Dear friends!

January has flown by very fast! The city finally woke up after the Christmas holidays, cheered as swimmers traditionally plunged into the ice and found itself at the center of business and affairs of 2013. On the very first week of February SPIBA is holding 6 events, and that is just the beginning! Please find attached the calendar of events for the next month and we are looking forward to your active participation!

Only a few companies who are entering the St. Petersburg market and are planning to open a plant, know that in addition to the use of land in existing industrial parks, the city offers the possibility of placing the company on territories that are traded by the Property Fund of St. Petersburg. On January 22nd SPIBA had a meeting with the GAPI – the officially authorized organization of the Government of St. Petersburg to attract investment to the region. GAPI carries informational and consulting support for investment projects and for more than 8 years has been operating in the market of St. Petersburg. Interested Members met with the management of the agency and they asked about the most perspective industrial areas of St. Petersburg, the conclusion about the details of investment contracts, permits and approvals. SPIBA members can read the Directory of industrial zones, provided by the Agency.

On the January 24th we held the first 2013 meeting of the Finance Committee, dedicated to the pension reform. Oleg Moshlyak, Head of Corporate Banking of NPF Sberbank, spoke about the planned changes in the legislation in terms of calculating the funded part of the pension and therefore paid particular attention to corporate programs as a tool for HR management.

What can be better than a glass of wine after a long day in a good company of SPIBA friends? On January 30th, we held a Get together party with our partners – InterNations St. Petersburg. The event was attended by a record number of people – more than 200! Borsalino Restaurant of the Angleterre Hotel treated guests with delicacies from their new Sicilian chef, fine drinks, live music and a great atmosphere! Guests also took part in the lottery – we thank our sponsors SOHO lounge, Sodexo, Henkel and many others for the wonderful prizes!

We hope your month is full of exciting events and we would like to invite you to take part in an amazing charity project of “Tepliy Dom.” The fund offers a unique opportunity to fulfill children’ dream by taking part in a charity performance on the 1st of March! If you would like to get involved and play a role on stage, please explore more detailed information on the website.

See you soon!