Dear friends,

The first month of spring has come to an end and radiant April has started, bringing the sun and the blue sky to our city! Thoughts of imminent May holidays give us energy for professional achievements! Here is what was memorized by SPIBA friends last month:

On March 4th we held a business tour to the factory “Russian Standard Vodka” in format Look@It. Participants were given a unique opportunity to see modern and innovative manufacturing, learn the history of the company and plans for the future, taste different kinds of production under the guidance of a professional taster and enjoy delicious cocktails at the end of the evening. Very surprising was the exclusive design of the plant, and we suggest you take a look at our colorful photo report!

On March 5th SPIBA along with ANCOR Professional and Graduate School of Management conducted Logistic business breakfast. This format of the meeting was first held in 2013 and received a lot of positive feedback from participants, in connection with which it was decided to make an annual event. This year the theme of the logistics business breakfast was “Efficient logistics: a view from providers and customers.” To participate in the discussion were invited: managers and directors of logistics and procurement of major manufacturing and trading companies of St. Petersburg, the first persons from 3PL- providers, freight forwarders, shipping lines, customs brokers and other key players in the logistics market of Northwest. The moderators of the meeting were Karina Khabacheva, Executive director of SPIBA and Alexander Yegorov, director of the division of the North-West ANCOR Professional. In the beginning of the event participants were welcomed by Yuri Fedotov, Vice-Rector for management department, Graduate School of Management. In the first part of the program the participants held several presentations, and the second part of the event was held in the format of a business workshop. Due to current and controversial issues proposed for discussion, debate was very lively and interactive.

On March 6th SPIBA members had the opportunity for the second time to attend a master class of Professor from Graduate School of Management David I. Barkan. Master class was entitled “Marketing in the structure of STC (Strategy, Tactics and Communications) – ideas and approach practices.” Participants learned about the practice and “traps” of strategic communication, training ” selling personnel” as well as the three-level scheme evaluations.

Industrial Committee SPIBA on March 13th invited the leading experts in the field of waste management. At the meeting Lev Gelman, General Director of “Economic consultations” and Dmitry Kolganov, Senior Manager of PwC discussed the mechanisms of extended producers’ responsibility in the area of household waste management and talked about future changes in the legislation.

On March 24th at the site of “Special Economic Zones” Andrei Sokolov, Director of the Department of Special Economic Zones, development projects and monocities regions of Ministry of Economic Development met with members of SPIBA and the American Chamber of Commerce. Among the participants were the deputy chairman of the Committee on Economic Policy and Strategic Planning of St. Petersburg Tatiana Timofeeva; head of the development site of the Committee on Industrial Policy and Innovation of St. Petersburg Vadim Smirnov, and about 40 representatives of the industrial sector in different industries. During the meeting, representatives of the automotive industry presented their concerns about the prospects for the development of automotive companies operating on the territory of St. Petersburg in connection with the customs regime, which varies with Russia joining the WTO and make localizing production economically inefficient compared with the import of finished products in Russia by leading automotive companies worldwide. In turn, Andrei Sokolov told participants about the possibilities that open up for the industrial enterprises with changes made to the law on special economic zone. Their adoption will help shape the zone of mixed type, for example, assembly plants enter the territories of the SEZ, and businesses get the SEZ resident status. Benefits provided by the SEZ residents seem significant support to companies. According to him, at present amendments to the law are under consideration by the Government of the Russian Federation and can be taken in the spring and come into force in autumn 2014.

On March 25th Committee on Quality of Life invited members of SPIBA from hospitality industry to the management school SWISSAM, where in a friendly atmosphere we talked about St. Petersburg in anticipation of a new tourist and business season. Dmitry Mikhailov, First Deputy Director of the Foundation “St. Petersburg International Economic Forum”, spoke about the history and development of the foundation as the key business events in Russia. It was about changing the format of the Forum in 2006, new goals and objectives, as well as the updated strategy since 2010. Julia Pilipciuk, Head of Strategic Planning, City Tourist Information Office of the Committee for Tourism Development of St. Petersburg, continued the discussion with the theme “Interaction of the subjects of the tourist industry as the key to effective development” and answered numerous questions from the representatives of the hotel business, attending the round table.

We look forward to seeing you at events in the coming month, and do not miss the main event of the spring at SPIBA – General meeting of members with the very special guest Eduard V. Batanov, Chairman of the Finance Committee of St. Petersburg on April 3 at 6.30 p.m.!