Baikal Economic Forum to focus on transport infrastructure development.

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IRKUTSK, September 8 (Itar-Tass) -- A conference entitled "Europe-
Russia-Asia-Pacific Region: Development of Transport Infrastructure" will
be held on Wednesday as part of the sixth Baikal Economic Forum.
The program of the conference includes three workshops, the forum's
press centre told Itar-Tass. Thus, the first workshop will focus on the
projects for the construction and upgrading of the railway infrastructure
along the Euro-Asian transport corridors. Currently, it takes up to 11
days to deliver cargoes from Russia's Far Eastern ports to its western
borders by rail, i.e. trains cover 1,000 kilometers a day. In 2009, a
program was adopted to ensure cargo deliveries across Siberia to Russia's
European regions within seven days, a goal to be achieved by 2012.
The second workshop will address problems of forming modern multimode
logistics hubs at big rail traffic centres. Russian Railways Co is
currently setting up such a hub worth 1.5 billion roubles in the city of
Irkutsk. The hub comprises a 3,400 square metre covered warehouse, a 3,700
square metre roofed area to store heavy cargoes, a parking lot, a building
for railway staff, customs posts and businesses. The terminal will be
equipped with special tools to carry out radiation and other types of
checks.
The third workshop will focus on projects of air hubs in the
Europe-Russia-Asia-Pacific countries air corridor. Russia's concept for
the development of the airport network up to the year 2020 provides for
the creation of 25 domestic airport hubs that will distribute transit air
traffic flows.
Apart from this conference, the Baikal Economic Forum's program
includes 11 round-table meetings to discuss possibilities for the creation
of a financial centre in Russia, problems of partnership between the state
and private businesses, measures to support small and medium-sized
businesses in Russian regions, new approaches to upgrading urban
infrastructure, development of domestic and foreign tourism, and the
ecological situation around Lake Baikal.
The forum will be crowned by a final news conference and a dinner on
behalf of the forum's steering committee president Sergei Mironov, who is
speaker of the upper chamber of the national parliament.

.2 poacher boats flying foreign flags detained in Russia's Far East.

VLADIVOSTOK, September 8 (Itar-Tass) -- Two poacher vessels flying
foreign flags have been detained in the Sea of Okhotsk near the Russian
Far Eastern island of Sakhalin, a spokesman for the Sakhalin coastal
guards said on Wednesday.
According to the spokesman, the boats Giant flying the flag of Belize
and Sapphire flying the flag of Sierra-Leone had a total of 50 tons of
live crabs. The two boats had Russian crews - 15 aboard the Giant, and 20
aboard the Sapphire. The boats were detained on September 5. Investigation
is underway.

.PROEstate-2010 international investment forum opens in St Petersburg.

ST. PETERSBURG, September 8 (Itar-Tass) -- An international investment
forum PROEstate-2010 opens in St. Petersburg's Lenexpo exhibition centre
on Wednesday.
The forum is expected to be attended by 2,500 guests from 40 Russian
regions and 20 foreign countries, a spokesman for St. Petersburg's
investment and strategic project committee told Itar-Tass.
It is planned to hold presentations of 150 real estate projects,
including investment ones, from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg,
Perm, Omsk and other Russian regions. Participants in the forum will
familiarize themselves with St. Petersburg's biggest comprehensive
development projects, such as the Naberezhnaya Evropy (Europe's
Embankment), and the Nevskaya Ratusha (Neva City Hall).
The forum's plenary session will be chaired by Russian Minister of
Regional Development Viktor Basargin.
The forum's three-day business program includes 30 events of various
formats - from conferences and panel discussions to master-classes and
seminars. The forum will be crowned by an awarding ceremony to winners of
several contests in the area of real estate.
Apart from it, the city investment committee will launch a new
information resource for potential investors citing the latest data on the
city's economy: more than 50 basic indices used by international rating
agencies to assess the attractiveness of cities. The new Internet portal
will provide first-hand information to help potential investors reduce
their risks, said the committee's chairman, Alexei Chichkanov.
According to St. Petersburg's vice-governor Yuri Molchanov, the
PROEstate forum is becoming one of the most important events in the area
of real estate investing. "Over the four years of its existence, the forum
has achieved considerable success that might help it be ranked among
Europe's best investment exhibitions," he noted.
-0-ras


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