Sverdlovsk Region
The Sverdlovsk Region is located on the border between Europe and Asia, 2,000 km to the east of Moscow, and is part of the Ural Federal District. It covers an area stretching 194,300 sq km. As of January 1, 2011, the population was 4,393,600 people with 83% residents living in cities and 17% residents in rural areas. The region comprises 47 cities, 26 dormitory communities and urbanised villages, and 1,841 rural settlements. The region's administrative centre is Yekaterinburg (1,363,800 people). The other major cities are Nizhny Tagil (374,500 people), Kamensk-Uralsky (181,600 people), Pervouralsk (159,200 people), Asbest (102,700 people), and Serov (100,300 people).
Traditionally, the region's economy is based on such industries as iron and non-ferrous metals industry, engineering, metal processing and electric power industry, with a developing sector of electronic and optical equipment manufacturing.
Some of the region's major industrial companies are Evraz Group, the largest local producer of steel and metal-rolls, SUAL Group, the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC), Uralmash (part of the OMZ Group), pipe manufacturer TMK, and Uralvagonzavod.
In the first six months this year, the region exported 602.3 billion rouble worth of machinery (31.4% growth since 2010), the capital stock investments from all sources has increased by 26.8% (up to 90 billion roubles) within the currently established rates. By the end of 2011, the total investment is expected to reach 270 billion roubles. In the first seven months this year, the industrial production index amounted to 109.5% compared to the same period in 2010. From June 2010 to June 2011, the average salary in the region has grown by 14.3% up to 22,711.7 roubles.
In late 2010, the Titan Valley, a special economic zone, was created in the Sverdlovsk Region. It contains industrial clusters for the manufacturing of oil/gas machinery, chemicals and pharmaceutical goods, and medical equipment.
