Investments and Financing

Saint-Petersburg has been developing under favourable terms for the last decade. Its economy has achieved steady growth, reaching approximately the level of 10 percent annually, which is higher than the Russia-wide parameters.

Since four year the city incomes have been growing on average almost 30% per year, despite the fact that taxes decreased. Real incomes of the population are growing as well - on the average 15% per year. If we take into consideration the general situation in the city, then we discover that approximately 2/3 of the working population somehow participate in the sphere of the international and foreign economic relations, connected to export, import of goods and services, or work in the sphere of tourism, etc. Financing of this branch is arranged both from budgets of various levels, and, basically, from external sources. Next year the city budget will make approximately 2,5 billion euros. The general foreign trade turnover, not taking into account its transit, will make approximately 6,5 billion dollars. In view of transit this figure grows more than twice and exceeds 13 billion dollars and that is one of sources of annual increase in the budget almost in one third.

Foreign investments in Saint-Petersburg within the last three years exceed 1 billion dollars per year. But the truth is that they lag behind on rates of growth from the internal investments. It means that foreign investors in the investment market of Saint-Petersburg should compete with domestic investors that is not so typical for our neighbours in the Baltic Sea Region.

From Saint-Petersburg's point of view, the city's significant role as a transport and transit unit, and its dominating activities both at sea and river ports in the region, exemplifies as the gate of the Volga-Baltic way with an exit to a reviving Great Silk way, trans-Siberian highway and many other communication projects of the continental importance.

We expect that this year the turnover of goods of the Bolshoj port of Saint-Petersburg will reach 40 million tons of cargo. Saint-Petersburg uses all this significant potential and experience and contributes to further development of the Baltic and the North-European region as a whole.