A strong thunderstorm caused some power cuts in mains of Regionalnaya Setevaya Kompaniya JSC (Regional Network Company) last night; among the affected towns were Beresovskiy and Sysert. In Beresovskiy, a high-voltage line failed to transmit electricity but was soon made to operate again. In Sysert, there were 3 power cuts yet everything is back to normal now. Overall, 18 breakdowns had to be fixed last weekend. One of them had to do with a car running over the high-voltage line support in Pervouralsk; the offender has already been found and the case transferred to the traffic wardens. Another

‘In February 2005, the department of production and sales of industrial oil was set up by LUKOIL JSC; it dealt with all the issues pertaining to production and commercial activity in the oil field. In October 2005, the company decided to establish LLK International Ltd. and empower it with all the managing liabilities in this area,’ Deputy Commercial GD of LLK International Alexander Terletskiy at the conference called ‘LLK International for Industrial Oil Consumers’. ‘I’d like to put special emphasis upon the fact that the arrival of this company is not a simple change in the legal scheme.

Chelyabenergo JSC is going to hold the general stockholder meeting on June 2, 2006. The points on the agenda include agreeing on the annual report, profit distribution, and the issue of dividends for 2005. The shareholders will also have to elect the Board of Directors, the cast of the inspection committee, and the company’s auditor. Another issue has to do with delegation of exclusive executive powers of the company to MRSK of the Urals and the Volga JSC, a managing company.

Metallurgical Industrial Complex of Magnitogorsk has recently held the annual stockholder meeting. The shareholders agreed on the annual report and the accounting report, including the P & L statement. The annual report states that the company’s smelting output came to 11.4m tons, the metal products output to 10.2m tons, and sales to 147.3bn RUR in 2005. The shareholders decided to pay a dividend of .532 RUR per share. They approved of the company’s updated Charter and elected the following Board Members: Chairman Viktor Rashnikov, Deputy Chairman Andrey Morosov, GD Gennadiy Senichev,

Souyz Pishcheprom CJSC is going to hold annual meeting on May 11, 2006. The points on the agenda include summing up the company’s financial achievements in 2005, P & L distribution, electing the Board members and the inspection committee.

Knauf Gips Chelyabinsk JSC is going to hold annual meeting on May 18, 2006. The points on the agenda include agreeing on the annual report, P & L distribution, the issue of dividends. The shareholders will also have to elect the Supervisory board, the inspection committee members, and the auditor for 2006.

Annual stockholders meeting of Construction Firm Chelyabinskgrazhdanstroy JSC is to be held on May 11, 2006. The agenda contains approving of the company’s financial statement for 2005, distribution of profit and dividends. The stockholders will elect members of the Board of Directors of the association and the inspection commission. They also are to approve associate property transactions.

Within the first quarter of 2006, Ural motor works, member of GAZ Group, increased its trucks production output by 6.4% against the corresponding figures for the previous year, the company PR-department reported to UrBC representative. Within the same period, the company has sold 1897 vehicles (an increase of 10.9% compared to the figures for January – March, 2005). In the first quarter of 2006, Ural motor works opened its assembly plants in India and Vietnam. The first trucks production lot of the Vietnamese plant of Ural is now being received by the national armed forces of the country. The

Chelyabinskiy Truboprokatniy Zavod JSC, tube-rolling plant of Chelyabinsk, held the annual stockholder meeting on April 20, 2006, the company’s spokesperson said to UrBC representative. Ilya Cherepanov, member of the company’s Board, presented the annual report concerning the financial and managing activity of the plant in 2005. The company made 20.240bn RUR in sales profits, the net profit came to 644,867,000 RUR, according to Russian accounting standards. The meeting approved of the annual report as well as the accounting report, the P & L statement, and profit distribution. The

SV Consulting became a shareholder of Mechel Bank JSC after it bought 10.9% of its equities. Meanwhile, La Vida Splav Ltd. (Chelyabinsk wholesale trader) that used to own the equivalent share holding decided to leave the company, reports the bank’s official statement.

Last week, the general contractor of Troitsk State District Power Plant began repairing the feeding unit № 7. The procedure includes overhaul of the turbine pertaining to the generating unit № 7, repairing the boiler and the smoke suckers as well as the other parts of the main and supplementary equipment. The specialists of the South Ural Assembling Administration are to renovate the 7B boiler using the VIR-technologies for the first time. The technology was designed by Polittechenergo of Saint Petersburg and consists in the rotational low-emission burning of coal in the boiler furnace, which

The annual meeting held at Pervouralskiy Novotrubniy Zavod JSC, tube works of Pervouralsk and attended by shareholders holding the total of 91.85% of shares resulted in the decision to pass the dividends for 2005 and invest the money in the company’s strategic development; the top priorities of this development plan had been set up by the Board of Directors. The shareholders also agreed in the annual report, the accounting report, and the P & L statement for 2005. The company made 4.738bn RUR in sales profits; the net profit came to 1.984bn according to the Russian accounting standards.

Visokogorskiy Ore Mining and Processing Enterprise (part of Evraz Group) introduced the labour protection and industrial safety program for 2006. According to the company’s spokesperson, the program provides for overhaul of shower rooms and laundries of Yuzhanya mine, for overhaul of shipping department of Goroblagodatskiy mine, and for renovation of Magnetitovaya mine. Some improvements are to be seen in the field of drinking facilities, too: the extra dispensers and filters will be bought and installed in addition to the current 150. Canteens will be set up at Yestyuninskaya mine, and the

In the first quarter of 2006, the united network sold over 50,000 tons of tubes and pipes, which exceeds the figures for 2005 by 12.5%. As the company’s spokesperson said to UrBC representative, the sales records for rolled metal have remained the same, which is due to the company’s regional distribution policy. A number of their subsidiaries, for example, have cut down on rolled metal sales as they invest the resources thus obtained into tube sales development.

Shareholders of YuzhUralDvigatelService are going to elect the GD on May 16, 2006, during the annual shareholder meeting. The other points on the agenda include agreeing on the annual report and electing the Board of Directors.

Knauf Gips Chelyabinsk JSC is going to hold annual meeting on May 18, 2006. The points on the agenda include agreeing on the annual report, P & L distribution, the issue of dividends. The shareholders will also have to elect the Supervisory board, the inspection committee members, and the auditor for 2006.

In the first three months of 2006, Magnesite Industrial Complex JSC has experienced an increase of 4.6% (96,800 tons in toto) in refractory goods output and of 9.5% in commercial powders (187,600 tons in toto) as against the corresponding period of 2005. The refractory goods sales have gone up by 7.3%, commercial powders sales have gone up by 12.7% compared to January-March 2005. The company has raised its refractory goods shipments by 3% (76,200 tons in toto), and its commercial powders shipments by 13.7% (136,100 tons in toto), the company’s spokesperson said to UrBC representative.

On April 20, 2006, a new cold saw was put into operation at Metallurgical Industrial Complex of Nizhniy Tagil JSC (part of Evraz Group). The saw is meant for cutting railroad wheel ingots, and it’s the seventh one so far installed at the complex. According to the company’s spokesperson, the lock, stock and barrel assembling and installation agreement had been signed with MFL of Austria. The new saw is particularly productive (up to 100,000 ingots a year). It also exposes higher precision, is more compact and fully automated. Its produce is in full compliance with the demands that the ingots

Finnair is going to set up regular Yekaterinburg-Helsinki flights in the fall of 2006. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays, the planes would leave Helsinki, and on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays, the carrier would take the passengers from Yekaterinburg to the Finnish capital. At the moment, the company is in the recruiting process as well as looking for the office. The issue was discussed with Governor Eduard Rossel, who came to Helsinki to meet the company’s heads Messrs Koberg and Vikkula, on April 20. Mr Rossel assured his Finnish partners that Sverdlovsk Region was greatly interested

Bank 24.ru JSC summed up its achievements in the first three months of 2006: its net wealth went up by 11.8% (3 060m RUR as of April 1 against 2 869 m RUR as of January 1), the bank’s capital rose by 53.1% (341m RUR against the previous 228m). Profits came to 21.2m RUR. The net debtor position of a bank went up by 16% (1,234m RUR as of April 1 against 1,164m as of January 1).