vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #152 / Business / Reading article...

Fuel cuts help company, but not customers

Thanks to a 40 percent decrease in the cost of transporting fuel on the Russian railway until March 31, Dalenergo will save 55.5 billion rubles ($9.4 million) in the next six months. One reason for the region’s high electricity rates (up to eight times the level of some Russian regions) is the high cost of fuel transportation. Still, no rate cuts are on the way for consumers.

Telephone prices up

The Vladivostok Telephone Exchange introduced new telephone fees Oct. 1. Telephone owners must now pay 25,000 rubles ($4.24) each month. The next rate increase is expected to occur in January.

Net service a bargain

Vladivostok residents can now go on-line without paying start-up or monthly fees. Relcom Pacific, with Vladivostok Telephone and Telegraph, will offer a fee-for-service program. Monthly bills are sent to the customer’s home and can be paid at Sberbank or a telephone office. For more information, call 226-869, or visit http://www.vmts.ru/Internet/Credit on the Internet.

Mayor’s office becomes shareholder in bank

Acfes and Acfes Beverage recently sold their shares of Vneshtorgbank to the city administration, making the mayor’s office the second-largest shareholder in the bank, with 28.04 percent. A mayor’s representative will sit on the bank’s board of directors, but no city money will be transferred to Vneshtorg. City Hall plans to use its new relationship with the bank to make small-and medium-sized business loans.