Jul 01, 2011: AmCham Russia Weekly Bulletin: July 1, 2011

AmCham Hosts Congressional Delegation
 
Today, AmCham is hosting a roundtable in Moscow with U.S. Congressman Dan Burton (R-IN), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Europe and Eurasia of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs. The Congressional delegation includes Representatives Mike McIntyre (D-NC), Tom Marino (R-PA), Ruben Hinojosa (D-TX), Madeleine Bordallo (D-GU), and Theordore Deutch (D-FL).
 

Roundtable with GE’s CEO
 
On Thursday, AmCham hosted a CEO roundtable with Jeffrey Immelt, Chairman and CEO of GE and Chair of U.S. President Barack Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.

RF President Signs Bill on National Payment System
 
This week, RF President Dmitry Medvedev signed a bill on the national payment system that allows payment systems such as Visa and MasterCard to have processing centers outside of Russia. AmCham has been working closely with member companies and policymakers over the past months, advocating for such an outcome.

Early-bird Networking Event
 
On Monday, AmCham President and CEO Andrew Somers hosted an Early-bird Networking event, during which he led an informal discussion with AmCham members on his recent meetings with Congressional leaders in Washington, WTO and PNTR issues, and key AmCham-member business issues going forward.

HR Committee Meets
 
On Tuesday, the AmCham HR Committee met to discuss graduate recruitment. The speakers were Maxim Katsev (MGIMO), Vitaly Shemenev (MGIMO), Thorsten Koletschka (Center of Excellence EMEA - access Kelly OCG GmbH), and Svetlana Steshina (UK Metalloinvest).
 

Innovation Brainstorming Session
 
On Wednesday, AmCham held a brainstorming session of the Innovation Working Group. The Innovation Working group will be a forum for discussing issues related to innovation-driven business. The Group met to identify goals and priorities, and to develop an action plan going forward.

Manufacturing Committee Meets
 
On Wednesday, the Manufacturing Committee of AmCham’s St. Petersburg regional office met for a presentation by Grigory Kharenko (LenEnergo).

Taxation Committee Meeting
 
On Thursday, the AmCham Taxation Committee met to discuss: transfer pricing reforms and a new position paper; VAT electronic invoicing, its challenges and opportunities; and preparations for the upcoming Annual AmCham Tax Conference.

Tourism & Hospitality and PR Committees Hold Joint Meeting
 
Today, AmCham St. Petersburg’s Tourism & Hospitality Committee and PR Committee met for a discussion, entitled “Marketing St. Petersburg Abroad: What Can Help Make the City More Competitive?”

U.S. Independence Day Celebrations in St. Petersburg and Moscow
 
This week, AmCham has been preparing for its two U.S. Independence Day celebrations. The first one will take place in St. Petersburg tomorrow, Saturday, July 2 (click here for information), and the second will be in Moscow on Saturday, July 9 (please click here for information).