UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 15, 2018. Over 50,000 smart machines operating in the Urals have been connected, with MegaFon’s SIM cards, to the M2M monitoring system, the telecommunications provider’s press service reports. ‘Sensors, meters, cash machines, industrial appliances and terminls get switched to remote control options increasingly more often. There are now twice as many companies and business owners in the Urals who control their equipment online through machine-to-machine monitoring as there were at the start of the year. The overall number of the IoT devices is now comparable wit

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, November 14, 2018. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) adopted a strategy of ongoing investments in production upgrades for the next few years; the goal is to grow more efficient and reduce the plant’s environmental impact, MMK’s Key Customer Sales & Marketing Director Evgeny Sarana says. According to the company’s press service, Sarana said during his report at the 21st Russian Metal Market International Conference in Moscow on November 12 that the metal goods market had reached its saturation point, so the extensive growth phase was over. ‘In the future, given

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 14, 2018. Ural Airlines are introducing a new Krasnoyarsk-Sochi-Krasnoyarsk flight this winter: the flight will be available between December 30, 2018 and March 31, 2019, the air carrier’s press service reports. Flight U6 689: Departure (Krasnoyarsk): 8:45 AM; arrival (Sochi): 10:55 AM; the flight is 6 hours and 10 minutes long and gets operated every Sunday. Flight U6 690: Departure (Sochi): 10 PM; arrival (Krasnoyarsk): 7:25 AM; the flight is 5 hours and 25 minutes long and gets operated every Saturday. One piece of luggage, one piece of cabin luggage, and one

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 14, 2018. Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling Plant (ChelPipe) recently hosted Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) and ChelPipe Group’s 23d Coordination Council session on strategic cooperation. The session was attended by workers from the two companies’ sales, finance, production, tech, and logistics departments, ChelPipe Group’s press service reports. The two parties looked into their performance over the course of last year and made plans for the coming one. ‘MMK is our long-term, reliable metal supplier that handles around 50% of our steel sheet orders and more

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 14, 2018. Rosset’s Federal Grid Company United Energy Systems started a series of emergency and fire prevention drills in late September to keep its rescue teams ready for action in harsh climatic conditions and for efficient interaction with the federal and local authorities, FGC UES Western Siberia’s PR & Media Group reports. ‘The company will coordinate three-month drills in each and every one of its eight subsidiaries. The drills are expected to result in nearly 10,000 hectares of cleared electric main passageways to ensure reliable power supply to end

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 14, 2018. EVRAZ Holding is now working to reconstruct its Tashtagol Iron Ore Mine. The goal is to make the holding more self-reliant in terms of raw stuffs supply through raising its iron ore output by 1.5 times (from 2.2m tons up to 3.25m tons a year). The project requires around RUR 6.8bn in investments, EVRAZ Holding’s press service reports. ‘Sibiryak Skip Shaft will get involved to deliver the necessary materials into and the iron ore out of the mine. Besides, a special underground crushing plant will get installed at 350 meters under the ground. Tashtagol

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 13, 2018. Ural Airlines are launching a seasonal sale on flights to popular international destinations, the air carrier’s press service reports. You can get your reduced-price tickets on the company website www.uralairlines.com, using Ural Airlines mobile app, or over the phone. The offer applies to flights to be operated between November 12 and December 25, 2018 and between January 3 and February 20, 2019 (for flights with a stopover in Moscow/Yekaterinburg) and between November 12, 2018 and February 20, 2019 (for direct flights). For a full list of flights on

UrBC, Moscow, November 13, 2018. LUKOIL estimated it recent losses due to fuel price restrictions in the last four months (the restrictions were first imposed in late May) at RUR 8.5bn, Kommersant refers to the company’s head Vagit Alekperov as stating. According to Alekperov, LUKOIL signed an agreement to freeze the small-scale wholesale prices that came into effect retroactively on November 1. So far, while the oil prices remain high and the ruble relatively weak, the company hasn’t been paying too dearly for having to subsidize domestic fuel prices: the losses get contained within several

UrBC, Moscow, November 13, 2018. The international rating agency Standard & Poor’s Global Ratings believes the Russian federal constituencies and town councils’ fund control system to be unstable and poorly balanced, even though it has been improving, Interfax reports. On the positive side, both the local governments within the federal constituencies and town councils are sufficiently transparent and highly reliable in their presentation of their budget performance and debt burden. The budgeting process is also an institutionalized one; besides, the local authorities always have the

UrBC, Moscow, November 13, 2018. A board of experts working under the Russian Government suggested imposing excise duty payments on fizzy drinks; the proposal was presented in a response to the nationwide Public Healthcare Improvement Project. According to Izvestia, the goal is to encourage Russians to eat more healthily; there are currently 2m people living in the country who have been diagnosed with obesity. The Healthcare Ministry has already supported the initiative. The number of Russians diagnosed with obesity went up by 6% last year compared with the year 2016. The overall number of

UrBC, Moscow, November 13, 2018. Russia’s Central Bank carried a report on its website stating which sectors of the national economy rely most heavily on the below-the-radar-cashing-in-of-money services: these are the wholesale and retail trade sector (sale of construction goods and industrial commodities amounts to 20% and that of consumer goods to 13% of the shadow market), the building industry (30%), the service sector (21%), production sector (9%), and logistics (6%). 53% of all questionable transactions relating to cashing in of money performed in the first half of the year all pertain

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 12, 2018. Girls and boys on the Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development’s Children Believe In Miracles Program did a number of computer-based job counseling tests. The program is a charity project to support children without parents, and the tests are meant to help them decide on their future jobs and get ready for those, the bank’s press service reports. This time, the tests were done by a group of children from Yekaterinburg-based Karavella Children’s Center. Some of them already know what they would like to do for a living, so these children were happy

UrBC, Moscow, November 12, 2018. Mercedes-Benz RUS is calling 1,152 Mercedes-Benz GLC-Class SUVs off the Russian market; the automobiles in question were manufactured between April and July 2018, Rosstandart’s press service reports. The problem lies with the back seat buckles: it has been found these can get sucked in between the upholstery units. To remove the defect, additional buffer components need to get installed in the holders. Also called off are fourteen Mercedes-Benz 257 and 213 makes that got sold between October 2017 and April 2018: the front passenger seat Occupant Classification

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 12, 2018. Motor fuel prices kept rising again on Sverdlovsk Region market between October 29 and November 4, 2018. According to Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service’s Sverdlovsk Region division, the average price of AI 92 gasoline rose from RUR 40.29 to RUR 41.42 per liter; that of AI 95 gasoline rose from RUR 43.11 to RUR 44.20 per liter on average; and that of diesel fuel went up from RUR 43.98 to RUR 45.87 per liter. The price of liquefied natural gas came to RUR 22.73 on average, which is 0.01 RUR less than one week earlier.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 12, 2018. Spetsavtobaza, the taxpayers-funded, town-council run agency for waste treatment and disposal, predicts a major solid household waste (SHW) crisis in Yekaterinburg as soon as thirty days from now, the enterprise’s head Sergey Ponomarev announced at a recent meeting with Yekaterinburg Duma deputies. According to Ponomarev, the crisis can be brought about by a court ruling that prohibits Spetsavtobaza Yekaterinburg Municipal Unitary Enterprise from landing new waste treatment contracts with end users. Ponomarev explained that only 1,300 out of 36,000

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 12, 2018. Ural Airlines will be operating extra Sochi flights between New Year and late March: there will be a daily flight to Sochi from Yekaterinburg and thrice-weekly flights from Chelyabinsk and Samara each, the air carrier’s press service reports. Yekaterinburg-Sochi flight will be available daily starting from December 25, 2018, as two flights will be added on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Prices start from RUR 4,100 (one way). Starting January 2, 2019, Samara-Sochi flight will get operated three times a week, as a Wednesday flight will get added to Friday and

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 9, 2018. The Ural Bank for Reconstruction & Development’s Maximum Card holders can enjoy a 10% cashback option on their entertainment-related purchases starting November 1, 2018, the bank’s press service reports. The largest cashback percentage available (10%) applies to payments at restaurants, cafes, movies, theaters, amusement parks, and other catering and entertainment venues, as well as in household appliances stores. The UBRD also gives you back 1% on every other purchase paid for by a card. The bank selects specific spending categories with 10%

UrBC, Moscow, November 9, 2018. The Japanese car manufacturer Mazda is calling off some 640,000 automobiles worldwide due to diesel engine flap problems. The faulty part might cause the engine to suddenly stop on its own, TASS reports. Called off are four makes, including Mazda CX-5. Around 230,000 units are being called off in Japan and another 410,000 units elsewhere. According to Reuters, no cars are being called off in the U.S., as Mazda does not sell any diesel automobiles there.

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, November 9, 2018. Sverdlovsk Region’s public prosecution authorities are now investigating the town council’s alleged plans to pull down an apartment building at 40 Karl Liebknecht St to make room for Sverdlovsk Philharmonic’s new concert hall, their press service reports. The prosecution authorities have asked for and obtained all the papers relating to the case so they can assess the actions taken by the officials in charge, the governmental bodies, and the philharmonic’s administration, whose task is to coordinate auctions and select contractors to inspect the

UrBC, Moscow, November 9, 2018. 13,109 luxury automobiles were sold in Russia in October 2018, which exceeded the figures for one year earlier by 9%. In fact, the premium segment sales rose higher than even the entire Russian car market (+8%). According to Autostat’s reports, Mercedes-Benz remains the luxury market leader (3,300 units got sold last month, up 3% on October 2017). BMW comes next (3,105 units, up 21% on a year earlier), followed by the Japanese brand Lexus (1,742 units, down 15% on a year earlier). Additionally, 1,478 Audi makes got sold on the Russian market last month (+2%).