Northwest Russia News

• Jul 08, 2005 Razin Buy Gives Heineken Brewing Space
  Heineken will solve its production capacity limitations and become the top-selling brewer in St. Petersburg after acquiring city-based rival Stepan Razin, the Dutch brewer said Thursday.
• Jul 08, 2005 EBRD Finances Mall
  ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the RZB Group will loan 65 million euros ($2.25 million) for the construction of a city retail center, the bank said Tuesday in a statement.
• Jul 05, 2005 Blue Russian Skies for Business
  To read the papers, you would think Russia had reverted to communism, renationalized its industries and caused foreign businessmen to panic and run for the borders.
• Jul 01, 2005 BA, Sibir in Interline deal
  ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - British Airways has signed an interline agreement with Russian airline Sibir that will allow for a mutual recognition of carriage documents, Sibir said Wednesday in a statement.
• Jul 01, 2005 JTI to Fight On
  ST. PETERSBURG (SPT) - Subsidiary of Tokyo-based manufacturer, Japan Tobacco International, will challenge a decision by the Moscow Arbitration Appeals Court to uphold a ruling to recover $70 million in taxes, the company said Wednesday in a statement.
• Jul 01, 2005 Heineken Readies to Gulp Down Stepan Razin
  MOSCOW - Dutch beer giant Heineken is preparing to buy one of Russia‘s last major brewers under local control, the country‘s anti-monopoly watchdog said Thursday.
• Jul 01, 2005 State to Monitor Internet
  Federal legislature to protect Internet intellectual property rights will become much stricter in 2006, a top official at the general prosecutor‘s office said Tuesday.
• Jul 01, 2005 Daimler-Chrysler Picks Cars for Russia
  Daimler-Chrysler has picked the range of car models it will assemble at the company‘s planned factory in St. Petersburg, a German business daily reported Thursday.
• Jul 01, 2005 Foreign Investors to Receive List of Rules
  MOSCOW - Foreign investors will either get a definitive list of strategic sectors where their participation is restricted, or a clear set of case-by-case guidelines, Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko told a Cabinet meeting Thursday.
• Jun 28, 2005 Vershbow Exits on High Note
  Relations between Russian and the United States continue to develop positively, Alexander Vershbow, the retiring U.S. Ambassador to Moscow, said Friday at a farewell news conference in St. Petersburg.
• Jun 28, 2005 Putin Woos German, U.S. Execs
  In an unprecedented charm offensive, President Vladimir Putin met over the weekend with groups of top business leaders from the United States and Germany in an effort to reassure them of Russia‘s commitment to free market economics.
• Jun 24, 2005 Ford to Invest $30M in Output
  Ford will sink another $30 million in Russia to more than double its production output by January next year, the company‘s top European executive said Thursday.
• Jun 24, 2005 Motorola to Hire 100 More Staff
  Motorola‘s St. Petersburg office will hire 100 more employees by the end of the year, the company said Thursday at the opening of its new offices.
• Jun 24, 2005 Police to Step Up Patrols to Protect Foreigners
  In response to alarm expressed by the St. Petersburg tourism industry at a crime wave against foreign tourists, city police have announced they are taking steps to counter the pickpocket gangs.
• Jun 17, 2005 IKEA Starts Work On $500M Mega Project
  Swedish retailer IKEA started construction work on a $500 million investment project that includes setting up two family shopping centers and a further furniture store in the city.
• Jun 17, 2005 EY Law to Make Key Changes Post Merger
  EY Law CIS made a number of significant staff changes at its practices in St. Petersburg as it prepares to split from parent company Ernst & Young, the firm said Wednesday.
• Jun 17, 2005 Toyota to Pour $1 Billion Into Russian Factory
  The Japanese auto giant Toyota on Tuesday laid the foundation stone of its new assembly plant just outside of St. Petersburg, vowing to reach an annual capacity of 200,000 vehicles "soon" after production starts in 2007.
• Jun 17, 2005 Putin Opts for Champion Firms to Get Recognition
  President Vladimir Putin affirmed what the economists have noted happening for some time - Russia has effectively abandoned its policy of stimulating economic growth through the fostering of small and medium-sized business and will instead support several champion industries to achieve global recognition.
• Jun 17, 2005 Cop Says Criminals Migrants
  A senior police official has laid most of the blame for crimes against foreigners in St. Petersburg at the feet of illegal migrants and careless tourists.
• Jun 14, 2005 Investors Feel ‘Blind‘ Post Yukos
  Although the word Yukos seems to have ingrained itself into the consciousness of most businesses eyeing Russia, the main effect that the court case had was not the dismantling of Yukos itself, but the regulatory issues unearthed in the process.
• Jun 14, 2005 Supreme Court Annuls Regional Tax Concessions
  In March 2005, Russia‘s Supreme Court has ruled on the legitimacy of profits‘ tax concession that the Leningrad Oblast has provided for companies making qualifying investments in the region. The Court has upheld the previously issued decision of the regional court that invalidated the investment law the Oblast used to grant tax concessions.
• Jun 14, 2005 JTI Acquires CRES Neva
  Japan Tabacco International (JTI) intends to buy St. Petersburg-based CRES Neva plant, owned by Standard Commercial Tobacco, for $14 million, Interfax reported Friday, citing JTI‘s press service.
• Jun 14, 2005 Automakers Pick St. Petersburg As Russia‘s Car-Capital
  St. Petersburg has become a magnet for foreign carmakers eager to set up shop in Russia, and has every chance of turning into the country‘s automobile production center in the near future.
• Jun 14, 2005 ABN, Barclays Plan Loan to Rosneftegaz
  MOSCOW -- ABN Amro Holding and Barclays Plc are arranging a $2 billion loan to Rosneftegaz, the Russian state-owned oil company that‘s buying a stake in Gazprom, bankers involved in the deal said.
• Jun 14, 2005 Commercial Property Shines in Prospects
  The energy sector may continue to be the most robust component of the economy, but Russian real estate is emerging as an attractive, albeit still volatile, investment option.
• Jun 10, 2005 Ernst Young Quits CIS Law Operations
  MOSCOW - Ernst & Young‘s legal practice in Russia and the CIS is preparing to split from its parent company and join DLA Piper Rudnick Gray Cary to form one of the region‘s largest law firms, sources from both companies said.
• Jun 07, 2005 Ford to Boost Production to 40,000 Cars a Year
  MOSCOW — Ford is planning to boost its output of Russian-built cars from 25,000 to 40,000 cars per year, Vedomosti reported Monday, citing company and government officials.
• Jun 07, 2005 Economic Zones Lack IT Focus
  The law on special economic zones, proposed by the Economic Development and Trade Ministry, will do nothing to propel the development of IT parks in Russia, industry experts said Monday. Legislature regulating the creation and maintenance of special zones will be presented to the State Duma for a first reading Friday. The law was being developed by the economic ministry since early 2000 to establish certain geographic areas as zones with lighter taxation and other financial benefits for tenants.
• Jun 07, 2005 Firms to Face 90-Day Freeze For Wrongdoing
  Companies are going to face a more extreme administrative sanction for legal violations then ever before. A law, signed by the Russian President on May 9, will empower the authorities to initiate an administrative suspension of operations for 90 days before the court.
• Jun 07, 2005 2 DaimlerChrysler Plants?
  MOSCOW (Bloomberg) - DaimlerChrysler, the world‘s fifth-biggest carmaker, may open two assembly plants in Russia, Interfax reported, citing Gerhard Hilgert, head of the company‘s operations in the country.