Sverdlovsk Region Minister for Health Mikhail Sklyar met a group of regional Duma deputies on March 28, 2007 to discuss the healthcare success in the first quarter of 2007. It was revealed that the region had about 100,000 medical prescriptions that were supposed to have been subsidized by the federal authorities, with 25,000 people still waiting to get their medicines. The participants though it best to allot 100 million RUR from the region’s reserve fund to cover the prescriptions; moreover, should the federal authorities fail to pay their share of social benefits in the following quarters

Beloyarskaya nuclear power plant has been complying with the physical security and radiation safety norms and regulations on the whole, reported Head of Rostechnadzor (the state technological, environmental, and nuclear safety watchdog) Konstantin Pulikovskiy after visiting the premises of the plant in Zarechniy, Sverdlovsk Region. Rostechnadzor had been examining the plant for two weeks in order to see if it followed Rostechnadzor’s licensing agreement and found that the plant fully complied with it; there were, however, a number of problems that might lead to certain operational

The committee under the House of Representatives of Sverdlovsk Region Legislative Chamber met on March 28, 2007 to discuss the changes in the region’s budget for 2007. These changes include raising the budget expenditures by 13.9 billion RUR. According to First Deputy Minister of Finances Svetlana Klimuk and Sverdlovsk Region Duma Chairman for Budget, Finance, and Taxes Vladimir Tereshkov, 70% of investments will be directed to further improvements in education, healthcare, social policies, and support of agriculture. 42% of extra expenditures (5.9 billion RUR) will be used for

‘Sverdlovsk Region is the most ‘bank-saturated’ part of the Urals, claims the research conducted by Expert-Ural magazine. There are 24 banks here against 23 banks in Tyumen Region and 12 banks in Chelyabinsk Region,’ says SKB-Bank’s press officer. The Urals’ Top 10 largest banks list includes four Tyumen Region-based ones, three Sverdlovsk Region-based ones, and three banks from Chelyabinsk Region. According to Expert-Ural, SKB-Bank is the most dynamically developing bank on the list, with its assets growing 63% and its profits 148% in 2006. SKB-Bank is also one of Ural Region’s five largest

Problems related to Noviy Grad (the local builder) and its general contractor HydroSpetsStroy refusing to cooperate with the company’s acting trustee in bankruptcy Olga Rushitskaya have so far remained unresolved, reports Ms Rushitskaya. ‘I still haven’t been able to get in HydroSpetsStroy’s office at 14 Vosmoye Marta St., but, after all, there are legal means of dealing with the company, so I don’t think it’s improbable that we’ll have to use the law-enforcement officers to proceed with the court’s decision,’ she observed. HydroSpetsStroy Ltd. was declared insolvent by Sverdlovsk Region

A meeting of an interdepartmental committee devoted to the Affordable and Comfortable Housing to Russian Citizens program took place in the Plenipotentiary Representation of Russian Federation President in Ural Federal District on March 29, 2007. According to the statistics provided, the region’s dwellers were mostly buying one- and two-room apartments throughout 2006, with the average apartment area coming to something between 48 and 53 square meters. The dramatic increase in prices prevented the housing from becoming more affordable: the Russian average reached the point of 32,900 RUR per

Sverdlovsk Region Government House hosted a meeting of the regional committee for compliance with the national projects on March 29, 2007. According to the spokesperson for Governor of Sverdlovsk Region, the agenda of the meeting covered free medicines to citizens on social benefits and drawing up papers needed for putting up more apartments. In addition, local executives and regional leaders presented their reports on the implementation of the national projects. The committee was highly critical of the policy exerted by the management of Egorshinksiy radio plant (part of SK-Prom) based in

The regional division of Rospotrebnadzor (the state consumer rights watchdog) received letters asking for stricter control over the radioactive nuclide content in the wild plants and berries offered for sale on the local markets, reports Rospotrebnadzor’s press officer Anna Ozhiganova. ‘We are now working on a scheme of inspections to be conducted on Sverdlovsk Region’s markets, with emphasis laid on the quality of wild-growing berries and vegetables, and whether the sellers have had them certified,’ Ms Ozhiganova said.

The international Global Experience and Russian Economy forum granted Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Petr Sumin the Russian Economic Leader Award-2006. According to the Governor’s press officer, the forum participants wanted to praise Mr. Sumin’s efforts to support the country’s stable economic development and improve the living standards. The forum, created for learning about and sharing both global and Russian economic experience, has gained a lot of significance over the last few years as a new socio-political trend. It pays special attention to encouragement of successful politicians,

Trying to comply with its customers’ preferences and expectations, Ural Airlines decided to offer a new sale on tickets for south-bound flights. According to Deputy Commercial Director Dmitriy Lvov, the idea of booking one’s holiday in advance proved very popular with the local population, so the second round of sale will last from April 1 to April 30, 2007, with discounts offered on tickets for flights to Sochi, Krasnodar, Mineralniye Vody, and Simferopol scheduled for June-August 2007, reports the carrier’s press officer. This special offer gives Ural travelers a chance to save their time

CEOs and leading experts of industrial enterprises will have to undergo special certification in the headquarters of Rostechnadzor (the state technological and environmental safety watchdog) if any accidents, especially those involving human casualties, occurred on the premises of their companies, Head of Rostechnadzor Konstantin Pulikovksiy announced in the course of a meeting with students and faculty of Ural State Mining University. ‘If an expert has been evaluated as ineligible, he or she won’t be able to work in the field any longer,’ Mr. Pulikovksiy said.

Koltsovo airport is going to give green light for customs clearance to people traveling to and from Russia on March 29, 2007, reports the spokesperson for Ural Customs Administration. Head of Federal Customs Service signed the order regarding declaration of goods on November 22, 2006. This order regulates both the procedure itself and the list of customs stations where it should be applied. The system has been used abroad for quite a while already: passengers without large sums of money liable to declaration or forbidden goods are allowed to skip the customs check. This is why the green-light

‘The appointment of the new head of Sverdlovsk Region Railways will be officially confirmed in April when President of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin comes back from his business trip to Japan on April 2, 2007. There is no official information on who is going to be appointed, the spokesperson for Russian Railways Public Company said to UrBC. The new appointment became necessary after the Board of Directors of Russian Railways decided at a meeting in Moscow on March 20, 2007 that Head of Sverdlovsk Region Railways Shevket Shaidullin should resign.

Following the request of Plenipotentiary Representative of Russian Federation President in Ural Federal District, his deputy Viktor Basargin coordinated a meeting of the interdepartmental committee for taxation, banking sector development, and financial markets. Mr. Basargin said that a number of Ural banks started giving college loans to students within the framework of the National Education Project, but more efforts still needed to be made. ‘As regards the Agricultural Development Project, small farms and private plots received over 1 billion RUR worth of loans, yet the lack of strong

A new underground station is now under construction in Botanicheskiy district of Yekaterinburg. The station is to be located next to Dirigible mall; unlike all the operating stations and the would-be Chkalovskaya station, this new underground station is not going to be too deep. Its lowest point will only come to -12 meters, which is why the city hall decided to put up part of the station on the surface as this will cut costs and save time, reports the spokesperson for Yekaterinburg council. The general contractors are currently working on digging the trench, fixing the piles, and the

‘According to expert estimates, 200,000 tons of meat have been imported to Russia illegally since the beginning of the year. This means the meat arrived through Kazakhstan and Kaliningrad without the customs clearance. It is naturally much cheaper, so a lot of meatpacking plants find it profitable to prefer it over the local produce,’ the spokesperson for Sverdlovsk Region Ministry of Agriculture and Food Anatoliy Feoktistov said to UrBC. ‘In the meantime, this meat is much poorer in quality than that offered by the region’s producers, yet, since it is so cheap, it is extremely popular with

The report published by UralSvyazInform, the mobile operator, on March 27, 2007 states that Russian Federal Property Fund (a special state body under the Russian Federation Government) reduced its share in the company’s capital from 5.763% to 0% through alienation of ordinary shares.

Consumers have been able to shop in both regional supermarket chains and federal or foreign retailers’ stores lately. Alliance Noncommercial Partnership decided to look into the strengths of local chains (most of which have been around for more than a decade). An ad hoc committee met for the first time on March 27, 2007 to come to the conclusion that the regional grocery chains are at a certain advantage. Firstly, their stores are located conveniently for both pedestrians and drivers. Secondly, they are normally of a middle size, which is the best option in terms of saving one’s time and

OMZ-Spetsstal (part of United Machine Building Works/OMZ (aka Obedinennye Mashinostroitelnye Zavody, formerly United Heavy Machinery)) supplied six turbine rotors to China-based Shanghai Electric Power Company, Shanghai’s largest electricity producer. The $3.5 million contract was signed in 2005, reports OMZ press officer. OMZ-Spetsstal is Russia’s largest producer of metallurgical goods for machine building and other industries. The company deals in forging, stamping, casting, hot-rolling, and making steel sheets.

A new aluminum can factory is to be put up in Ishalino, Argayashsk district, for Rexam, the British can manufacturer, the spokesperson for Chelyabinsk Region Ministry of Economic Development reports. The solemn ceremony devoted to the beginning of construction scheduled for April 4, 2007 was attended by First Deputy Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Vladimir Dyatlov, Minister of Economic Development Yuri Klepov, head of Argayashsk municipality Israfil Valishin, Rexam management and some of the company’s major partners (representatives of Baltika, Efes, and some others). Mr. Klepov says the plant