About St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg is the administrative centre of the North-West Federal District of the Russian Federation, which comprises the Republic of Karelia, the Republic of Komi, Archangelsk Region, Vologda Region, Kaliningrad Region, Leningrad Region, Murmansk Region, Novgorod Region, Pskov Region, and the Nenets Autonomous Area.
St. Petersburg is host to representative offices of international organizations, consulates, the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, and regional federal agencies.
St.‑Petersburg is listed a UNESCO world heritage site, and is an important European centre for tourism. Each year, about 4.8 million tourists visit St.‑Petersburg.
St. Petersburg is the second largest economic, transport, academic, cultural, and tourist centre of Russia. St. Petersburg with its administratively subordinated territories occupies a square area of 1439km2. As of January 1, 2010, 4,600.2 thousand persons lived in the City. St. Petersburg accommodates major industrial enterprises, while gross regional product achieved Rouble 1467.1 billion in current prices in 2009. Historical and cultural monuments of a global importance concentrate in the city, which are of a high appeal for tourists. St. Petersburg is a most visited tourist centre of Europe. The Northern Capital received about five million Russian and foreign tourists every year.
St. Petersburg is a leader in terms of economic growth in Russia; the city has established a very attractive environment for investing. As a result, $5.2 billion was invested in the city 2010. Four leading investor countries are France ($1.8 billion), Belarus ($606 million), South Korea ($534 million), and Belgium ($440.4 million).
The City’s foreign trade turnover reached $31.3 billion in 2009. In the same year, St. Petersburg traded with 179 countries. Primary trading partners include China (13% of total turnover), the Netherlands (11.9%), Germany (8.6%), Finland (5.3%), the USA (4.4%), the Czech Republic (3.9%), France (2.8%), Brazil (2.7%), and Ukraine (2.6%).
Major international companies including Coca Cola, Pepsi, Gillette, Wrigley, Electrolux, British American Tobacco, Bosch and Siemens Hausgerate, Toyota, Nissan, General Motors, Hyundai, and others have built production facilities in St. Petersburg. A Phillip Morris tobacco factory and a Ford assembly production facility are based in the city suburbs.
Standard & Poor’s established St. Petersburg’s long-term credit rating in foreign and national currencies as BBB Stable. This is an investment class rating.