Overview

St Petersburg is situated in the Northwestern, Federal District of Russia. Approximately 4.5 million people live in the city and it is the world`s largest city north of Moscow. St Petersburg has a number of attractions including The Winter Palace as well as many shops and restaurants made popular by tourists.

Economy

St Petersburg is a key contributor to Russia`s financial and industrial makeup, specialising in the oil and gas trade as well as shipbuilding, heavy machinery and transport. According to City Government �Over the last few years in St. Petersburg there has been created a developed infrastructure of the regional financial market in Russia, which is the second largest after Moscow�.

Infrastructure

With the city being a main transport zone, with a network of public transportations, including buses, trams and trolleybuses. Buses carry somewhere in the region of 3 million passengers, everyday, the railway has four lines and sixty stations carrying up to 2.8 million passengers. 2008 sees the 5th metro line being introduced. This is Russia`s second largest underground system as well as the most cheapest and effective way to get around the city.

Pulkovo Airport is located around 17 kilometres south of the city centre and one of the bases for Rossiya, the Russian state owned airline, the airport has attained ISO 9001:2000 certification. The airport provides links to most European destinations and many domestic locations, additionally there are flights to China, Kazakhstan and the Middle East. St Petersburg has three large cargo seaports. The system of river ports on both banks, interlink the Baltic Sea and the rest of Russia through the Volga-Baltic Waterway. This is due to a complex system of river ports on both banks of the Neva River, interconnecting with the system of seaports.

St Petersburg is well connected by road to much of Europe and Russia, 4 of the major European transport routes pass through or start from the city, these are the E18, E20, E95 and the E105.

Workforce

Figures published by Doing Business in St Petersburg (the SME Business Portal) show that in 2006 the workforce was just short of 2.5 million. St Petersburg is home to a large number of universities, academies and institutes of higher education, ensuring a steady flow of highly skilled workers into the St Petersburg economy.

Standard of Living

St Petersburg is said to be the city of palaces, with temples and cathedrals, monuments and sculptures, museums and many popular sites. With more than fifty theatres, St Petersburg is well known for its high-quality cultural life and for visitors to the city here are many things to do in the evenings such as music, dance, circus and opera as well as many clubs to visit.

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