sverdlovsk Region Eduard Rossel sent his address regarding the region’s taxation and budgetary developmental strategies in 2008-2010 to Sverdlovsk Region Legislative Assembly, the spokesperson for the Governor reports. For the first time this year, the region’s budget (as well as that of the Russian Federation) is to be adopted for a three-year period.