‘Some 700 people from Yekaterinburg and Sverdlovsk Region became victims of the fraudsters from Gorod, the regional public fund that operated in the area in 2000-2003. Approximately 3,000 people suffered in the other regions of Russia. These data haven’t been finalized yet, as not all of the victims actually filed their complaints. The criminal suit proceedings involving accusations of fraud (Article 159 (part 4) of the Russian Federation Criminal Code) and organized crime (Article 210) began in 2003. At the present moment, the case has been placed with the regional court,’ Ivan Yablokov of

The retail goods turnover came to over 300bn RUR in Sverdlovsk Region in 2006, the regional Minister of Trade, Provision, and Services Vera Solovieva announced at today’s press conference. According to Ms Solovieva, this exceeds the figures for 2005 by 27% in purely finance terms and by 17% in terms of physical volume. Foods turnover amounts to 15bn RUR out of the total sum. Traditionally, the customers were most active in the fourth quarter of the year: the consumption ratio came to 21% in the first quarter, to 22%-24% in the second and third quarters, and to 30% in the last quarter of the

‘The region’s foreign trade turnover reached the point of $7.5bn in January-October 2006, which is 23.3% better than in the ten months of 2005. The export figures came to approximately $6bn (a 23.3%-growth), the import ones came to $1.5bn (a 23.3%-growth),’ the Minister of Economy and Labour Galina Kovaleva announced at the press conference devoted to the region’s socio-economic development forecasts for 2007. The consolidated budget profits amounted to 78.6bn RUR in January-October 2006, which exceeds the figures for 2005 by 42.4%. The budgetary subsidies and allotments plan was

The court hearing of Federal Antimonopoly Service vs. Koltsovo airport (based on the Competition Protection Act) was put off until January 30, 2007 The Federal Antimonopoly Service suspects that Koltsovo airport has overpriced its fuel; the Service has already found the airport guilty of violating the antimonopoly legislation in the past and ordered them to retain the so-called historic slots for Ural Airlines Moscow-bound flights and to annul their contract of tenancy with Aviaprad, the air carrier.

Finance magazine looked at the results of Russian banks’ activity over the ten months of 2006 and compiled a rating based on the volume of the working assets (it had to be over $100m). There are currently 278 banks in Russia that meet the requirements of this magazine’s rating, with 40 banks joining the list as recently as this year. The assets of these banks have grown by 31% (up to 10.5 trillion RUR) since the beginning of 2006. According to the magazine, the working assets of SKB-Bank have gone up 48% since the beginning of the year and reached the point of 15.259bn RUR, which made it

‘The court officers managed to obtain part of the financial records of HydroSpetsStroy Ltd. (the general contractor of Noviy Grad, the local developer),’ the company’s trustee in bankruptcy Olga Rushitskaya said to UrBC representative. ‘The builder has for a long time refused to cooperate with me even after the court’s decision. Yet now at least some of the papers needed were received,’ she said. Prior to this, HydroSpetsStroy Ltd. failed to comply with the demand of Sverdlovsk Region Court of Arbitration to produce their financial records before November 15, 2006.

The audit procedure conducted in October 2006 proved that quality management in Uralvneshtorgbank meets the international standard requirements. The bank’s quality management was first certified in the summer of 2004, with the company getting the ISO 9001:2000 certificate. The bank now has to undergo audit yearly in order to prove the certificate validity. This year, the auditors observed that the bank’s top management ‘showed that they were complying with the certificate validity requirements, were committed to the quality management principles and were perfecting this quality. The bank

Following the fire at Reftinskaya power station belonging to OGK-5, two power-generating units with the total capacity of 1,000 megawatt had to be shut down yesterday. As a result, the average capacity of the station went down by 27%. There weer no power cuts, though, as the other local power stations were able to make up for the loss. In the meantime, the share market has already been affected by the accident, claim the experts from a number of investment companies. Reftinskaya power station provides over 40% of OGK-5 capacity, so this company now is the only insider among the other power

‘A claim was laid with Oktyabrskiy court of Yekaterinburg against Mobile TeleSystems by our lawyer Anatoliy Bezrukov who has been using this mobile operator’s services,’ Vladimir Vinnitskiy of the regional Economic Bar said to UrBC representative. ‘We intend to place the case-related documents to the antimonopoly service that will have grounds for taking legal action and sanctioning the operator,’ Mr Vinnitskiy said.

The decision concerning the claim laid by Anatoliy Bezrukov of the regional Economic Bar against Mobile TeleSystems regarding consumer rights protection was made by Oktyabrskiy court of Yekaterinburg on December 20, 2006. The court made Mobile TeleSystems cancel illegal tariff changes made to their Unlimited scheme (the pay was raised from 998 RUR to 1,300 RUR within July 12, 2006 to October 9, 2006), reports the Bar. The court also ordered the operator to cancel the recently introduced limitations on the number of outgoing calls covered by the monthly fee (the limit was set at 2,000 minutes)

‘The average existing office price went up 62% compared to 2005 and amounted to 69,463 RUR per one square meter. Class B offices are the ones that enjoy the greatest demand in Yekaterinburg, so the construction of this type of offices receives the heaviest investment at the moment. The local entrepreneurs are trying to get class B offices, but usually end up having to use class C ones or even lower, that is, offices located on the premises of former research institutes. The price of commercial premises grew by 70%, with the average price per one square meter coming to 85,000 RUR,’ Rustam

A new machine was tested in the converter shop of Metallurgical Industrial Complex of Nizhniy Tagil (part of Evraz Group). The circulation degasser with the capacity of 1.5m tons of steel a year is ready to operate. The machine is meant for removing some harmful gases emerging in the heating process from the liquid steel. This operation improves the quality of the metal as well as that of the ready-made rolled steel. The equipment was supplied by SMS Mevac, a German machine building concern that has already provided the Complex with a few other devices.

The fire that broke out at Reftinskaya power station yesterday had been caused by the heat generator explosion. According to the spokesperson for the Department of Emergencies in Sverdlovsk Region, the explosion resulted in some oil spill, and this oil caught fire, with the affected area coming to 800 square meters. An ad hoc committee is now investigating the reasons why the heat generator exploded. The fire started at 4.55 AM and was classed as the third-degree one. Thirty teams of firefighters had to come to the site to put it out. The construction of Reftinskaya power station, Sverdlovsk

Yekaterinburg municipal Duma is going to look at the investment program for the development of the electrical networks belonging to Yekaterinburg Electrical Networks Company in 2007-2009 on December 26, 2006. According to the statistical data, the electricity consumption has tripled within 2000-2005, and it still keeps growing. This is an alarming sign in terms of the city’s future development. In order to deal with the problem, Yekaterinburg Electrical Networks Company suggested constructing a network of additional substations around Yekaterinburg. The total amount of investments needed

‘The advertisement by Noviy Grad that offers flats at prices that are lower than the market ones as part of the special holiday project is most likely untrue. The thing is, this developer is well-known for its unfair practices on the regional real estate market,’ the spokesperson for Unscrupulous Developers Opposition Fund Ltd. said to UrBC representative. ‘The builder is once again employing some dubious ways of influencing the potential co-investors through low prices. It is obvious that the company is trying to deceive its clients,’ the spokesperson said.

‘The dollar rate determined by the Bank of Russia on December 20, 2006 has undergone almost no changes compared to the day before and came to 26.38 RUR per one dollar. The euro rate has remained almost the same, too, and amounted to 34.57 RUR per one euro,’ says Sergey Vetyshev of SKB-Bank. ‘Dollar has grown by .2 RUR over the last ten days due to the euro becoming weaker on the global markets. The dollar was actually supported by the macroeconomic statistics: the USA consumer price index remained the same in November as in October. The industrial production volumes, however, went up .2%,’ Mr

Standard & Poor's raised the long-term regional credit ratings from BB- to BB on December 16, 2006. According to the company’s expert Irina Pilman, this upgrading reflects the stable income growth over the last three years as well as the attempts of the regional authorities to keep their debts at the low level. The plain duty will come to .1% of the current profits, the full debt will come to 2% at the end of 2006. The rating is also determined by the low flexibility and predictability of the region’s budget, pressure caused by increased social and infrastructure expenses, and the

The workers of Yestyuninskaya mine of Vysokogorskiy Ore Mining and Processing Enterprise extracted the 30-millionth ton of ore on December 19, 2006. The event was celebrated in the course of a meeting devoted to giving thanks and praise to the best miners. Yestyuninskaya mine is the company’s most recent development. It is going to celebrate its 30th anniversary on December 29, 2006. Over 40 miners will be given honorary certificates and letters of thanks. Yestyuninskaya is the mine with the greatest potential at the moment, developing three floors and getting ready to launch the second line