Saint-Petersburg

St. Petersburg is a modern European metropolis, acknow-ledged center of economical, cultural and spiritual life, city of museums and theaters, one of the most popular tourist centers of the world.

Saint Petersburg is a city of old traditions, culture and arts. One can feel the connection of the times and generations, interlacing of history and modern age in it. This was especially revealed and striking during the days of celebration of the 300th anniversary of Oranienbaum, one of the most beautiful suburbs of Saint Petersburg, and the 200th anniversary of Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, the spiritual Mecca of Russian intellectuals.

Culture, and arts are still being of an invaluable benefit to the mankind in the world, which is still divided by borders, economic systems, national and religious traditions. So we decided to expand the cultural component of our magazine, as it is published in the city, which could justly have the status of the European Cultural Capital. However, this does not mean that our magazine is addressed only to that, quite demanding, but a narrow circle of readers. We aim at becoming an authoritative magazine for experts and being of interest to the general reading public, and we continue the story of big economic projects, international cooperation, innovations and investments, arts and tourism in this issue. We hope that our publications will support your festive mood. Christmas and New Year are approaching. Congratulations to all our readers and those who are going to join them. We wish you happiness and success, health and longevity, joy and prosperity in your homes.

Every year the biggest forums and festivals take place in St. Petersburg, it becomes the site for business, cultural and entertainment events of the highest level. The city regularly participates in prestigious congresses and exhibitions both in Russia and abroad.

New facilities of transport infrastructure, intended to improve communications of our city with the rest of the world, are under construction in St. Petersburg. A new airport Pulkovo terminal and a highway between Moscow and St. Petersburg are among them. One of the largest passenger sea ports in Europe — Marine Fasade — was opened to receive tourists arriving on cruise ships and ferries. A high-speed railway linked St. Petersburg with Moscow and Helsinki. All those measures definitely make a great contribution ' to the development of investment and tourist attractiveness of the Northern capital, strengthen the image of our city in the world arena.