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GM Head Hails City as ‘Detroit of the North’

General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner on Tuesday broke ground at the company’s first Russian factory at Shushary, near St. Petersburg, while at the city’s economic forum Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn was signing an investment deal to build another plant nearby.GM and Nissan will invest $115 million and $200 million, respectively, into their St. Petersburg plants.“St. Petersburg is often called the Venice of the North,” Wagoner said at the Shushary ceremony. “It may soon be called the Detroit of the North — and believe me, I know Detroit.”Wagoner, whose last visit to Russia was in 2001, when he signed up for a $300 million venture with AvtoVAZ, delivered a short speech, answered a few questions and then dashed off to meet with President Vladimir Putin.Wagoner said that he had listened to Putin’s comments at the economic forum earlier Tuesday and said he “shared his vision of a strong and growing economy for Russia and the Russian people.”Carl-Peter Forster, president for GM in Europe, said after the ceremony that GM hoped to grow its partnership with AvtoVAZ and that the introduction of new models was “possible.” But he added that GM had not received any “immediate answers” on its proposals.Flanked by First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko said at the ceremony that the GM project was “a good indicator of Russian-U.S. relations,” and that it was bound to succeed now that Medvedev had become its “godfather.”Shushary is also the site for a Toyota factory due to open next year, while a Ford plant in Vsevolozhsk, also near St. Petersburg, opened in 2002.GM’s Shushary plant is expected to go into production in late 2008. The plant will initially produce 25,000 Chevrolet Captiva sport utility vehicles per year and will later begin producing a next-generation compact car.While the plant is being built, GM has rented a factory in northern St. Petersburg at which it will initially produce more than 4,000 cars from kits beginning this September.GM is already assembling some of its brands, including Hummers and Cadillacs, at a private Russian carmaker’s factory in Kaliningrad and is making Chevy Nivas and Vivas at Tolyatti with AvtoVAZ. Earlier this year, GM-AvtoVAZ halted production amid a pricing dispute between the partners.Asked whether the joint venture was more of a liability than an asset for GM, Forster said: “I don’t see the liability there yet.” Forster said he had met with AvtoVAZ’s new general director, Igor Yesipovsky, for the first time two weeks ago. Late last year, the Kremlin sent in a team of managers from state arms trader Rosoboronexport to turn around the ailing carmaker.Forster praised the new managers, calling them “good businessmen.” But he said that since the new team had little experience in the car industry “it takes a bit longer” to negotiate.At the Nissan signing ceremony, Ghosn said the firm would start building its factory in spring 2007, with the first cars expected by early 2009.At the forum, Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref said he was in talks with five other carmakers on building new factories in Russia. By the end of the year, “I think that three out of five will be more than possible,” he said.

Energy discussions were the main focus for talks at an economic forum in St. Petersburg, Russia's industry and energy minister said Thursday.Viktor Khristenko said the forum provided "a good platform for positioning energy as one of the most high-tech sectors of the Russian economy," adding that a modern economy must be energy-efficient.Khristenko said saving energy and its more prudent use were important factors for economic growth, and the new energy technology exhibited at the forum showed that Russian companies were already leaders in developing and using innovative solutions."I am convinced that Russia's energy industry can become an even more powerful driver for the country's development, generating demand for production in all sectors. In particular, products in the machine and ship building and metals sectors," he said.The minister, along with Russia's Natural Resources Minister Yury Trutnev, chaired a roundtable meeting at the forum, Energy Strategy: Resources and Risk Management.Khristenko said energy strategy affects the interests of all parties at the forum. Dialogue on a global level should be carried out in the language of strategy, since exchanging long-term plans is needed to ensure mutual trust in energy issues, he said.

In 2003, 2 million 600 thousand flowers are to be planted in the streets and parks of St. Petersburg. According to the Landscaping Committee of the St. Petersburg City Administration, flowers have already been planted in some of the city’s districts, but new flowers will be added in summer.

The total of 4,622 trees and 49, 210 bushes are to be planted in 2003. Last spring, 2,840 trees and 33, 520 bushes were planted. According to specialists from the city’s Garden and Park Department, sponsors’ activities and presents from abroad significantly contributed to the landscaping of the Northern Capital in the year of its anniversary

On 27 May the Winter Palace courtyard and the new entrance to the Hermitage from Palace Square were opened after restoration.Since the time of its creation, the Winter Palace Courtyard of about 11,000 sq.m served as entrance to the Imperial Residence. In summer it received carriages, in winter, sledges. In the age of Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, the architect of the Winter Palace, the Courtyard accommodated both carriages and the Imperial Guards. It is known that for almost a century the Courtyard was paved with cobble-stones, like Palace Square. In the second half of the 19th century, when the Palace was redesigned by architect N.A. Gornostayev, the Courtyard was reconstructed. The wooden gate facing the square was replaced with a metal one and trees were planted in the center. The rectangular garden with rounded corners was surrounded with a granite socle with four staired entrances. Trees lined the longer sides. The Finnish-granite fountain at the crossing of the basic and auxiliary axes was designed by sculptor G.I. Botta. After the 1917 revolution, the Courtyard, which no longer played its part in the Imperial Family’s ceremonial life, fell into neglect.The idea of the main entrance to the museum from Palace Square through the Winter Palace Courtyard was first voiced in 1994. The project of the Main Entrance reconstruction and restoration was ready in 2000, including works at the Winter Palace gate, courtyard and garden. The reconstruction project for the Courtyard which took into account this area’s new functions was prepared by Danish architect Professor Sven-Ingvar Andersson, landscaping specialist. According to the project, the basic function of the Winter Palace Courtyard is both to provide a convenient passage from the Palace Square gate to the new entrance at the opposite (northern) courtyard side and serve as a venue for concerts and performances for an audience of up to 5 thousand.The Courtyard level has been lowered, two flagstone-paved pathways have been made, and rainwater ducts were paved with cobble-stones. The area between the granite curb and flagstone pathways is paved with cobble-stones, between the granite pathways and the facades, with cobble-stones; the surface between the facades and the rainwater ducts is slightly inclined; the areas between the main entrance and the granite pathways are coated with smaller granite plates. Contours of the foundations of the palaces which stood there in the past can now be seen in the Winter Palace Courtyard.The reconstruction of the Winter Palace Courtyard was sponsored by DANSEE representing the Danish Ministry of Environment and Power. The Danish contribution to this project is Denmark’s official gift to the Hermitage for the Jubilee of St. Petersburg. Manager of the project was Ye.A. Obolentseva of the Hermitage Construction Department.

News from the past

St. Petersburg is often threatened by floods as most of its downtown territory is located just several feet above sea level. The founder of the city, Peter the Great, had chosen a very low-lying area on which to build St. Petersburg and from its very foundation, floods were a major problem. In August 1703, three months after the city was founded, the waters of the Neva River rose 6 feet above normal levels and washed away construction materials for the Peter and Paul Fortress. The city has experienced over 270 major floods since then.

The largest flood occurred on November 19 1824, when the river reached 13.5 feet (410 centimeters) over the usual level. On that day most of the city was flooded, between 208 and 569 people were drowned and 462 houses were destroyed. The second severest flood (over 12 feet high) was in 1924. In some areas of the city the water flowed to a height of 7-8 feet and many of the ships in the port were washed ashore.

Interestingly and rather surprisingly, St. Petersburg’s flooding patterns are closely connected with the movement of low-pressure air masses over the Atlantic. Low-pressure air moves in from the West, creating so-called "long waves" that bring extra water into the Gulf of Finland and the mouth of the Neva River. Strong Westerly winds then effectively block the flow of water from the mighty Neva into the Gulf of Finland, and the river level is forced to rise and spill the excess water over its banks and onto the city.

Most of the floods take place in the fall and early winter when all the above negative factors combine. Since the 18th century the level of the city’s streets has been increased significantly, but some of the areas close to the rivers and canals can still be seriously damaged during major floods. In the 1970s the decision was taken to build a long dam across the Gulf of Finland (west of St. Petersburg), which would protect the city from the affects of the floods. However, the project was not completed due to a huge environmental controversy and a lack of funding. Meanwhile, the problem is far from solved and the city awaits the next major flood with a distinct air of apprehension.

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