Weekly Bulletin

March 5, 2010
Moscow

• On Wednesday, AmCham hosted a meeting between the U.S. State Department’s senior advisor for the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission and AmCham-member business leaders from the energy, financial, and healthcare sectors.

• On Friday, February 26, AmCham met with U.S. Embassy officials and representatives from the U.S. Department of Commerce to advise on issues that should be addressed by the U.S.-Russia Bilateral Commission Working Group on Business Development and Economic Relations. Also that day, AmCham had a similar meeting with an official at the RF Economic Development Ministry to advise on possible initiatives for the Working Group.

• On February 21, AmCham President and CEO Andrew Somers hosted a reception for a visiting delegation of senior executives of leading U.S. internet and technology connection companies and senior White House officials. The purpose of the event was to have an informal discussion on ways technology can promote education, healthcare, culture, and other social values, as well as the extent to which this is happening in Russia and the role that American and Russian companies are playing in these areas.

• This week, Andrew Somers was invited to attend a meeting of the Expert Council for the Regional Investment Policies of the RF Regional Development Ministry. AmCham enjoys a long-standing relationship with the Ministry and continues to develop projects for mutual cooperation.

• This week, AmCham held a roundtable for a healthcare-sector working group to discuss its continuing efforts to improve pending legislation. Also this week, an AmCham financial-sector working group continued in improving draft legislation intended to create a national payment system.

• On Thursday, AmCham hosted a regional briefing with Oleg Bogomolov, Governor of Kurgan Oblast, who discussed investment opportunities in that region.

• On Thursday, February 25, during a meeting of the AmCham Investment Committee Yana Yakovleva (Business Solidarity) gave a presentation, entitled "The Use of Criminal Detention as a Technique to Harass and Seize Russian Businesses: One Russian Business Woman's Personal Account."

• Also on Thursday, February 25, AmCham St. Petersburg’s Environment, Health, & Safety Committee met for a presentation and discussion with V. Meltzer, Deputy Head of Rospotrebnadzor and Deputy Chief Sanitary Inspector for St. Petersburg.

• On Tuesday, the AmCham NGO-Corporate Partnership Committee met to discuss social advertising in Russia. The guest speakers were Vladimir Vainer (Clio Awards) and Dmitry Vishnyakov (VISA Russia).

• Also on Tuesday, AmCham St. Petersburg’s Customs & Transportation Committee met for a forum on E-declarations and advance informing via internet, with presentations by customs officials and leading experts.

• On Wednesday, during a meeting of the AmCham Taxation Committee, Dmitry Kulakov (Deloitte) gave an update on recent Parliamentary hearings on the Transfer Pricing Draft Law.

• For a list of upcoming AmCham events, please visit www.amcham.ru.