Surely.
St. Petersburg is the source of most of the political class that is currently ruling Russia. Mr. Putin himself comes from St. Petersburg, and a number of the strongest decision-makers in Russian politics come from St. Petersburg. Increasingly, big Russian business is being populated likewise, with leaders from St. Petersburg. It happens to be a process that has been very visible over the last three to four years.
St. Petersburg is becoming more and more not only an economic and a cultural centre—it's been a cultural and heritage centre for a long time—but now a centre of political decision-making. Any serious politician has to have a St. Petersburg link in Russia. And in business terms, companies are seeing that they have to pay their due to that St. Petersburg plan by establishing a strong presence there.
Gazprom's moving its headquarters there is a very clear sign. What we're also seeing is other companies—not as large as Gazprom, but every bit as significant—that are moving large numbers of headquarter functions there. We're seeing procurement decisions being made in St. Petersburg. Where once they would have been made either out in western Siberia or in Moscow, we're now seeing those procurement decisions actually being made in St. Petersburg.
In a consulate there are a number of functions. One is to keep a finger on the political pulse of the area where the consulate is based; another is to actively support commercial activity in that same area. We at CERBA believe very strongly that both are going to become increasingly important in St. Petersburg.
Now, we're not in a position to question decisions that have been made by the government, but on the other hand, we are in a position to say that we believe it's very important that Canadian business continue to receive support of some form or other in St. Petersburg to continue work that has been done excellently by the consulate and the commercial side.
There may be an opportunity to find some way for our own association to continue to provide that support, if that's something the government is prepared to consider. Similar things have been done in the past in China. Looking at opportunities to at least make sure that the history of strong Canadian business activity there—which, incidentally, is increasing, with other Canadian companies investing in manufacturing plants in the St. Petersburg area.... There is another investment of about $54 million being made by a Canadian company in a plant in the St. Petersburg area later this year.
So there's a lot going on, and we think it's very important that this be recognized. Russia is not Moscow. Russia is much broader than that. And St. Petersburg is exceptionally important.