Canadian Business in St. Petersburg

Canadian interest in doing business in Northwest Russia, and in St. Petersburg in particular, seems to be on the rise as recent Canadian trade missions and official visits have demonstrated.

More and more often, we hear of Canadian companies entering the market and exploring options for doing business or expanding their presence here - said Dr. Anna Biolik, Canada's Consul General in St. Petersburg.

Canada's bilateral trade relations with Northwest Russia are diversified in their nature and are growing. While many sectors have ben slow to recover from the 1998 crisis, overall the economy of this region has rebounded and foreign investment is also increasing.

The February 2002 Team Canada Mission to Russia helped inspire a deeper appreciation of the opportunities to trade with Northwest Russia. Canadian companies such as: Canada North Projects, Canbreal Therodiagnostic International, Fineline Technologies Ltd, Hatch, Phoeinix Geophisics Ltd, AGT Canada, OceanWorks International Inc., Jamesway Incubator Company Inc., Thomson Technology Inc., Western Investment, Canstroy Group, Sandwell - are among Canadian businesses actively working here. Pratt & Whitney Canada is probably one of the most successful examples of Canadian companies established in St. Petersburg. They manufacture engines for civilian aircraft and have in the City quite a large research and development facility - of approximately one hundred people. They are working mainly to develop an engine for the Russian market but a lot of that work done at the R&D facility is used by Pratt& Whitney Canada elsewhere in the world.

In 2002, the Canadian Consulate in St. Petersburg has led major trade initiatives , including:
- the business promotion visit to St. Petersburg by the Premier of Ontario and its business delegation of the Ontario Exports Inc.,
- the first ever "Maple Leaf Day" at the international building congress Interstroyexpo 2002,
- the fact-finding mission to Canada by fifteen CEOs of Northwest Russia pulp&paper and forestry companies,
- the 3rd CBAR Business Development Mission to St. Petersburg,
- two business missions representing Canada's mining sector to St. Petersburg and Arkhangelsk
- and the technical seminar and working visit of the Canada Pork International business delegation to St. Petersburg.

The outlook for the construction and housing sectors, mining and oil and gas equipment, energy sector, information and communication technologies, agriculture and agri-food, forestry, pulp and paper, timber industry, environmental industries, aerospace and defense, infrastructure improvement and transportation projects are bright and business opportunities in these sectors have never been more tangible to Canadian companies.

The key component of the Canada-Northwest Russia business development strategy is the trade/partnering approach as part of the overall business growth agenda. Continuing to work on to how to bridge the gap between Northwest Russia, and St. Petersburg in particular, and Canadian companies on the other hand is in the interests of both. It is now very much up to Canadian business community in close cooperation with the Trade Section of the Canadian Consulate General in St. Petersburg to determine how best to develop a "win-win situation" for the region as a whole.