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St. Petersburg Economic Forum scheduled for 8-10 June 2007

Rapidly growing housing prices in Moscow

European Investment Bank (EIB) to strengthen activities in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

St. Petersburg Economic Forum scheduled for 8-10 June 2007

Russia's finance minister Alexey Kudrin annonced that the annual St. Petersburg international economic forum scheduled for June 8-10 will gather some 3,000 participants. This would be the threefold number, compared with last year’s conference. Taking place annually since 1997, it aims at revising Russia's economic performance and analyzing it’s business relations with international partners.

Rapidly growing housing prices in Moscow

Whereas Moscow’s reputation of being among the costlies cities to live in is generally unjustified (it is usually found on 25th-30th position in global rankings), it is appropriate as far as housing prices are concerned. The mean selling price per sqm almost doubled last year, reaching € 3’140, compared to € 1’670 in 2005. Moreover, fastest growth was experienced in the upscale market segment. Average sqm-prices are expected to rise up to € 4’000 in 2007.

European Investment Bank (EIB) to strengthen activities in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

EIB and European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) announced future co-operation on eastern European and central Asian projects. Both banks will jointly finance appropriate ventures. The European Council decided to authorize the (EIB) to award loans in collaboration with the EBRD up to an annual amount of € 500 million. Aggregate loans will reach up to € 3.7 billion until 2013. Main beneficiaries will be infrastructure projects, e.g. energy plant, traffic network, and telecommunication system constructions.