Dear friends!

We are pleased to send you the SPIBA Monthly Bulletin for May 2013.

May 20 SPIBA Finance Committee held a workshop on “The practical aspects of IFRS consolidated financial statement preparation.” The Master class was led by an expert on international accounting standards, Mikhail Zhuravlev. Mikhail is the Director of the Department of preparation of IFRS financial statements and management accounting, JSC “REP Holding” (Gazprom). The following issues were discussed: the use of IFRS in current Russian conditions, the process of preparing financial statements under IFRS, the practical effect adoption of the new standards (IFRS 10, 11, 12, 13, etc.) of IFRS has on Russian companies.

May 21 The Committee on Legislation and Lobbying invited members to take part in a roundtable on the topic “Questions on contesting the cadastral value of land in St. Petersburg.” The topic was related to the June 1, 2012 decision of the Government of St. Petersburg to approve the results of cadastral valuation of land. As a result of the revaluation, the cadastral value of land has increased significantly (in some cases up to 10 times). Thus, in 2013, many property owners will see a significant  increase in their land tax. Questions regarding what to do in the case of a new cadastral value significantly exceeding the market value and the possibility of challenging the results of the cadastral value were presented and discussed at the roundtable.   Russian and international law firms, as well as professional appraisers, shared their invaluable experience on the topic.

May 23 As part of the projects “Health Economics – Public-Private Partnership” and “Nordic – Russian cooperation on Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement” in conjunction with the Nordic Council of Ministers (NORDEN), SPIBA coorganized with NORDEN the master class “Protecting nanotechnology in Russia in practice. Nanotechnology market opportunities in Russia”. Opening remarks were made by Esa Kokkonen, Director of the Baltic Institute of Finland, and Karina Khabacheva, Executive Director of SPIBA. Intellectual Property and Patent Rights experts from the Nordic countries presented during the first half of the Master Class followed by their colleagues from  St. Petersburg describing the situation of the Russian market for nanotechnology.

May 24 SPIBA’s Committee on Marketing organized a business tour – Look @ Atria Russia – to one of the most modern European meat processing plants in Russia. Since 2005, “Atria Russia” includes meat processing company “Pit-Product” –  the plant SPIBA members visited. Production of “Pit-Product” is recognized at prestigious exhibitions and competitions, including the “Russian mark. Quality mark of XXI Century,”  “One hundred best goods of Russia,” “Made in St. Petersburg ”  and others.  Jarmo Lindholm, Executive Vice-President of “Atria Russia,” and General Director of “Pit-Product” spoke about the plant, and Duncan Black, Director of Production and Procurement, led a tour of the processing facilities.

May 27 We honored the city’s birthday by inviting SPIBA members and their children to get acquainted with a very important project for St. Petersburg – Upsala Circus. Upsala Circus is the only circus in the world for hooligans! All artists are children and teenagers from high-risk social groups, children who find themselves in difficult situations. The purpose of this unusual circus is the creation of an alternative to street life, the return of children to society and the creation of conditions for their full development. Artists of Upsala Circus showed a few excerpts of the existing hooligans performances and had a circus workshop for young guests of the event. We took some photos of the young artists and their works!

May 29 As part of Look @ Nevskaya Ratusha, organized jointly with East Real company, we invited members of SPIBA to gain insight how this unique project is being created. “Nevskaya Ratusha” is a modern administrative and business district in the historic center of St. Petersburg. The project will unite city administration buildings and commercial use buildings in one territory.  The common area, decorated with unique fountains and other decorative elements of landscape, will be available to all visitors. Presentations about the project were made by Anna Romanova, VTB-Development, and Artem Gorozhin, East Real, after which we visited the existing construction. Without any doubt, a project of this magnitude located in St. Petersburg, makes the city more attractive to the international business community.

The SPIBA Committee on Marketing and Communications held a meeting about advertising laws and regulation of the advertising market.  The meeting was attended by Natalia S. Ploshkina, Head of the Department for monitoring and supervision of compliance with the legislation on advertising, St.Petersburg Federal Antimonopoly Service. We thank Natalia for providing detailed answers to the participants’ questions and specific examples from the UFAS practice, as well as for highlighting the most important points concerning the application of the law on advertising.

We once again wish you the best as the long-awaited arrival of summer is here and we look forward to seeing you all onthe traditional “White Nights” Boat Cruise!