Local division of Rospotrebnadzor, the consumer goods monitoring service, has recently carried out the investigation of Home Credit and Finance Bank Ltd. that revealed a number of instances when consumers’ rights were being violated in the course of signing the loan agreements.

‘The results of the investigation make it clear that the bank only gives its clients consumer loans when they pay for the opening and servicing of the bank account. More often than not, the sum a client has to pay is greater than that compiled of the loan interest payments,’ the spokesperson for the Consumer Rights Protection Department of Rospotrebnadzor in Sverdlovsk Region said to UrBC representative.

‘This proviso actually violates Article 16 of Consumer Rights Protection Bill as it makes rendering of a service dependent on obligatory rendering of another service. According to the current legislation, a bank can only ask a client to pay for the opening and servicing of an account when the latter is willing to do so. If the client does not wish to spend extra money on this, they may receive their consumer loan in cash via the bank’s desk,’ the spokesperson reported.

Some other illegal terms of credit have been reveled as well; thus, the bank issued a proviso stating that in case of an advanced repayment the bank might take a commission, even though there is no such item in the Russian banking legislation. In fact, a bank can only allow or refuse an advanced repayment to its client.

The loan agreement of Home Credit and Finance Bank Ltd. also makes it possible for the bank to fine its client in case they miss the payment deadline, which is illegal, as Article 811 (P. 2) of Russian Federation Civil Code states that in case of a missed deadline, a bank can only ask for an advanced repayment of the whole remaining sum and the interest payments, yet no fining is legitimate.

‘Home Credit and Finance Bank Ltd. is now involved in an administrative charge; the legitimacy of the decree issued by Rospotrebnadzor in Sverdlovsk Region has already been approved by Sverdlovsk Region Court of Arbitration and Ural Federal District Court of Arbitration. The bank has been given the order to eliminate all the violations, and the victims now have the right to claim damages or sue the company,’ the spokesperson for Rospotrebnadzor observed.

Metallurgical Industrial Complex of Nizhny Tagil celebrates 20th anniversary of its environmental management department

August 22, 2006 is the 20th anniversary of setting up of the main environment preservation laboratory at the Metallurgical Industrial Complex of Nizhny Tagil JSC (part of Evraz Group). The newly arranged service was directed towards reduction of the company’s polluting atmospheric emissions and industrial wastewaters. Laboratory specialists carried out the first certification of dust trapping and gas cleaning systems of the Complex and developed the preliminary guidelines for Nizhny Tagil urban-industrial environment protection.

Within 20 years, the corporate environmentalists have created an inspection system embracing all of the company’s industrial processes, contributed to shutdowns of outdated plants and units and worked out the corporate program of negative environmental impact reduction to be fully implemented by 2009.

The company’s experts have been participating in local environmental workshops devoted to environmentally sound renovation of the Complex. The environmental management system of Metallurgical Industrial Complex of Nizhny Tagil carries certificate of adequacy to ISO 14001:2004 international standard requirements.