ISB Bank (Investment and Savings Bank) published a report on Sverdlovsk Region’s banking activity in January-September 2006. Inter-bank loans have remained the cheapest way of finding additional finances, even though (given the current market opportunities) the annual interest rates have been going up for three months already (from 3.98% to 5%, or by 1.02%). In the course of the repurchase agreement auction held by the Bank of Russia at the end of October, the interest rates were set at 6.05%-6.3% a year, so the average annual interest rate of 2% to 4% signifies the over-liquidity of the

‘We don’t use even the new models of Ural cars since they are plainly obsolete,’ Irina Ledeneva, the dispatcher of Ikar Auto-Trans, said to UrBC representative. ‘This is why we use GAZ-made cars, MAZ-made ones, KamAZes, and Volvos,’ Ms Ledeneva said.

Starting February 1, 2007, the rules regarding a German visa application grew stricter. The evidence of employment must be provided in German, the number of passports to be considered has been limited to 600 items a week, and the wait time has been extended from five to ten working days. As the representative of Deutsche Botschaft Moskau (the Moscow-based consulate) Cordula Steinke said to UrBC representative, some of the visa-getting procedures will be improved within the month of February; this pertains to tourist visas accredited by the embassy; people applying for such visas will be able

Teyskiy subsidiary of Evrazruda (Russian ore maker and part of Evraz Group) received two new 35-ton Volvo dumpers. This is the second portion of foreign dumpers meant for transporting ore from Izykh-Golskoye deposit obtained by the company; the first four cars arrived last November. These new cars are unique in that they are fitted with electronic equipment allowing to keep record of all the operations a dumper performs throughout a shift, such as the time spend driving to and from the place, the amount of time a dumper is not moving but has the engine on (or off), the number of kilometers

The carrier’s first online booking office was set up at the website of Ural Airlines early in February 2006. The company’s experts have been upgrading the service taking into account the wishes of the most frequent users, so the online ticket sales have come to 5% of the total amount of tickets sold in Yekaterinburg over one year. Over 2,000 people book tickets online every month. Moreover, online booking (well-known to the Russian-speaking customers) is now available through the company’s English and German websites that provide information on the timetable, flight options, pricing policies,

ISB Bank (Investment and Savings Bank) published a report on the activity of Sverdlovsk Region’s crediting organizations in January-September 2006. The money in companies’ accounts went up 47.9% in the first nine months of 2006. Due to the active development of the non-financial enterprises, more payments on account were used. The funds attracted by the regional banks on the inter-bank market grew by 36.2%, with most money coming from the Russian banks.

Chelyabinsk Region Court of Arbitration has recently considered the claim laid by Delest Ltd., the builder of Miass, Chelyabinsk Region, against Ural Car Factory regarding recovery of debt (the latter allegedly failed to pay according to the contract). Delest Ltd. has been trying, with the help of the court, to make the defendant pay 1,454,000 RUR for the job plus 43,000 RUR of forfeit. The court decided to postpone the hearing of the case until February 7, 2007 due to technical obstacles.

The meeting of the Board of Directors of SverdlovEnergoSbyt held on January 31, 2007 resulted in electing Boris Bokarev the company’s new General Director. Former GD Andrei Makarov was promoted to the General Director of TGK-9, reports the company’s press officer. Boris Bakarov has worked as Deputy CEO for Economy and Finances since April 2005. He was elected Deputy GD for Sales in October 2006 and General Director of Perm Power Supplying Company in January 2007.

According to the report on the state of the environment and the way environmental factors affect the health of Sverdlovsk Region population, Severskiy Pipe Works and Polevskoy Cryolite Works are the top air polluters of Polevskoy, Sverdlovsk Region. Their shares in the total amount of atmospheric emissions in the town come to 62.7% and 22%, respectively. The enterprises located in Polevskoy are fitted with equipment that only recovers 48.3% of emitted pollutants; however, the figure comes to 70.1% in respect of building material suppliers, to 60.3% as far as the builders are concerned, to

The average yield of private retirement fund management companies (who handled 9.3bn RUR worth of pension savings) outstripped the inflation rate and amounted to 20.7% in 2006. Unlike in 2005, however, no company was able to get past the point of 50%, reports Kommersant newspaper. Most enterprises only managed to counterbalance the inflation rate if their annual yield amounted to more than 9%. According to Kommersant, Vnesheconombank, the state-owned management company that handles 267bn RUR worth of pension savings, has been ranked last for the first time over the last few years (its

According to the local division of the Federal Statistics Agency, the region’s index of industrial production went up 6.9% in 2006, which is 3% better than the Russian average. ‘The index of industrial production used to be provided by metallurgical enterprises only, but now the manufacturing companies make their contribution as well (their share increased by 7.3%). The machine-building companies and equipment producers’ index grew by 33.7%, that of electronic and optical equipment by 26.3%,’ reports Alexei Chernyadev, Head of the Sverdlovsk Region division of the Federal Statistics Agency.

URSA Bank opened its new subsidiary in Buzuluk, Ohrenburg Region, on January 30, 2007. Buzuluk is Russia’s only city that has a foreign order. The dwellers of Ohrenburg and Ohrenburg Region are already familiar with the bank’s products and services, as Uralvneshtorgbank (one of the two banks that merged last December to become URSA Bank) introduced its office there in July 2005. URSA Bank now has two subsidiaries in the region (one of them is based in Ohrenburg, the other one in Ohrsk), as well as a number of additional offices. The solemn opening ceremony at Buzuluk office was attended by

MegaFon Ural, the mobile operator, has recently introduced an e-portal for dealers (https://dealer.megafonural.ru). The portal is primarily meant for enhancing the effectiveness of communication with the company’s partners. The site contains all the important data for both official dealers and companies who are thinking of cooperating with MegaFon Ural in terms of subscription services, payment routines, and selling phone cards. The new e-portal keeps the dealers well informed in the up-to-date format and supports the development of the dealer network.

An extraordinary general meeting of SKB-Bank shareholders was conducted on January 29, 2007. The meeting resulted in the decision to raise the bank’s authorized capital up to 1,351,145,000 RUR through an additional issue of 351,145,000 ordinary registered non-certificated shares with face value of 1 RUR each. This means that the authorized capital of SKB-Bank is to go up 35%. The shares will be sold at 2.57 RUR (this applies to individuals with pre-emption right, too). They will be floated through close subscription; the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is one of the likely

‘Today, Sverdlovsk Region Court decided to cancel the arrest warrant produced by Nevyanskiy municipal court in respect of Oleg Cherepanov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of NOVA Group,’ the spokesperson for Sverdlovsk Region Court Ekaterina Maslennikova said to UrBC representative. Mr Cherepanov is to be released from the detention ward in the nearest future, as soon as all the papers regarding the case are placed with the authorities of Nizhniy Tagil-based prison. The public prosecution bodies are going to petition for his arrest again, but the case will have to be considered by a

A round table discussion devoted to Russian stock and money markets in 2006 -2007 was held in Yekaterinburg on January 31, 2007. In the course of the discussion, the results of the forecast contest held among Sverdlovsk Region bank experts and analysts last year were announced as well. The Financial Bodies and Investment Services Department of Ural Bank for Reconstruction and Development won in the long-term forecasts category. ‘One might expect RTS index to reach the point of 2,210, the dollar/ruble exchange rate to come to 26, and that of euro/ruble to 34.32,’ says Vladimir Zotov, Financial

A round table discussion devoted to Russian stock and money markets in 2006 -2007 was held in Yekaterinburg on January 31, 2007. In the course of the discussion, the results of the forecast contest held among Sverdlovsk Region bank experts and analysts last year were announced as well. Stock Market Operations Department of SKB-Bank won in the short-term forecasts category. ‘I expect RTS index to reach the point of 2,600, the dollar/ruble exchange rate to come to 25.80, and that of euro/ruble to 34.30 in 2007,’ says Anton Mikheev, Stock Market Operations Director of SKB-Bank.

ISB Bank (Investment and Savings Bank) published a report on Sverdlovsk Region’s financial transactions in January-September 2006. The amount of money deposited by the regional banks into correspondent accounts and inter-branch accounts went up 32.5% compared to October 1, 2005. The banks deposited 8.9% of the total amount into the correspondent accounts of Sberbank of Russia, 4% into nostro accounts, and 87.1% into inter-branch accounts. The regional banks kept accumulating funds on correspondent accounts in the third quarter of 2006, so the amount of money in correspondent accounts of

‘The shares of Sberbank of Russia going through the so-called ‘people’s IPO’ are definitely not attractive for most investors. To start with, it is unclear how the money obtained in the course of the initial offering is going to be used, so the funds are likely to be inefficiently ‘dispersed’. Then, it is the Central Bank of Russia that is acting as the underwriter, and this bank is allowed by the central financial authorities to sustain funds through issuing shares and securities. So the stock floatation is meant for something different from traditional investment purposes,’ says Vsevolod,

According to the report on the state of the environment and the way environmental factors affect the health of Sverdlovsk Region population, Reftinskaya power station (part of TGK-9) is Sverdlovsk Region’s major manufacturing water producer among power-supplying enterprises; its share in the total amount of manufacturing water dumped by the regional power suppliers comes to 4.47m cubic meters, or 14%.