Apr 18, 2012: Regional Briefing with Sverdlovsk Oblast

The American Chamber of Commerce in Russia held a regional briefing on April 18, 2012 at the Swissôtel Krasnye Holmy.

Alexander Sergeevich Misharin, Governor of Sverdlovsk Oblast, briefed over 60 AmCham member company executives on investment opportunities in Sverdlovsk Oblast. Accompanying Dr. Misharin from the Sverdlovsk Oblast Administration were Aleksandr Vladimirovich Kharlov, Minister of International and External Economic Relations of Sverdlovsk Oblast; and Mikhail Igorevich Maksimov, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Investment and Development of Sverdlovsk Oblast. The briefing was chaired by AmCham President & CEO Andrew Somers.

[photograph: Alexander Misharin (left) and Andrew Somers (right)]

Following Dr. Misharin's address, individual presentations were made by Artemiy Igorevich Kyzlasov, General Director of Titanium Valley Management Company; Sergey Viktorovich Lednov, Business Development Director of VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation; Igor Aleksandrovich Gerdt, Deputy General Director & Project Head of  Tagil Chemical Park; and Andrey Adolfovich Besedin, President of the Urals Chamber of Trade and Industry.
 

Event Coverage
● Sverdlovsk Oblast Government official website
● Sverdlovsk Oblast Governor Alexander Misharin's official website
● The Moscow Times 

Event Photographs (click to enlarge)

from left: Aleksandr Kharlov, Minister of International and External Economic Relations of Sverdlovsk Oblast; Alexander Misharin, Governor of Sverdlovsk Oblast; Andrew Somers, AmCham President & CEO
Sergey Lednov, Business Development Director, VSMPO-AVISMA Corporation	Artemiy Kyzlasov, General Director, Titanium Valley Management Company	Andrey Besedin, President, Urals Chamber of Trade and Industry
The Davos Room in the Swissôtel Krasnye Holmy

Governor Alexander Misharin
Alexander Sergeevich Misharin was born in 1959 in Sverdlovsk. In 1981, he graduated from the Electro-technical Faculty of the Urals Electro-mechanical Institute of Railway Transport, and in 1997, graduated in economics from the Ural State University of Railway Transport.

He received his PhD in 1999 and Doctorate in technical sciences in 2005. In 1997, Dr. Misharin was appointed President of the Russian Academy of Transport, and in 1999 was made an Honorary Professor at the Rostov State University of Railway Transport.

From 1981-1989, Alexander Misharin worked as an electrical mechanic for Sverdlovsk Railways and became head of the Shartashkiy regional electrical network and chief engineer for the Ishimskiy electrical power supply division. From 1989 until 1991 he served as chief engineer for power supply provision during construction of the Ekaterinburg metro system. When the metro opened in 1991, Dr. Misharin returned to Sverdlovsk Railways as deputy head of electrical power supply; in the same year he became head of the service.

In 1996-1998, Dr. Misharin was chief engineer for Sverdlovsk Railways. In 1998, he was appointed RF Deputy Minister of Railway Transport, and in 2000 became First Deputy Minister. In 2002, he became the head of Sverdlovsk Railways and also ran for election to the Sverdlovsk Oblast Duma, representing United Russia.

From 2004-2009, Dr. Misharin served as RF Deputy Minister of Transport. In 2009 he became Director of the RF Government Department of Industry and Infrastructure and in the same year President Medvedev appointed him Governor of Sverdlovsk Oblast. In addition to his duties as Governor, Dr. Misharin serves as a member of the United Russia General Council.
 

Sverdlovsk Oblast
Located on the border of Europe and Asia, Sverdlovsk Oblast lies on a transcontinental trade intersection for raw goods and commodities, as well as financial, labor and information resources. The region has a population of around 4.5 million residents, 80% of whom live in urban areas.

Economy & Natural Resources
In terms of social and economic development, Sverdlovsk Oblast ranks in the top ten regions of Russia. It is one of Russia's foremost regions in terms of mineral reserves, including asbestos, gemstones, talcum, and is one of the oldest mining regions in the country. There are rich metal deposits of iron, copper, gold, platinum, and abundant reserves of marble and coal.

Ekaterinburg
The city of Ekaterinburg is the administrative center of Sverdlovsk Oblast and is located 1000 miles to the east of Moscow. Founded in 1723, the city was named in honor of Tsar Peter the Great's wife Ekaterina. It is the main industrial and cultural center of the Urals Federal District, and with a population of 1.4 million, ranks as Russia's fourth-largest city.
 
[photograph right: Church of All Saints, Ekaterinburg]

In 1924, the city's name was changed to Sverdlovsk; after the Bolshevik party leader Yakov Sverdlov. The name was changed back to Ekaterinburg in 1991.

The city is served by the Ekaterinburg Metro, which carries over 100,000 passengers daily.

Ekaterinburg is a prominent road, rail and air hub in the Urals region. Koltsovo International Airport lies 10 miles southeast of the city and is the main base for Ural Airlines. Koltsovo connects more than 50 worldwide destinations, including a dozen in Europe, and is the fifth largest airport in Russia. Ekaterinburg is an important railway junction on the Trans-Siberian Railway, with lines radiating to all parts of the Urals and the rest of Russia.

Aside from Ekaterinburg, Sverdlovsk Oblast is home to over 40 other major cities including Nizhny Tagil, Kamensk-Uralsky, Pervouralsk, Asbest, and Serov.