‘The import of the so-called grey (i.e. illegally made) meat to Russia amounted to 200,000 tons in January-March 2007. This cheap, low-quality frozen meat that had no vitamins or anything left in it was transferred to the country through Kazakhstan, Byelorussia, and Kaliningrad,’ the spokesperson for Sverdlovsk Region Ministry of Agriculture and Food Anatoly Feoktistov said to UrBC. ‘Rosselkhoznadzor’s ban on meat import from Kazakhstan due to an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease is definitely a good thing. The region’s dwellers won’t risk buying and eating low-quality food; I’m positive

The water level has gone up in most of the local rivers over the last two days, with the highest rise of water level recorded in the River Sosva. 11 bridges have been flooded, 21 settlements with the total population of 2,826 people got isolated from the rest of the world. The water level in the Pyshma now amounts to 509 centimeters against the critical 640 centimeters; the figure comes to 764 centimeters (against the critical 1,140 centimeters) for the Nitsa and to 521 centimeters (against the critical 840 centimeters) in the Tura. Three bridges located in the villages of Zhukovskoye,

Regional statisticians report that the population of Sverdlovsk Region decreased by 10,000 people last year and reached the point of 4,399,700 people on January 1, 2007. Mortality rate went down 27.5% against 2005; the ratio of those dying to those born came to 1/1.4 against 1/1.6 in 2005. 47,300 people were born last year, which exceeds the figures for a year earlier by 3%; 67,200 people died, which is 8.4% fewer than in 2005. In more than half of the cases (55.6%), death was the result of cardiovascular diseases. People coming to settle in Sverdlovsk Region outnumbered those leaving the

UralSeverGaz summed up the results of its performance during this year’s heating season. Most of the housing maintenance and utilities services that buy their gas accumulated large debts in terms of paying for the gas they had already consumed. The total sum of debts reached the point of 1.775 billion RUR on April 25, 2007, which is thrice the amount recorded in October 2006 when the heating season actually began (650 million). The housing maintenance and utilities services make up only 12% of natural gas consumers, whereas their share of delayed payments amounts to 73%. ‘The end of the

Ural Airlines has come up with new discounts on business class tickets for travelers willing to use Yekaterinburg-Moscow-Yekaterinburg and Chelyabinsk-Moscow-Chelyabinsk flights. The cheapest tickets can now be bought for 16,000 RUR for Yekaterinburg flight and for 15,000 RUR for Chelyabinsk flight. The price also varies according to the time of the purchase: if one acquires a ticket within a fortnight of Yekaterinburg-Moscow-Yekaterinburg flight, it is only going to cost 16,000 RUR, whereas a passenger buying a ticket a week before the flight will have to pay 19,000 RUR. In addition, there

Koltsovo airport customs officers averted an attempt of smuggling currency to Germany at the airport’s international terminal, where one of the passengers with a ticket for Yekaterinburg-Munich flight chose not to declare a large sum of foreign currency when using the ‘green light’, says the spokesperson for Ural Customs Administration. The random check procedure made it clear that the passenger had ?10,870 and 10,000 RUR on him, which is against the existing law. The customs officers filed a criminal suit against the offender, accusing him of smuggling.

‘The results of the public offering launched by Magnitogorsk Metallurgical Industrial Complex appear to be rather controversial. On the one hand, the company did achieve its goal of offering a certain number of shares, but on the other, the shares were offered more cheaply than the in the course of regular transactions, which is why they dropped by almost 5% at MICEX the next day. All in all, this IPO failed our expectations, although the prices could actually be even lower,’ Director of Ural subsidiary of Accord-Invest Investment Company Konstantin Selyanin said to UrBC. Magnitogorsk

Kurgan customs officers found and withdrew 1,421 counterfeited items in January-March 2007 and eighty two items as recently as last week, reports Ural Customs Administration. There were, among other things, a few scores of phonogram-bearing DVDs arrested at Zverinogolovskiy division; the disks were hidden in an Audi going to Kazakhstan. The offender will have to undergo an administrative suit.

Rosselkhoznadzor (the state agricultural watchdog) intends to send a group of Russian vets to look into just how effective the performance of their Brazilian counterparts is. Some vets will be sent to specifically check the quality of meat supplied to Russia. The delegation is expected to set off before May 1, 2007. All this is brought about by Rosselkhoznadzor’s (probably grounded) suspicions that 13 Brazilian enterprises have been importing adulterated meat produce to Russia.

Russian Copper Company is currently putting up a mine at Priorskoye deposit, the company’s press officer says. The estimated capacity of the mine will come to .5 million tons of copper-zinc ore a year; the project requires $65 million worth of investments and is expected to be launched in the first quarter of 2008. Besides, Russian Copper Company is going to expand a processing shop at 50-letiya Oktyabrya deposit in order to raise its annual output to 5 million tons of ore, 60,000 tons of copper, and 50,000 tons of zinc. The newly renovated shop will be launched at the beginning of 2008 as

West Siberian Metallurgical Industrial Complex (part of Evraz Group) assessed its conservational activity in January-March 2007. 22 of its departments underwent internal environmental audit procedures which proved that the state of events in the field of conservation was much better than a year earlier. Over 115 executives and experts attended professional development workshops devoted to hazardous waste management, environmental management, environmental safety, and rational nature management. The company also renovated a number of facilities in the coal-cleaning plant, one of the coking

Bank Interaction Committee (chaired by Deputy Head of Sverdlovsk Region Government and Minister of Economics and Labor Galina Kovaleva) met in Yekaterinburg. Their meeting was attended by executives from 40 regional and federal banks and law-enforcement officers. Some of the reports were presented by acting head of the Bank of Russia in Sverdlovsk Region L. Malykh, chairman of Ural Union of Bankers V. Muranova, first deputy chairman of Ural Bank of Sberbank of Russia L. Shilchikova, director of Yekaterinburg-based office of URSA Bank M. Krasnikov, director of Bank24.ru B. Dyakonov, and

Rosselkhoznadzor (the state agricultural watchdog) prevented the import of 27 tons of Turkish lemons found to have unacceptably high chlorpyriphos content to Russia. According to Rosselkhoznadzor’s press officer, even though the Turkish authorities have promised to protect the quality of their produce and to certify every single box meant for Russia, this particular shipment had neither the safety certificate nor the obligatory data on the pesticide content. In addition, Rosselkhoznadzor did not allow 19 tons of dimethoate-treated apples from Lithuania to be imported, since the country’s

The Department of Internal Affairs in Ural Federal District and regional division of the Federal Drug Control Service revealed and prevented nearly 6,000 drug-related crimes in January-March 2007, which is 10% better than a year earlier (the figure comes to 31% in Sverdlovsk Region, to 14.7% in Chelyabinsk Region, and to 7.2% in Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Region), says the spokesperson for Prosecutor-General's Office in Ural Federal District. So far this year, officers have been able to prevent over 4,000 drug-selling attempts, including those with very large portions of drugs involved.

Ural Airlines started to perform Chelyabinsk-Moscow flight in January 2007 and has been coming up with more and more offers for the South Urals ever since. The carrier has recently introduced a new Chelyabinsk-Saint Petersburg-Chelyabinsk flight from Balandino airport, reports the company’s press officer. Beginning from May 5, 2007, a TU 134 will leave Balandino at 5.30 PM and arrive at Pulkovo airport at 6.45 PM. The plane then takes off in Saint Petersburg at 7.45 PM and arrives in Chelyabinsk at 12.50 AM. The cheapest tickets will be available for only 5,000 RUR, the press officer says,

Uralmashzavod has recently signed two agreements with Limos–M, a leasing company; the agreements provide for the supply of 310 tons of equipment to Lebedinskiy Ore Mining and Processing Enterprise (Russia’s leading iron ore producer). The shipment is supposed to include a 7.5-meter pelletizer and about 46 calcining trolleys (to be made from steel with extra-high alloying species content to ensure extended life time) and must be delivered to the enterprise within 2007, reports the spokesperson for Governor of Sverdlovsk Region. This is going to be the second pelletizer to be supplied to

Odessa Cognac Factory and Hortiza Distillery decided to merge to become a single holding. According to Hortiza’s Russian representation, the two companies have already cooperated successfully in the past: they merged their brand portfolio in October 2006. Odessa Cognac Factory is one of Ukraine’s few enterprises with a full production cycle; it owns 1,000 hectares worth of vineyards, Europe’s largest distillation shop, 15,000 casks, and a blending and bottling shop. The company produces 23 kinds of ordinary and vintage cognacs, two kinds of vodka, and 4 kinds of champagne. Its share of the

‘A new rise in wholesale oil prices is going to make agricultural produce more expensive,’ the spokesperson for Sverdlovsk Region Ministry of Agriculture and Food Anatoly Feoktistov said to UrBC. ‘All the fuel is bought at market prices, although the regional farms do have a little reserve meant for the sowing season,’ he said. ‘What is more, they have received 92 million RUR from the federal budget this year against only 48 million in 2006.’ According to Vedomosti newspaper, wholesale fuel prices have gone up 8% to 20% within three weeks of April.

‘All the regulating authority over the unlocated land has been transferred to municipalities when the corresponding law came into force on July 1, 2006. Yet if this land happens to be part of a regional capital, it has to be managed by the regional government. I would also like to emphasize that the older legislation says all the unlocated land is supposed to be managed by the regional government,’ Sverdlovsk Region Minister for State Property Management Alexei Molotkov announced at a press conference on April 23, 2007. ‘We have agreed with nearly all the city mayors that we’ll be given two

Nikolai Krupinin was appointed acting Head of Rostechnadzor (the state environmental and technological safety watchdog) in Ural Federal District after the corresponding order 60/TK had been signed by Konstantin Pulikovskiy on April 18, 2007, reports Rostechnadzor’s press officer. Nikolai Ya. Krupinin is the Honored Ecologist of the Russian Federation, Candidate of Agricultural Sciences, and first-rank Counselor of State Civil Service. He was born in Sovna, Mogilev Region (Byelorussia) in 1951 and graduated from Bryansk Institute of Technology with a major in Forestry Engineering in 1973. He