UrBC, Moscow, September 19, 2018. Russia will no longer apply preferential-term import duties on car parts for in-plant assembly; other EEC member states, however, continue with the policy, Prime Refers to the Eurasian Economic Committee as stating. The EEC decided to bring the import duties on car parts in full compliance with Russia’s obligations within the WTO. Prior to this decision, the preferential-term duties were set at zero; they are now expected to rise 3% to 10%. The Russian Government intends to offer subsidies to car makers that have in-plant assembly contracts to offset the

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 18, 2018. The annual Metal Expert of The Year Award ceremony took place in Yekaterinburg last month; the award’s primary function is to boost the metallurgical sector’s research potential and to help outline the most relevant production, tech, economic, and environmental challenges, MMK Group’s Information & PR Department reports. The contest got coordinated for the first time this year; the initiative was put forth by OOO AKSALIT Soft, with science expertise provided by B.N. Yeltsin Ural State Federal University. The winners and nominees were announced on

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 18, 2018. EVRAZ Holding will be presenting its innovative rails and wheels at a major international railway exhibition InnoTrans, the company press service reports. This is the fourth time EVRAZ is taking part in InnoTrans, in Berlin on September 18-21 this year. The company’s stand will feature rails made to fit the Russian, EU, and U.S. standards, as well as locomotive and freight wheels. The holding usually comes to InnoTrans with the produce that enjoys demand abroad.The company currently offers its customers over twenty different rail varieties and more

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 18, 2018. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) has been running its maternity and birthrate-enhancing initiatives since 2004, MMK’s Information & PR Department reports. The program allows expectant mothers to stop working yet still receive their average monthly pay from Week 13 of their pregnancy and till their maternity leave, as long as they attend special courses at Maternity Center, where pregnant women can get the physically and psychologically prepared for the birth and the childrearing. The women can also come to the company water park free of

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 18, 2018. EVRAZ’s Steel Dynasties Exhibition is now open in the park next to Nizhniy Tagil Mining & Metallurgical School, EVRAZ Holding’s press service reports. The exhibition presents photographic histories of metallurgists’ and miners’ families who worked at EVRAZ member enterprises in Siberia and the Urals for several generations in a row. The solemn opening ceremony was attended by EVRAZ Nizhniy Tagil Integrated Metallurgical Works (NTMK) and EVRAZ Kachkanar Ore Mining & Processing Enterprise (KGOK) Managing Director Alexei Kushnarev. There are

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, September 18, 2018. Tatarstan State Symphony Orchestra and People’s Performer of Russia Alexander Sladkovsky are to perform on stage of M.I. Glinka Chelyabinsk State Opera & Ballet Theater on September 18 and 19, ChelPipe Group’s press service reports. ChelPipe Group-coordinated music concerts have been coordinated and sponsored by the Group’s shareholders Andrei Komarov and Alexander Fedorov. ‘The Group invests heavily in the socioeconomic development of the parts of Russia where its member enterprises operate; the investments cover programs to preserve the area’s

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, September 17, 2018. The International Business Congress Committee will meet at Chelyabinsk Pipe Rolling Plant (ChelPipe) on Tuesday, September 18 to talk about the plant’s ‘white-coated metallurgy’ as the future of pipeline transfer. According to ChelPipe’s press service, over a hundred congress members who represent such international giants as Gazprom, TMK, OMK, Severstal, SOGAZ, Mitsui, Wintershall, Shell, and Baker Hughes will join in the meeting. Chelyabinsk Region Government officials, members of Russia’s O&G Union, and representatives of other pipeline

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, September 17, 2018. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) recently carried a report on its sports-related CSR projects for employees. According to the company press service, the town of Magnitogorsk now has expansive sports infrastructure for doing and playing sports and working out, thanks to MMK. The extracurricular training center Metallurg-Magnitogorsk Sports Club works to implement MMK’s social project on promoting physical culture and sports among the locals and on encouraging MMK workers and their families to lead a healthy lifestyle. The club’s sports

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 17, 2018. EVRAZ Holding’s Alardinskaya Mine was the first of the holding’s member enterprise Raspadskaya Coal Company’s assets to produce 2,000,000,000 kg of coal from a single mine this year, EVRAZ’s press service reports. This output record for Long-Face 3-38 was set by Alexei Komarov’s team from Section 1 (foreman: Valeriy Kuznetsov). As is the custom there, the company management arrived to congratulate the miners on their success. The workers then presented Raspadskaya Coal Company’s Director-General Sergey Stepanov with a symbolic rock with the inscription

UrBC, Moscow, September 17, 2018. The Bank of Russia does not intend to purchase any foreign currency on the home market until the end of the year as a way of enforcing the budgetary rules. The decision was taken in order to make the authorities’ monetary policy more predictable and thus reduce the financial markets’ volatility, the bank reports. ‘The plans to resume buying foreign currency on the internal market on a regular basis once again will have to be made based on the actual financial market situation at the time. The decision to make up for the currency not purchased this year will

UrBC, Chelyabinsk, September 17, 2018. ChelPipe Group is acting as the sponsor for the 23d International Research-to-Practice Pipw 2018 Conference this year, the company press service reports. The conference will be held on the premises of the Russian Research Institute for the Tube & Pipe Industries (RosNITI) in Chelyabinsk on September 17-19; the event is supported by the pipe industry development fund FRTP and Russia’s Industry & Trade Ministry. Russian and international researchers, pipe produce consumers, and pipe manufacturers are all expected to attend. The event’s business

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, September 14, 2018. Charge-conveying system operator at Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) Blast Furnace 6 and trade-union group organizer at Team 4 Serdar Yakunin won the All-Russian Mining & Metallurgical Sector’s Best Trade-Union Group Organizer Contest, MMK’s press service reports. A Chelyabinsk Region round of the competition was held among the trade-union group organizers at the local mining and metallurgical enterprises first; this stage got hosted by MMK Group’s trade union organization in May. Trade-union group organizers from MMK Group, MMK METIZ,

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 14, 2018. Russian Post opens a new post office (No. 620110) in Yekaterinburg’s District Akademicheskiy on September 18; the office can be found at 46 Mekhrentsev St. ‘Akademicheskiy locals tend to rely on the post office services quite a lot. Most of the international shipments arriving from China get ordered by customers living in this part of the city. This is why an additional post office in Akademicheskiy was necessary to reduce the workload of the already operating branch No. 620105 at 78 Sakharov St,’ Russian Post’s press service says. The Russian Post

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, September 14, 2018. The children’s tech park Quantorium opens in Magnitogorsk this fall; the project is supported by Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK). According to the company press service, there are currently 52 Quantorium parks operating in Russia, and 25 more will open this fall. In the Southern Urals alone, the parks will open in Chelyabinsk and Magnitogorsk simultaneously. Chelyabinsk Region Children’s Tech Arts Club acts as the local operator for both parks. The arrival of Quantorium Tech Park in Magnitogorsk is expected to take the local children’s

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 14, 2018. Sverdlovsk Region came last in the recent environmental rating; Tambov Region and the Republic of Altay shared the first place. The rating for the third quarter of 2018 is now available on the environmental organization Zeleny Patrul’s website. Sverdlovsk Region was No. 85 out eighty-five constituencies featured in the rating. Chelyabinsk Region was No. 84. Sverdlovsk Region scored very low on Environmental Protection Index and Industrial/Environmental Index. The indices are based on air, water, and land condition indicators as well as on the

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, September 14, 2018. MMK Group’s MMK Trading House expects to sell more than 250,000,000 kg of metal goods on Kazakhstan market by the end of the year, the Group’s press service reports. Director of MMK Trading House Kazakhstan Vadim Tishchenko said at the Central Asia Metal Market International Conference 2018 in Almaty on September 13 that Kazakhstan was the first country to get the company’s foreign mission. This has to do with both the country’s geographical proximity to Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK), whose goods the company deals in selling, and with

UrBC, Magnitogorsk, September 13, 2018. Magnitogorsk Iron & Steel Works (MMK) will be on the expert committee for developing the Technology & Innovation Launch Standard in Russia, the company press service reports. The unified procedure is expected to increase demand for Russian technologies and help make Russian companies more competitive. The Standard will consist in a set of guidelines on how to work with external innovations and on what other steps can be taken to enhance large businesses’ efficiency and to create a comfortable business environment for new technologies and

UrBC, Moscow, September 13, 2018. Russia’s Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin said the national economy was expected to hit its lowest point in the first quarter of 2019 and to start gradually recovering from then on, Kommersant reports. ‘The dynamics will have to do with the VAT increase, a one-time negative-effect factor. Starting from the second or third quarter of the year, our economic performance indicators will be looking increasingly better,’ Oreshkin said at Eastern Economic Forum. The minister also said the foreign currency market might also remain particularly volatile

UrBC, Yekaterinburg, September 13, 2018. Yekaterinburg Council coordinated a meeting to look into the communal housing services issues such as compliance with the legal requirements, unpaid housing bills, and crime rate in the sector, the council’s official website states. Housing management companies that haven’t been paying their heat and power suppliers on time are one acute problem. Eighteen local companies currently owe their utility suppliers nearly RUR 2.8bn in unpaid housing bills. As for the upcoming heating season, 3,439 apartment buildings in Yekaterinburg have already been

UrBC, Moscow, September 13, 2018. Russia’s Agriculture Ministry suggested that less improved wine could be bought for the government and the town councils. ‘The ministry’s draft bill puts forth an expanded list of certain foreign-made foods that will be subject to a purchasing limit/ban if they should be purchased for the government’s and the town councils’ needs. The amended list, if adopted, will cover wines, sparkling wines, liqueur wines, and fruit wines,’ it is explained. ‘Quite enough of this wine produce gets made in Russia, as well as in the Eurasian Economic Union,’ the Ministry