UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 21, 2018. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) Finance Group co-organized and contributed to three syndicated loans to Belarus-based banks this year, thus providing its partners with €17m (more than RUR 1.2bn) all in all, the bank’s press service reports. UBRD Finance Group’s member organization VUZ Bank financed Belarus-based ZAO Alfa Bank in February 2018: €2m out of the €29m and $6 offered through the syndicated loan. Svyaz-Bank, Otkritie FC Bank, Expobank, Gazprombank, Bank UralSib, AK Bars Bank, Zenit Bank, and Alef Bank all contributed

UrBC, Mezhdurechensk, November 20, 2018. EVRAZ plc, MTS, and Mezhdurechensk town council coordinated Superhit, a children’s singing contest that is part of the Generation M Charity Project, in Mezhdurechensk, EVRAZ Holding’s Raspadskaya Coal Company’s PR Department reports. The contest winners then performed at the Generation M SuperChidlren Gala alongside the show headliners, Ecole performers, and The Voice Russia Children participants. ‘The fourteen-year-old Tatyana Shulayakova, who impressed the judges with her powerful rendition of Storonoyu Dozhd, won the first prize. The

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 20, 2018. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development (UBRD) now offers its business customers an opportunity to set up a yuan deposit at any of its branches that works with legal entities. The annual interest rate comes to up to 3% a year, with the shortest deposit period set at five days,’ the bank’s press service reports. The bank believes getting away from the dollar dependence is currently one of the national market’s key financial trends. Both the government and the business are drifting away from the USD. Companies now keep their funds in the

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, November 20, 2018. The 24th Metal Expo 2018 International Industrial Exhibition featured the 16th awarding ceremony for the Best Corporate Media in Russia/CIS Metallurgical Sector Contest. According to Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) Information & PR Department, MMK’s corporate media TV IN, which represented MMK in the contest this year, won as the Best Electronic Corporate Media. The annual contest, coordinated by the specialized Metallosnabnzheniye I Sbyt magazine, intends to support and develop the corporate media market in the metallurgical sector. The

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 20, 2018. Nizhnyaya Tura is now one of the smaller towns in the Mid-Urals to join the digitalization program: the primary traffic flow, entry points, public places, and social infrastructure facilities are now controlled through MegaFon’s cloud surveillance program, the telecommunications provider’s press service reports. The town council and MegaFon signed their digitalization agreement during the Innoprom 2018 International Exhibition in July. The two parties now confirmed their plans and had their first cloud solution implemented. The goal is to ensure and

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 20, 2018. Ural Airlines offer reduced-price tickets for over 160 flights on November 19-26, 2018, the air carrier’s press service reports. ‘Wings Club members can also use their bonus points to partially or fully cover the cost of their ticket (1 bonus = RUR 1). To sign up for the airline’s loyalty program, you need to fill in a form on the company website. Every new Wings Club member gets a 500-ruble welcome bonus that can be used immediately,’ the press service says. For more information on the flights and destinations subject to the special offer, please visit

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 19, 2018. EVRAZ Holding’s Alardinskaya Mine accomplished its coal output goal for the year 2018 ahead of schedule. The mining teams have produced nearly 3m tons of coal since the start of the year, EVRAZ Raspadskaya Coal Company’s PR Department reports. ‘Alardinskaya Mine is the first among Raspadskaya Coal Company’s assets to produce the year’s target amount of coal this fall. EVRAZ Vice President and head of Coal Division Sergey Stepanov congratulated the miners on their success and awarded Alardinskaya’s best workers. Three miners are now Labor Veterans and

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 19, 2018. Public prosecution authorities of Yekaterinburg’s District Zheleznodorozhny identified six websites that sell salmon trout (Hucho taimen), Siberian white salmon (Stenodus leucichthys), and whitefish (Coregonus gen.) online. All of the three fish varieties are currently on Russia’s endangered species list. ‘The prosecuting attorney appealed to Yekaterinburg’s Zheleznodorozhny Court, asking to rule that it is illegal to make public any information relating to online trading in salmon trout, Siberian white salmon, and whitefish,’ Sverdlovsk Region Public

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, November 19, 2018. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) legal team, headed by Senior Legal Adviser Sergey Shepilov, was featured on Legal 500 list of Russia’s best Departments for Legal Issues. According to MMK Information & PR Department, GC Powerlist: Russia Teams features the most influential and innovative Legal Departments operating within Russian companies. The rating is based on the leading market experts’ assessments. MMK lawyers are described as highly skilled, talented, and experienced. Their profound expertise in the field of business processes results

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 19, 2018. Ural Airlines are going to operate up to nine Moscow-Blagoveshchensk flights a week; prices start from RUR 20,000 for a round trip ticket, the air carrier’s press service reports. In addition to daily Blagoveshchensk-Yekaterinburg-Moscow flights U6 299/300, more flights will get operated starting November 30, 2018. Flight U6 30 Blagoveshchensk-Yekaterinburg-Moscow will be available every Tuesday and Saturday; flight U6 29 Moscow-Yekaterinburg-Blagoveshchensk will be available on Mondays and Fridays. Special-offer prices start from RUR 20,000 (there and

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, November 19, 2018. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) intends to co-finance the projects of MMK Industrial Park’s residents in order to support and promote business development in Magnitogorsk, the company’s Information & PR Department reports. The co-financing will be offered to the most successful applicants planning to set up a new production facility or expand an existing one. MMK will supply up to 30% of the entire project’s cost, but no more than RUR 15m all in all. ‘This is seen as yet another incentive for the companies coming to set up an industrial

UrBC, Moscow, November 16, 2018. Russia’s State Duma adopted (in the third reading) a number of adjustments to the Budget Code to make sure that federal constituencies get to keep 80% of excise duty payments on strong drinks, the Duma’s website states. Besides, the consciences will also be able to keep up to 100% of excise duty payments on oil/mineral products within their own local budgets. As of now, the local budgets only get 50% of excise duty payments on strong drinks with over 9% alcohol content. It was decided that the percentage should go up to make up for the federal consciences’

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, November 16, 2018. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) and Magnitogorsk Council keep working together to plant more trees and shrubs in town; the investments are estimated at RUR 57m. According to MMK’s Information & PR Department, 10,500 young trees and shrubs will get planted in the next six years. The program to introduce more greenery in Magnitogorsk with MMK’s funds in 2018-2023 has been elaborated this year and approved of by MMK’s Director-General Pavel Shilyayev and Mayor of Magnitogorsk Sergey Berdnikov. The plant is already contributing to tree-planting

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 16, 2018. Ural Airlines now operate their direct Khabarovsk-Yekaterinburg flight thrice a week: on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays (and Yekaterinburg-Khabarovsk one on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Sundays). According to the air carrier’s press service, the non-stop flight only used to be available on Thursdays during the summer. Prices for the direct Khabarovsk-Yekaterinburg-Khabarovsk flight start from RUR 27,626 (round trip). Tickets are already on offer on the company website www.uralairlines.com, through Ural Airlines mobile app, over the phone +7-800-7700-262,

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, November 16, 2018. Chair of Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) Board of Directors Viktor Rashnikov was awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decree dated November 13, 2018, MMK’s Information & PR Department reports. The order was given ‘for work achievements and many years of conscientious performance,’ the Kremlin’s website states. A native of Magnitogorsk, Chelyabinsk Region, Viktor Rashnikov turned seventy on October 13, 2018. He has been working at MMK for over half a century now, as he first came to the plant in 1967.

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, November 16, 2018. ChelPipe Group is currently implementing a large-scale environmental project: based on the agreement ChelPipe Group, Russia’s Ministry for Natural Resources & The Environment, Rosprirodnadzor, and Chelyabinsk Region Government signed in 2016, a number of manufacturing water filtering facilities will get put up at the Group’s Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling Plant (ChelPipe). According to the Group’s press service, the plant is now at the first stage of project implementation and is working on the acid waste filtering facilities. This will cost more than RUR

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 15, 2018. 7,804,470 people flew with Ural Airlines in the first ten months of 2018, which exceeded the figures for one year earlier by 14%. According to the air carrier’s press service, Ural Airlines offered its services to 4,274,912 passengers on domestic flights, 2,058,305 passengers on international flights, and 1,471,253 passengers flying to and from the CIS member states. The company operated 52,695 flights in January-October 2018 (up 12% on a year earlier), including 29,251 domestic ones, 13,193 international ones, and 10,251 flights to and from the CIS

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, November 15, 2018. MMK Trading House and its subdivisions won several prestigious awards from the Russian Union of Metal and Steel Suppliers (RSPM). According to MMK’s Information & PR Department, the awarding ceremony took place at Metal Week in Moscow. Every year, the RSPM hosts three nationwide contests between July and October: Russia’s Best Metal Depot, Russia’s Best Steel Service Center, and Russia’s Best Sales Network. The goal is to bring into the limelight the achievements and best practices in the metal goods distribution sector and in the Russian steel

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 15, 2018. Ural Airlines are offering their customers reduced-price tickets for flights operated from Yekaterinburg to Sochi, Mineralnye Vody, and Krasnodar and back, the air carrier’s press service reports. ‘The skiing season takes off in November, so the resorts in Krasnodar Territory are ready for their first visitors. You can choose from the variously priced resorts near Sochi - Rosa Hutor, Gorky Gorod, Gazprom, Alpica Servis, and Lago Naki. There are skiing pistes for both beginners and professional skiers and all the infrastructure necessary for great family

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 15, 2018. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development increased the annual interest rate offered on its two ruble-based savings deposit types by 0.25% on November 14. This means the bank’s private customers can now get up to 7.5% a year on their savings (in case the deposit gets opened online or through a mobile banking app; plus, you also need to subscribe to the all-inclusive package), the bank’s press service reports. The interest rates went up for two dollar deposit types as well: you can now get up to 3% a year on these (in case the deposit gets