Association of the week
— 2005-06-18 —

A new public association was found in Kaliningrad and presented on June 16 – the Foreign Investors Association. Mr. Stefano Vlahovic, Head of Produkty Pitania Company is its President and co-founder.

— Kaliningrad is in the third position in Russia by the number of foreign representative offices located here. Unfortunately foreign investment is not strong enough in the region, - says Mr. Vlahovic. – The economy of the region is developing at a slower rate than it should, and one of the reasons is that access to the region is restricted for foreign businesses and funds. Meanwhile, they bring the knowledge, experience and technologies that are the foundations for economic development. For example, Produkty Pitania Company promotes a number of advanced technologies, both in production and in the business administration and many of these technologies have not been applied in Russia yet. For this reason we decided to create this association to help generate favorable conditions for foreign investors.

— Kaliningrad is in the third position in Russia by the number of foreign representative offices located here. Unfortunately foreign investment is not strong enough in the region, - says Mr. Vlahovic. – Economy of the region is developing at a slower rate than it could and one of the reasons is that access to the region is restricted for foreign businesses and funds. Meanwhile, they bring know how, experience and technologies that are the foundations of any economic development. For example, Produkty Pitania Company promotes a number of advanced technologies both in production and in business administration and many of these technologies have not been applied in Russia yet. For this reason we decided to found this Association to help generate favorable conditions for foreign investors.

The goal of this association will be to target several goals, including practical assistance to investors setting up businesses in the region, protection of their interests and educating authorities of the goals and objectives pursued by foreign investors. Also, a  major factor of the association will be to help new investors realize how successful businesses with foreign interest operate here.

–         We need to explain to investors in what way they can address such problems, - Stefano Vlahovic said. – We should explain that there is little progress, because it only means that the progress is there. For the cause we are creating a website with all such relevant information. We are 11 and we are capable of solving a certain range of issues. The more of us there will be, the more opportunities we will have. We are hoping to set up a specific infrastructure, an English-speaking school, and all other collateral indicators of developing investment climate in the region.

Tatiana Novojilova