OREANDA-NEWS. December 25, 2007. In early December, the Committee for Economic Development Industrial Policy and Trade, Members of the Saint Petersburg Government and Citi Russia held a Forum "Opportunities for Foreign Companies in Saint Petersburg and North-West Russia". It was held in Citi's London headquarters, the bank's press service reported. The conference gathered more than 60 representatives of business communities from many countries, including Australia. The event was also attended by representatives of the Russian Embassy and Trade Mission in Great Britain, industry organizations, professional consultants and delegation of the Government of Saint Petersburg.

The Forum was keynoted by Alexey Sergeev, Chairman of the Committee for Economic Development Industrial Policy and Trade, Member of the Saint Petersburg Government with the presentation "The Business Climate and the Special Economic Zone of Saint Petersburg". In his speech Mr. Sergeev touched upon the most crucial issues of economic development of the Region, made an overview of industrial companies working in Saint Petersburg and the Region, current and further investment projects. Within his report Mr. Sergeev stressed: "City Government takes all the necessary actions to create a comfortable business environment, decrease administrative barriers and improve legislation currently in force. Only in 2006 has the volume of foreign investment to the non-financial economic sector achieved such a record level - USD 5,3 bln, this is 3,7 times more than in 2005. In 2007, we expect to achieve the level in USD 6,3 bln for this index."

Among the strategic investment projects in St-Petersburg important automotive projects were mentioned (Toyota, GM, Nissan, Suzuki, Ford) as well as infrastructure projects.

At the end of the speech, Alexey Sergeev said: "Investment policy for Saint Petersburg is the key way to a better social and economic situation in the Region rather than simply higher tax proceeds and the city's budget growth."

Ruslan Belyaev, Citi Branch Manager in Saint Petersburg, followed Mr. Sergeev. Mr. Belyaev highlighted the attractiveness of the North-West and spoke about Citi Russia experience in financial consulting and investment attraction to the region. "The Saint Petersburg Government activity in governmental-private partnership development is on a very high level and plays a significant role in Russia's emerging economy. Citi considers these projects as of the utmost importance. We consulted the Ministry for Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation on several projects, aspiring to gain state support from the Russian Federation Investment Fund sources. Among these projects are a Project for arranging a high-speed rail network from Saint Petersburg to Helsinki and a Project of complex industrial development in Novomoskovsk in Tula region."

Citi Russia also provides consulting services to a number of private investors on projects realization in governmental-private partnership in Russia. Saint Petersburg and the North-West are key regions for Citi. In St. Petersburg, Citi Russia has opened 15 consumer branches," summed up Ruslan Belyaev.

The Forum was also attended by Fedor Takhmanov, acting Trade representative of Russian Federation in Great Britain; Artem Vasyutin, Senior Manager, Deloitte and Touche CIS; Sergey Skorik, Director General OOO "Transsphere International"; Grigory Rozhkov, Director, "Saint Petersburg Association for International Economic Cooperation".