The regional deputies have approved of the special program targeted at helping risk-group families and children in 2007; the project was originally proposed by the President of Magnesite Group Sergey Korostelev. The new program is expected to enhance the efficiency of the regional family-friendly programs as well programs aimed at preventing family instability and helping unsupervised children, minors, and so-called social orphans. The program is partly based on its successful counterpart in Satkinskiy municipal district. It is supposed to involve creation of a multi-faceted system of

Net profit of Trubodetal, the tube and tube parts maker, went down by 11.698% in the third quarter of 2006. According to the company’s report, this was caused by a decrease in sales and increase in expenses not related to sales. The figure has dropped from 76,788,000 RUR to 67,805,000 RUR within a quarter of the year.

Vanadium Ore Mining and Processing Enterprise of Kachkanar (part of Evraz Group) assessed the performance of Test Tower (installed in the processing plant) over four months. The Test Tower determines the fineness and the iron content of ore and operates around the clock. The tests are taken every ten minutes, fully covering the ore flow; every two hours, ore samples are transferred to the central lab where the experts carry out their full chemical analysis. The data are then filed into the company’s computer database. This facility allows the enterprise to perform online and obtain reliable

The investments placed by the natural persons onto the deposits of Sverdlovsk Gubersnkiy Bank grew by over 80% in October 2006 compared with the beginning of the year. The amount of money in natural person accounts came to more than 2.2bn RUR on October 1, 2006 (compared with 1.19bn on January 1, 2006). This figure places Sverdlovsk Gubersnkiy Bank ahead of many other regional banks. The bank’s Deposit and Payment System Administration reports that this growth has to do primarily with offering the clients the conditions they like; the range of deposits can satisfy the needs of very different

‘The reduction of gasoline prices at the filling stations of YekaterinburgNefteProduct occurred on Tuesday, October 24. No. 80 now costs 15.5 RUR per litre (a .5 RUR drop), No. 92 costs 18.3 RUR (1.2 RUR drop), No. 98 comes to 20.9 RUR (a decrease of 1 RUR), No. 96 is sold at 19.5 RUR (a drop of 1 RUR). Diesel fuel is sold at 17.4 RUR (a drop of .6 RUR),’ the company’s Marketing Director Vladimir Drugov said to UrBC representative. ‘Cheaper gas was brought about by the decrease in oil prices and by the market opportunities at the moment; another factor is seasonal fluctuations affecting the

The Federal Antimonopoly Service in Sverdlovsk Region started a lawsuit against SverdlovEnergoSbyt concerning the alleged violation of antimonopoly legislation, reports the spokesperson for TENCOM Group. The spokesperson says that some of the consumers living in Novouralsk are supplied with electricity at prices that do not coincided with the tariff menu designed by the Regional Power Engineering Committee. Besides, SverdlovEnergoSbyt, the supplier, provides wrongful information on the tariffs of an independent supplier Novouralsk Power Supplier Ltd. through mass media and letters it sends to

Over 1,500 graduates of Technological Institute of Nizhniy Tagil (subsidiary of Ural State Technical University) are currently employed by Metallurgical Industrial Complex of Nizhniy Tagil (part of Evraz Group). The enterprise has been supporting the college for many years as part of its social partnership program. In the middle of October 2006 (on the eve of the foundation day of the Institute), thirty-four best students in their final years of study received Evraz fellowships. These fellowships amount to 9,000 RUR per term (this is the highest figure among all local colleges). The nominees

Ural Airlines began the international safety auditing procedures. So far, the company’s employees have undergone IATA Operational Safety Audit (IOSA) preparatory training program facilitated by the expert of a British auditing firm Captain Colin Penny and started the gap-analysis. To date, Aeroflot has remained the only Russian company holding IOSA certificate, reports the spokesperson for Ural Airlines.

On October 26, 2006, Chelyabinsk Region’s first innovation exhibition called South Ural State University - Flight and the Second Regional Exhibition of Innovations and Investments will welcome their visitors. The exhibitions will last for two days. First Deputy Governor Vladimir Dyatlov will conduct the first opening ceremony. The opening of the Second Regional Exhibition of Innovations and Investments will take place in SouthUralExpo, the exhibition center. The exhibition will present over 50 innovation projects and scientific and engineering ideas designed by representatives of 11 colleges,

‘Following the administrative trial, Building Materials Group Ltd. will have to pay the fine of 35,000 RUR and submit nine system units with pirated software worth over 130,000 RUR,’ reported the spokesperson for the Public Prosecutor of Sverdlovsk Region. ‘The preliminary investigation brought to light that Building Materials Group was using illegal copies of Microsof software, so now the case has been transferred to court. The charge concerned Article 7.12 (part 1) of Russian Administrative Code: infringement of copyright and neighboring rights) and was looked into by the Justice of the

Sverdlovsk Region Ministry of Industry, Power Engineering and Science have approved of the supply limits schedule for the fall/winter 2006/2007 proposed by SverdlovEnergo, the local supplier, reports the spokesperson for the company. Designing and supervising the compliance with the schedule are some of the steps aimed at providing reliable electricity supply by the guaranteeing supplier of Sverdlovsk Region. The schedules are drawn up annually by the working team consisting of the company’s representatives. The schedules were approved of by the regional dispatching service and by Sverdlovsk

The company appointed special people (department directors and chief management experts) who will now be in charge of each type of its activity liable to licensing. These people will be responsible for renewing the licenses before the deadline, getting the new ones promptly, and making sure that all licensing requirements and provisos are complied with. This committee of people in charge will, in its turn, be monitored by the company’s Managing Director. At the moment, the IT Department is preparing to renew its license entitling the enterprise to provide local telephone communication,

Since the beginning of the year, about 500 mangers, experts and workers from fifteen departments of Metallurgical Industrial Complex of Nizhniy Tagil (part of Evraz Group) have successfully undergone certification. The certification is used by the company’s management to make decisions about awards, promotions and further professional training of the employees. So far, eighty-five people proved their right to get promotions, pay rises and becoming alternative manager candidates. 170 people were recommended to get additional training. The employees were assessed by an ad hoc committee

Chelyabinsk Region Department of Emergencies received a message about the accident involving the section of an oil-trunk pipeline within five kilometers of the village of Berdyasush on October 23, 2006. The diameter of the pipeline comes to 720 millimeters, the pressure amounts to 20 atm. The accident involves an oil spill, with the threat of poisoning the River Bolshaya Satka. As the spokesperson for Chelyabinsk Region Department of Emergencies said to UrBC representative, the accident was caused by the soil caving that resulted in decapsulation of the weld seam of TOH-2 oil-trunk pipeline.

Governor of Chelyabinsk Region Petr Sumin met Head of State Duma Environmental Committee Vladimir Grachev yesterday. Mr Grachev updated the Governor on what the committee had done in terms of Techenskiy tandem reservoir system and gave Mr Sumin the official report signed by thirty-two academicians, professors, and nuclear safety experts. They came to the conclusion that Mayak had been damaging the local environment for decades, which resulted in the issue becoming more than just one region’s problem. This is the question of state importance that needs to be approached seriously and dealt with

Metallurgical Works of Zlatoust assessed its success in nine months of 2006. The company produced 439,000 tons of steel and 310,442 tons of rolled metal and shipped 308,732 tons of metal goods in September 2006. It also sold more than 6bn RUR worth of goods in January-September 2006, the company’s spokesperson said to UrBC representative.

TGK-9 JSC, the regional power supplier, is going to attract 50bn RUR within the framework of its long-term investment program. The funds are to support the company’s production investments. These plans were disclosed by the GD of TGK-9 JSC Andrey Makarov. Now the company’s management is going to launch construction of Novobogoslovskaya heat-electric generating plant and of State District Power Plant in Nizhneturinsky District. These stations are expected to supply the demand for electricity in Serovo-Bogoslovsky and Nizhneturinsky Districts of Sverdlovsk Region. Mr Makarov also indicated that

Dust system renovation of two furnaces in the open-hearth plant of Metallurgical Industrial Complex of Nizhny Tagil JSC (part of Evraz Group) has been completed recently. The overhaul of No. 5 furnace main environmental safety unit took 90 days and included replacement of the main system equipment and of the exhaust-heat boiler. No. 15 furnace gas-cleaning system has also undergone a technical reconstruction within a scheduled maintenance works that lasted 40 days. Due to the opportune repairs, the dust systems of two open-hearth furnaces are now operating at full capacity and comply with all

Vanadium Ore Mining and Processing Enterprise of Kachkanar (part of Evraz Group) has started replacing the outdated equipment in its crushing plant. The new equipment systems for secondary and fine crushing sections manufactured by Sandvik of Sweden are to replace the older crushers produced in Germany that have already served the company for 20 years. The new equipment will change the ore pretreatment technology essentially. The secondary crushing process will be preceded with a preparatory screen sizing. The two fine crushers will be replaced by one new unit. The installation of the new

The top-management of Ural Turbine Works CJSC (part of Renova Group) is going to rearrange control of the enterprise on a new hi-tech basis. The corporate re-equipment program includes introduction of an ERP (enterprise resource planning) system. ‘Although introducing the system is rather laborious, the experience of many Russian and foreign manufacturers has shown that such systems prove to be efficient indeed. Setting up an integrated information space, they support on-line management of the basic assets and ensure transparency of planning through optimization of different processes. As a