AmCham St. Petersburg News

• Jul 05, 2005 Up, Up and Away
  A balloon draped in the U.S. flag takes off during Independence Day festivities held at the Sharovnya Country Club on Saturday.
• Jul 02, 2005 День Независимости в "Шаровне"
  Delovoy Peterburg: С 13:00 и до 17:00 в “Шаровне” праздновали День Независимости. На мероприятии можно было поиграть в мини гольф, поучаствовать в различных конкурсах. Так же все приглашённые получили лотерейные билеты и участвовали в розыгрыше призов. При желании можно было покататься на воздушном шаре. А потраченные силы гости восстанавливали на фуршете.
• Jun 30, 2005 HR Committee discusses business education
  The HR Committee meeting in June featured guest speaker Sergey Mordovin, dean of IMISP, vice-president of the Russian Association of Business Education, whose presentation "Business Education in Russia: New tendencies and approaches" was followed by a roundtable discussion.
• Jun 29, 2005 First ad hoc Customs & Transportation Committee meeting
  On numerous requests from AmCham member companies that followed the success of the keynote address by Leonid Lozbenko, deputy head of the Federal Customs Service, at AmCham Annual Meeting on March 31 and the roundtable with the Northwest Customs on April 19, the Chapter initiated creating a new Customs & Transportation Committee, which was announced by Treasurer Slava Vlasov of PricewaterhouseCoopers at the General Membership Meeting on May 31.
• Jun 22, 2005 First city brand working group meeting
  The first meeting of a special working group created to aid St. Petersburg government in developing marketing strategy for the city features Sergey Mitrofanov
• Jun 22, 2005 Meeting with Chairman Blank
  AmCham representatives visited St. Petersburg Committee for Economic Development, Industrial Policy and Trade to meet with its chairman Vladimir Blank
• Jun 16, 2005 Bills Signed
  We are happy to report that AmCham St. Pete Taxation Committee‘s recent efforts to improve the investment climate in Leningrad Oblast have been successful. As a result of these efforts on May 31, two new laws - "On profit tax rates for the institutions investing in Leningrad Oblast" and "On changes to the Oblast law ‘On state support for investment activities in Leningrad Oblast‘" - passed the Oblast Legislative Assembly in three readings and YESTERDAY they were signed by Governor Serdyukov. The adopted laws guarantee that investors WILL get profit tax rate reduced down to 13%.
• Jun 15, 2005 PR Committee meeting
  The PR Committee members convened in June to discuss a number of important issues. Julia Zavileyskaya of DataArt made a presentation on corporate Website as a PR, marketing and branding tool. Maria Chernobrovkina, AmCham St. Pete Executive Director, updated the members on AmCham preparations for the upcoming U.S. Independence Day celebration. Olga Volkova of the City Committee for External Relations and Tourism presented the Committee‘s project "Gorod - Dorog" and welcomed AmCham members‘ input.
• Jun 09, 2005 IT Committee reviews the new bill
  On the day of the first Duma reading of the bill "On special economic zones in the Russian Federation," the IT Committee convened to discuss the bill and its impact on the IT industry.
• May 31, 2005 General Membership Meeting features Chairman Blank
  AmCham St. Petersburg membership convened in the Corinthia Nevskij Palace Hotel on May 31 for a traditional bimonthly General Membership Meeting.
• May 30, 2005 Breakfast Briefing with Secretary Gutierrez
  Within the framework of the U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez’s visit to St. Petersburg, Secretary Gutierrez met with AmCham Russia President Andrew Somers, AmCham St. Petersburg EC members and representatives of American companies present in the region to discuss the Russian-American commercial relations in Northwest Russia.
• May 27, 2005 Breakfast Briefing with Ambassador Vershbow
  AmCham St. Petersburg Executive Committee members and top managers of the leading American companies in the region met with U.S. Ambassador Alexander Vershbow at a breakfast briefing at the Billiards Room of the Grand Hotel Europe.
• May 26, 2005 HR Committee discusses Russian labor law
  Over 70 top managers and HR professionals from AmCham member companies convened in the Corinthia Nevskij Palace Hotel for a seminar-roundtable on Russian labor law.
• May 25, 2005 Taxation Committee meets with Ludmila Polezharova
  AmCham St. Petersburg Taxation Committee held a roundatble with Ludmila Polezharova, Deputy Head of the Profit Tax Department, RF Ministry of Finance, at the Radisson SAS Royal Hotel.
• May 20, 2005 Be Informed, Hotel Investors Told
  A grasp of Russia‘s intricate legal and tax system, along with a presence of reliable local partners are among the key determinants of success for foreign investors in the city‘s hotel industry, according to a seminar held by the American Chamber of Commerce on Thursday.
• May 12, 2005 PR Committee meets with Ekaterina Belyakova and elects new co-chairs
  PR Committee’s initiative to cooperate with the city administration in developing the city’s brand was enthusiastically supported by the city authorities, and Ekaterina Belyakova of the City Committee for External Relations and Tourism met with PR Committee members to discuss further cooperation. The committee decided to convene a working group from all membership in order to contribute from different industries to the brand creation.
• Apr 27, 2005 <font color="#ff0000">Changes to Visa Procedure</font>
  The U.S. Consulate General has announced some changes to the visa application procedure and how it affects AmCham members.
• Apr 21, 2005 Joint meeting of the Tourism & Hospitality and Safety & Security Committees
  The meeting featured Alexander Timoshenko and Andrey Stanchenko of the 6th investigation department (for crimes committed by or against foreigners). They discussed with the committee members various issues of tourists’ security.
• Apr 21, 2005 “Investment in St. Petersburg hotel infrastructure” seminar working group meeting
  To build an agenda for the seminar tentatively scheduled for May 19, a working group was called. It was agreed that the seminar should feature Vice Governor Yury Molchanov’s address and presentations from the City Committee for Investment and Strategic Projects, leading city hotel owners and operators as well as lawyers and consultants covering various issues of investment practices in the hotel market.
• Apr 19, 2005 New AmCham Head Understands Both East and West
  Maria Chernobrovkina could be said to have played a Turkish gambit to reach her current position. Sacrificing an oriental languages degree as "youthful indulgence in exotica," the new head of the St. Petersburg chapter of the American Chamber of Commerce switched course for the West early in life.
• Apr 19, 2005 Roundtable with Northwest Customs authorities
  Mr. Korchazhkin, the newly appointed chief of Northwest Customs, conducted a roundtable with AmCham members. All the heads of local customs departments (Baltiyskaya, Northwest Excise Customs and Vyborg) were present. AmCham participants raised questions with them concerning often-encountered problems and issues. Mr. Korchazhkin tried to solve those problems on the spot; if unable, he took them under his personal control to address.
• Apr 13, 2005 HR Committee elects a new co-chair and discusses the training market
  At its April meeting, HR Committee elected Jane Kurts, VP of Communications, DataArt, as the new co-chair. Jane replaces Yana Vashchilova, who co-chaired the committee since February 2003.
• Apr 07, 2005 Investment & Legal Committee discusses the "Strategic Investor" conception
  The meeting featured guest speaker Nikolay Asaul, deputy chairman, St. Petersburg Committee for Investment and Strategic Projects
• Apr 07, 2005 PR Committee meeting
  The committee members received co-chair Slava Bytchkov’s report on PR Days in Moscow and update on the recent NW RASO meeting, discussed the idea of publishing a PR directory in St. Petersburg, and planned the committee activities in 2005. One of the major issues on the committee agenda was agreed to be the city image and possible cooperation with SPb government on that.
• Apr 04, 2005 IT Committee meeting
  The meeting featured Ancor’s presentation on the software development labor market status and trends and Russoft President Valentin Makarov’s update on this year’s CeBIT fair in Hannover.
• Mar 31, 2005 AmCham St. Petersburg Reports the Year of Growth and Achievement
  The last day of March was marked by a series of events held by AmCham’s St. Petersburg Chapter that summed up the organization’s achievements in 2004 and laid out plans and perspectives for 2005.
• Mar 28, 2005 AmCham St. Petersburg Chapter Executive Director Appointment
• Feb 18, 2005 <font color="#ff0000">Letter from the Visa Section, U.S. Consulate General</font>
  As we are approaching the busy summer travel season, the Visa Section at the US Consulate General would like to strongly encourage all businesses in Northwest Russia to plan early for any anticipated travel to the United States.
• Feb 16, 2005 HR Committee Holds Seminar on Organizational Culture
  The seminar featured guest speakers Prof. Carl Fey of SSE and Natalia Fey of Kontura Int'l.
• Jan 28, 2005 AmCham St. Petersburg Chapter Executive Director Resignation