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St. Petersburg
// GENERAL INFORMATION
St. Petersburg is located in the North-West of Russia in the Neva River delta on the Eastern coast of the Gulf of Finland and occupies, together with the administratively subordinated territories, the territory of 1439 square kilometers. The city is located on 44 islands formed by the Neva River and 90 more rivers and canals.
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Neighbouring countries: Sweden, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany , Denmark (The Baltic Sea Region).
The neighbouring Russian regions: Leningrad Region, Novgorod Region, Vologda Region, Pskov Region, Kaliningrad Region and Republic of Karelia.
Distance to the nearest cities:
Tallinn - 330 km,
Helsinki - 383 km,
Stockholm - about 700 km,
Moscow - 650 km.
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St. Petersburg is the largest city in the world located so far to the North.
The city is advantageously located at the sea routes and onland roads (12 radii of railroads and 11 highways). This is the European gateway of Russia, its strategic center, closest to the European Union countries.
Weather Conditions
| Average annual temperature |
5.2 °C |
41 °F |
| Average temperature in July |
17.7 °C |
64 °F |
| Average temperature in January |
-6.5 °C |
20 °F |
Natural and Economic Resources
Water resources - fresh surface waters and underground waters. The surface fresh waters are concentrated in the columbine of the water system "Lake Ladoga - the Neva River - the Neva Inlet- the Gulf of Finland ".
On the territory of the city and its environs there are sand and gravel quarries, pebble stones, sands, clays, sandstone, loamy soils, as well as peat (the resources make approximately 17.5 bln m3 of raw peat which is the equivalent of about 2 bln tons of dried peat).
Population of St. Petersburg is about 4 million (which makes approximately 3% of the Russian population. The unemployment rate is twice lower than the average ratio in Russia.
HISTORY
The city of St. Petersburg is relatively young according to European and Russian standards. Founded in 1703 it has celebrated only 300th anniversary in 2003. Though the city is rather young it has rich and fascinating history. Since the days of Peter I's "Paradise" and "North Venice" till nowadays St. Petersburg has been living an interesting life.
Since its birth Petersburg was the city of myths and mystery. You can hardly find such a young city wrapped in exciting stories, astonishing myths and mysterious legends. The unique history of the city is reflected in numerous rumors as well as in the destiny of people gazing at us through time from old portraits. The whole sophisticated development of St. Petersburg is materialized in its palaces and temples, park ensembles, street labyrinths and multistoried houses.
Like any other large city, St. Petersburg will tell its stories to every attentive and interested observer. Outstanding personalities, military leaders, courtiers, tsars and princes, artists and poets, writers and travelers lived and walked here for you to come here and adore this "North Venice" of Peter the Great and his magnificent daughter Elizabeth. It is this city that made the Russian Empire great power; it is here that Lomonosov, Derzhavin, Pushkin, Gogol and Dostoevsky wrote their masterpieces. Come to learn more about the history of St. Petersburg, White Nights of mysterious North Palmira and to see the spires of the Admiralty and Peter and Paul Fortress.
Prehistory of St. Petersburg
Territories along the Neva river flowing into the Gulf of Finland, belonged to the territory of the Oldest Russian state of the legendary Prince Rurik. Here, on the south bank of the Ladoga Lake a huge trade center united the Slavs, Scandinavians and Finns. Later, after the 10th century Novgorod became the capital of Russia's northern lands and the largest center of international transit trade between Eastern countries (Arab Caliphate) and those of North-West of Europe. As a result, the Old Ladoga and Novgorod became large handicraft centers. The goods of Novgorod arms masters and jewelers were in great demand and Novgorod merchants became well-known in Europe.
In 1240 when Southern and Central Russian lands were fighting against Mongolian armies, that occupied Eastern Europe, Pope Gregory VII called the European knights to make a Crusade against Russian lands. Swedish prince Birger landed on the Neva banks and was defeated by young prince of Novgorod named after this battle - Alexander Nevsky. The Russian Orthodox Church then declared him a Saint for his efforts to protect Russia and its Christian faith. (Later, in the 18th century, he was proclaimed the patron saint of St. Petersburg - Peter the Great's "paradise" on the Neva).
Up to the 16th century the lands along the Neva River were part of Novgorod Trade republic. By that time the unification of Russian lands around Moscow had been finished and further expansion of Muscovite State presupposed joining the lands of the Great Novgorod. Early 17th century serious unrest started in Russia, after the last tsar of the Rurik dynasty, Feodor Ioannovich (the son of Ivan the Terrible), had died leaving no heirs to the throne. The new ruler, Vasily Shuisky, invited the Swedes to fight on his side. The Swedes realized how weak Russia was, and decided to occupy a significant portion of North-Western Russia instead. Even after the new Romanov dynasty had been established in 1613, Russia had to admit territorial losses. A new border between Russia and Sweden was set by the Stolbovo Treaty of 1617. For the remainder of the century the Neva River area became a part of Sweden, and the Swedes used it effectively to cut off Russia from the Baltic trade.
When Peter I ascended to the Russian throne and became the sovereign ruler and monarch of Russia, his European education and his predilections led to the tendency to renew relations with Europe via the shortest way: along the Neva to the Baltic Sea. To achieve these goals he started the Northern War with Sweden (1700-1721). In 1703 Russians gained control over the Neva river and on May 16, 1703 (May 27 by the modern calendar) St. Petersburg was founded.
Elizabeth's City - The City of Fantastic Splendor.
During 20 years of Elizabeth's reign, huge baroque buildings were built to decorate St. Petersburg and it became a magnificent European capital, which could rival the most beautiful European cities.
The Imperial splendor of St. Petersburg was best reflected in the suburban royal residences. Peter the Great's estate Peterhof was remodelled as suburb residence by Bartolomeo Rastrelli, the architect of the Winter Palace and the Smolny Cathedral. The Grand Palace and the Grand Cascade of Peterhof were decorated with extreme luxury. That was typical for Elizabeth's time, since her court was big and magnificent. The Ekaterininsky (Catherine's) Palace in Tsarskoye Selo (Pushkin), built for Peter the Great's wife Catherine, was now turned into a magnificent royal residence with a vast and elaborate Baroque gardens.
Elizabeth established the Smolny Woman Monastery where Bartolomeo Rastrelli constructed the grand Cathedral of Revival. In the place where there were Peter the Great's palace and elite houses now appeared the splendid Winter Palace (though Elizabeth died earlier than it had been finished). During Elizabeth's reign the area near the palace, which later became the Palace Square, was used as a grazing land for the royal cows. She tried to follow in her father's steps but she preferred to appoint Russians and not foreigners to the highest positions in the country. Being a patron of national arts and sciences, Elizabeth established the Russian Academy of Arts.
Elizabeth was not only power-loving but also a very lively woman: she preferred to carry out and enjoy balls, receptions, masquerades, fireworks and other things which were a lot of fun.
Elizabeth's nephew Peter III did not rule too long. Shortly after assuming power he was overthrown by his wife, a German princess, who soon became the famous Catherine the Great. Under her rule St. Petersburg turned into a "Grand City".
"The Great City" of Catherine the Great
Catherine II assumed power in 1762 after a coup d' etat, which she planned together with the officers of the Emperor's Guard. Unlike her husband, she was loved and respected by the country's elite. She had a very good reputation in Europe due to her contacts with many figures of the French Enlightenment - being in correspondence with F. Volter and D. Didro.
Catherine's court was extremely luxurious. She was the first to move into the newly built Winter Palace for domicile. Catherine started an imperial collection of arts, which later became the world-famous Hermitage. Growing royal collections required the construction of several additional buildings (the Small Hermitage and the Old Hermitage). The Hermitage Theater was constructed nearby and the area around the palace was put in order and complemented with the finest houses and palaces. The most prominent embankments on the left bank of the Neva river were coated in red granite and the marvelous wrought iron fence of the Summer Gardens was built by Yuri Felten in 1773-86.
Under Catherine's patronage, science, arts and trade were flourishing.
A new building was constructed for the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Academy of Fine Arts and the first Public Library (now the Russian National Library) got new architectural complexes. The large Gostiny Dvor trading complex was opened on the Nevsky Prospect during Catherine's rule. Many educational institutions were established (including first one for women in 1764 The Institute of Noble Maids of Smolny Monastery).
Catherine considered to be a continuator of Peter's activity and ordered to Falcone a monument with the inscription "Catherine II to Peter I" (a world-famous Bronze Horseman).
In Tsarskoye Selo several additional buildings to the royal palace were built. One of these new wings (the Cameron Gallery) was for Catherine the Great herself. The lovely park surrounding the Tsarskoe Selo palaces still bears the mark of Catherine's times.
Among Catherine's many reforms was the reform of St. Petersburg's local administration. In 1766 the position of "gorodskoi golova"(city head) was established and eversince the position of City Mayor appeared in St. Petersburg. In 1774 the Magistrate (Municipal Council) was formed, and in 1786 it was transformed into the City Duma.
A monument to Catherine the Great was built in 1873 in a garden on the Nevsky Prospect (between the Public Library established by Catherine and the Alexandrinsky Theatre). She was buried in St. Peter and Paul's Cathedral where since Elizabeth Petrovna's times all Russian Emperors had been buried.
"The City of Order" (1800-1855)
After Catherine the Great's death her son Paul I ascended the throne and introduced ultra-conservative policies. Catherine's governmental reforms were paused, St. Petersburg's local administration was reduced. The Orthodox Church was not pleased with his acceptance of catholic Maltic Cross order.
Paul remembered his father's fate and was permanently afraid of being assassinated too. Mikhailovsky (Engineer) palace was built for him to feel more protected. However, that did not help, and on March 12, 1801 Paul I was assassinated in his own bedroom. The coup was planned by his son Alexander, who had sworn to continue the policies of his grandmother, Catherine the Great in strengthening the Russian Empire.
After crowning Alexander I introduced a series of reforms. In 1802 Alexander approved a system of ministries with ministers reporting directly to the monarch; in 1810 the State Council was formed. Bureaucracy flourished in the country. Soon St. Petersburg became a very bureaucratic, ordered city and its traditional regular street layout and heavy policing just contributed to the image.
During the reign of Alexander I the Russian army successfully stopped Napoleon's invasion in "National War of 1812" and entered Paris (1812-14). The captured French standards were placed in the newly built Kazan Cathedral, where the Russian Army Commander, Field-Marshall Golenischev-Kutuzov, had been buried in 1813.
It was the time of architectural ensembles and perfectionist "classical" designs. Over the period of 1806-1823 "The face of the city" was remodeled - the Admiralty was rebuilt, the complex of the Stock Exchange and the Rostral Columns were built on the Spit of Vasilievsky Island, Arts Square with the Mikhailovsky Palace (1819-25) was designed by Carlo Rossi. In 1818 the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral began and completed only 40 years later.
The sudden death of Alexander I (they say, he became a monk and went away to Siberia) in December 1825, inflicted political crisis. A group of young army officers dreaming of the Constitution started a revolt, hoping that Nicholas I, Alexander's younger brother, would agree to sign it. They brought their soldiers to the Senate Square by the Bronze Horseman, but remained inactive. The uprising was cruelly crushed, five organizers were executed while the rest was exiled to Siberia.
Due to the Decembrist rebellion the new Emperor, Nicholas I, adopted the most conservative policies. The ideal of the new Emperor - army and order - appeared almost everywhere. Bureaucracy and regulation penetrated into all spheres of life. State peasants were made military settlers, though they were not considered to be in serfdom. This military system was well-reflected in the Imperial capital, St. Petersburg. Even civil educational institutions looked like military schools.
Paradoxically, culture flourished under this repressive regime, as it often happens in Russia. Alexander Pushkin wrote some of his best poetry, before being killed in a duel in 1837. Mikhail Glinka, one of the first great Russian composers, wrote his best opera music. Feodor Dostoyevsky lived in St. Petersburg starting 1837 and in 1844 he started his career as a writer.
Despite its obvious economic backwardness, which resulted in a humiliating defeat in the Crimean War (1853-56), Russia was gradually moving down the way of technical progress. In 1837 the first Russian railroad was opened connecting St. Petersburg and Tsarskoje Selo and in 1851 the first train arrived from there in Moscow. In 1850 the first permanent bridge over Neva was opened.
The city grew more magnificent. The ensemble of Palace Square was completed with the construction of the General Staff building (1819-29) and the Royal Guards Staff building (1837-43); Alexander's Column (1830-34) decorated the Square. It stands under its own mass. In 1839-1844 the Mariinsky Palace (nowadays the City Hall) was built for Nicholas' beloved daughter Maria. St. Isaac's Cathedral, the main temple of the Russian Empire, was finally completed in 1858, after Nicholas I had died and his son Alexander II was on the throne.
On the Way to Capitalism (1840-1890)
Defeated in the Crimean War, the Russian Empire needed a new incentive for further development of the national economy and Alexander II undertook a series of reforms. The Russian serfs were freed in 1861 and that is why he has been called Liberator, although peasants had to pay for their land. A military reform, which cancelled the lifelong military service (25 years), was carried out and was followed by a legal (trial by jury was introduced) and a city administration reform, which allowed St. Petersburg a higher degree of self-government.
Despite these reforms, some revolutionaries considered Alexander II to be too conservative a monarch. After a series of assassination attempts Alexander II was fatally wounded on March 1, 1881 and died the same day. The marvelous Church of Our Savior on the Spilled Blood (1883-1907) was built on the spot where he had been assassinated. Most of the reforms and the constitution, which was ready to be signed were repealed or curtailed by his son Alexander III.
Meanwhile, St. Petersburg was becoming a large capitalist city. The number of factories and plants grew quickly, while the Nevsky Prospect and downtown streets were filled with banks and company offices.
New multi-storied apartment buildings were mushrooming all over the city. During this period the palaces for Grand Dukes (members of the Imperial family), the famous Mariinsky Theatre, the Liteiny bridge were built, the first street lights in the city were installed and monuments to Catherine the Great, Nicholas I and the poet Alexander Pushkin created.
"The Silver Age" (The Beginning of the 20th Century)
Precursors of the XX century. The Revolution of 1905-1907. State Duma establishment. The celebration of the House of Romanovs.
This period in the history of Russia started with the splendid coronation of Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra in Moscow, which provoked the Khodynka disaster with thousands of casualties, and ended with World War I.
In 1902 St. Petersburg celebrated the 100th anniversary of Alexander I's establishment of ministries system. In May 1903 St. Petersburg celebrated its 200th anniversary. The new Troitsky (Trinity) Bridge was officially opened in the royal presence and then a church service took place on the Senate Square next to the Bronze Horseman, the monument to the founder of the city.
The tragedy came in 1905. In January 1905 (it became known as "Bloody Sunday") a peaceful demonstration of workers was fired at by troops at the Palace Square. This led to the start of the 1905-1907 Revolution. On October 17, 1905 Nicholas II had to issue a manifesto proclaiming a number of civil rights and instituting a new parliament, consisting of the Duma and the reformed State Council. The district where the Duma was located soon became one of the most popular residential areas.
However, the government curtailed many of the freedoms and blocked many of the Duma's initiatives. In the end, the people's patience came to an end and the streets were filled with rebels. The city was renamed Petrograd and saw the two revolutions of 1917. But that happened later.
Meanwhile St. Petersburg was the shelter for many of the most prominent artists, musicians, composers, writers and poets who made this period the "Silver Age". In the poetry there appeared trends of symbolism and futurism and mystic tendencies in philosophy. The Russian Orthodox Church was preparing for recovery of patriarchate cancelled by Peter the Great. With a population of 2 million people, the modern metropolis was about to face new challenges, but the war changed all the plans.
Petrograd During World War I and Revolution (1914-1924)
In August 1914, it was decided to change the name of the Russian capital to Petrograd since the old name sounded too German for Russians in the conditions of World War I. It was renamed not in a sense (it stayed the city of Peter) but in form and became Petrograd that sounded more Russian.
The city's industry began to work for support of the war effort and a lot of city buildings, including a large portion of the Winter Palace, were turned into hospitals (Nikolai II whole family, including children, worked in the hospital of the Winter Palace).
The war did not go too well for Russia. The government had discredited itself, the cases of public funds embezzlement came out and the whole situation invited political tensions. The food supplies of the Russian capital were permanently delayed. The supply of the city with 2 million people depended on the railway network, which was either overloaded with war transport or destroyed. Petrograd stepped into the New Year with its inhabitants infuriated by the long lines in front of food shops.
The combination of social unrest and the people's grievances brought about the wave of social revolt. At the time of the revolution the tsar was in Mogilev at the army's headquarters and his family was in Tsarskoje Selo. The Tzar abdicated and the power passed to the Provisional Government headed by Kirensky.
The political and economic crisis continued all through 1917 and in the fall the Bolshevik party led by Vladimir Lenin captured political power. On October 25 (November 7), 1917 the blank shot of the cruiser "Aurora" gave workers and soldiers the signal to storm the Winter Palace, the residence of the government. Instead of assault a group of people, called temporary revolution committee arrested the members of the Provisional Government.
Except the arrest of the government the troops of the Bolshevik Revolution committee occupied posts, telegraphs, railway stations. Most of the ministers were arrested and that is how a long period of building socialism (73 years) began. The Bolshevik government did everything to strengthen its power. In January 1918 the Constituent Assembly was disbanded. The Bolsheviks declared peace with Germany but lost Ukranian territorries. "Red Terror" was everywhere. The Civil War began (1918 - 1921).
The working troops and soldiers were transformed into Red Guards and became the core of the Red Army. When men fit for military service were mobilized to the Civil War fronts, large part of the population migrated to the rural area in search of food. The population fell into two basic parts: those who were with the Bolsheviks ("the red") and those against them ("the white"). Tzar's army generals Kornilov, Krasnov, Kaledin gathered troops from officers and cadets to fight against the Bolsheviks. The quantity of Petrograd population reduced from 2 million in 1917 to 7 hundred people in 1920.
By 1918 the German troops were so close to Petrograd that the Bolshevik government of Vladimir Lenin decided to move the capital to Moscow, which was still far from the front. Petrograd was left to remain just a regional center. Further change occurred when many of the street names were altered according to the revolutionary fashion of the day. Palace Square was renamed the Uritsky Square after an assassinated Bolshevik politician and the Nevsky Prospect became the 25th of October Prospect after the October Revolution. A number of Revolutionary monuments were erected, but most of them were made of the cheapest materials and did not last long.
After the end of the Civil War Petrograd started recovering under the New Economic Policy (NEP), proclaimed by the Bolsheviks, allowing some elements of the market economy. In 1924 the name of the city was changed to Leningrad, and that was a symbol of its transition to a Socialist city.
Socialist City: Leningrad (1924-1941)
Soon after the death of the Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin, the city was renamed Leningrad. During the last year of the World War I and the years of the Revolution the population of the city had reduced dramatically and the recovery of once magnificent city was slow and only partial. From the 1930s the economic growth was considerable but came at a very high price of Stalin's regime.
Since the late 1920s mass construction of cheap housing for workers began. It became a very prominent feature of Leningrad city landscape. Many cultural centers - so called "palaces of culture" were built to provide the city's people with entertainment, clubs and other social activities. The large apartments of the Imperial St. Petersburg were turned into "communal" (shared) apartments, where instead of one there lived several families. Life was not that good but it got even more severe when World War II and the Siege of Leningrad began.
The 900-Day Siege of Leningrad
The Siege was the most tragic period in the history of the city. For everyone who lives in St. Petersburg, it has become a keypoint; for the older generation it is a tragedy that will never be forgotten.
Less than two and a half months after June 22, 1941, when the Soviet Union was attacked by Nazi Germany, German troops were already approaching Leningrad. The Red Army was outflanked and on September 8, 1941 the Germans had fully encircled Leningrad and the siege began. It lasted for about 900 days, from September 8, 1941 till January 27, 1944.
2887000 Citizens (including about 400 thousand children) found themselves in the circle of German troops. Soviet troops were also here but surrender was out of the question. Food and fuel supplies were very limited (enough for 1 or 2 months only).
All public transportation had stopped. By the winter of 1941-42 there was neither heating, nor water supply, almost no electricity and very little food. In January 1942, in the middle of an unusually cold winter, the lowest food rations in the city were registered - only 125 grams of bread per day. In just two months, January and February, 1942, 200 000 people died in Leningrad because of cold and starvation. But a portion of the war industry continued to work and the city did not surrender.
Several hundred thousand people were evacuated from the city by Lake Ladoga along the famous "Road of Life" - the only route that connected the besieged city with the mainland. During the warm seasons people were ferried to the mainland, and in winter they were transported by trucks that drove across the frozen lake under constant enemy bombardment. Meanwhile, the city lived on despite everything. The treasures of the Hermitage and the suburban palaces of Petrodvorets and Pushkin were hidden in the basements of the Hermitage and of St. Isaac's Cathedral where they were much safer under bombardments. Most students continued their studies and even passed exams. Dmitry Shostakovich wrote his Seventh "Leningrad" Symphony, its score was sent to Leningrad and was performed in the besieged city.
In January 1943 the siege was broken by Soviet troops and a year later, on January 27, 1944 it was fully called off. Hundred thousand people were buried on various cemeteries of St. Petersburg. The Piskarevskoe Cemetery became a memorial and one of the most significant war monuments.
Post War Reconstruction
The war was not over when Leningrad began to cure the heavy wounds of the Siege and damage from German troops. Some of the museums (for instance The Cabin of Peter the Great) were opened in 1944.
By the Victory Soviet army returned to the city. Leningrad looked fresh and clean. The ruins of some world-famous buildings were covered with cardboard walls, depicting their pre-war appearance. The whole city, the whole country were dreaming of revival and this difficult task was fulfilled.
Despite the enthusiasm of the people, an important part of national economy had been ruined by the war and most people had to live in rather primitive conditions, working hard and keeping faith into a bright future. Food rationing proceeded throughout the 1940s. Since 2.8 million square meters of city housing was wholly destroyed and another 2.2 million square meters were seriously damaged, housing became the main problem. Until 1960's most of the people in Leningrad lived in communal apartments.
Against all odds the city was restored. Unlike many other cities, Leningrad was not modernized, but restored to the highest pre-war standards. The palaces of Peterhof and Pushkin were almost fully rebuilt. It took a lot of time and huge amounts of money.
Some of the suburban palaces, like the Aleksandrovsky Palace of Nicholas II in Pushkin, are still waiting for restoration. City museums are reopened after repairing of the war damages. But a sign of Bombardment Warning on Nevsky Prospect and the Piskarevskoe Memorial Cemetery still remind us of the tragic past of Leningrad.
PETERSBURG TODAY
The 70's and the early 80's were a period of stability for the Soviet Union and for Leningrad. Though political freedoms were mostly limited, most of the city's population enjoyed relative prosperity. But when the government had initiated the reforms known worldwide as Perestroika all stability had gone. When the reforms started the population began experiencing economic hardships.
In 1991, after a city referendum, the city of Leningrad got its old name - St. Petersburg. Now, in the beginning of the new millennium, St. Petersburg is still in a period of transition, both economically and socially. While the city's industry is still in recession, services and retail sales are gradually improving, though economically St. Petersburg is still far behind Moscow. The youth are solving their problems rather well, but unemployment is high and employment prospects for those over 45 are not that good and pensioners are in desperate straits.
Though St. Petersburg was not chosen to be an Olympic capital in 2004, it has become extremely beautiful due its 300th anniversary, which was celebrated in May 2003, when the city greeted its numerous guests.
Welcome to St. Petersburg, the magnificent city on the shore of the Baltic Sea.
Industry
The leading industry in St. Petersburg is machine-building and metalworking. It gives 42% of the production volume in the city, 34.3% of the tax returns and employs 56.4% of the industrial personnel. One of the main specific features of machine-building is the dominating high-tech production such as power machine-building industry, turbine engineering, radio and electronics industry, instrument-making industry, diesel engineering, printing machine-building industry, machine-tool building etc.
St. Petersburg remains the major Russian ship-building centre. "Baltic Plant" JSC, "Admiralteyskie Verfi" JSC, "Almaz" Shipbuilding JSC are constructing vessels of various types: nuclear ice-breakers, tankers, refrigerator ships, boats of all types, including hydrofoil boats, racing yachts, cruise yachts etc.
The products of such enterprises as "Izhorskie Zavody" JSC, "Leningrad Metalworks Plant" JSC, "Nevsky Plant" JSC, "Electrosila" JSC are competitive both in Russia and abroad. These companies produce different types of equipment and machinery for power engineering (nuclear power plants, thermal power plants, gas turbine power stations and hydroelectric power stations), petrochemistry, mineral resource industry, metallurgy, shipbuilding etc.
Another important industry in St. Petersburg providing 42.2% of tax returns and 32.8% of the production volume is food industry. The products of such companies as "N. Krupskaya Confectionery Factory" Ltd, "Petmol" JSC and many other companies are much in demand. We must note that of all industries it is the food industry that shows the most intensive development.
One more important industry in St. Petersburg is textile industry (light industry), which employs 6.2% of all industrial workers. The textile industry enterprises produce all sort of ready-made garments, textile products, draperies, footwear and other products. The leading clothing enterprises specialising in outer men's and women's clothing are "Bolshevichka" Ltd and "St. Petersburhg Clothing Factories" Ltd. The largest Russian producer of sewing threads is "Kvarton" JSC. It produces over 60 types of products.
Most of the leading St. Petersburg enterprises participate in special federal programs, such as "Security of Nuclear Power Plants", "Construction of Nuclear Power Plants", "Energy Saving in Russia", "Equipment for Fuel and Power Complex", "Re-Equipment and Development of Metallurgy in Russia", "Restructuring and Conversion in Defense Idustry", "The Russian Shipyards", "Revival of the Russian Merchant Marine", "Fuel and Energy", "State Support to Machine-Tool Building", "Provision of Hardware Complex for Mandatory Cash Accounting at Trading Companies and in the Service Sphere", "Support to Periodical Press and Mass Media", "Diabetes", "Development of the Linen Complex in Russia in 1996-2000" (the pilot project - "North-West Textile"), "Development and Preservation of the Historical Center of St. Petersburg".
The products of the leading St. Petersburg enterprises are characterized by their high quality and competitiveness. They are in permanent demand and have good perspectives both in the internal market and on the foreign markets. The export volume at many enterprises makes up from 10 to 30% of the production volume.
Speaking about prospects of St. Petersburg industry, we must note that at present one of the most important tasks in the stabilization and improvement of the production efficiency is the elimination of the disproportions between the production cost and the production volume. If solved, this will ensure the financial situation enhancement, raise the products competitiveness and the investment attractiveness of the industrial enterprises of the city. The City Administration has worked out the Conception for Reforming the Industrial Enterprises, which is being implemented now. The implementation of the Conception is aimed to optimize the structure of industrial enterprises, balance the production costs and the production volume, and provide efficient functioning of enterprises.
Other important priority directions of the industrial policy carried out by the City Administration are:
- Small business development
- Creation of the municipal order system
- Creation of favorable investment climate.
According to the estimates of the leading international rating agencies (Standart & Poors, IBCA etc.), St. Petersburg, along with Moscow, belongs to a group of the strongest regions in Russia.
Russian rating agencies (Expert-RA, Expert Geographiya) also record a high investment attractiveness of St. Petersburg. St. Petersburg has a significant reserve for investment and the city has already involved some realistic investors, including widely-known transnational corporations (Rothmans, Coca-Cola, Sinebrychoff, Kraft Jacobs Suchard, ACN, Unilever, Kurt Kellerman and others) which have been successfully operating in the industrial environment of the city for a number of years.
AUTHORITIES
The Governor of St. Petersburg is its superior official.
The superior and the sole legislative body is the Legislative Assembly (the Parliament) of St. Petersburg;
The superior executive body of St. Petersburg is the City Administration, headed by the Governor of the city and other executive departments - the city committees and the administrative-territorial departments.
The judicial authority is exercised by Statutory Court of St. Petersburg and magistrates. Federal courts and city courts also function in the city. The court system of St. Petersburg is a component of the court system of the Russian Federation.
The St. Petersburg Administration is formed of the Governor, the Government; The Governor's Chancellery, the city committees and the administrative-territorial departments of the Administration subordinate to him, and also departments of joint RF executive authority and Leningrad Region Administration subordination.
Official Portal of St. Petersburg Government: http://eng.gov.spb.ru/
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