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The St. Petersburg Conference was a success. Present were specialists from countries of Europe and Asia who make decisions about transport construction at national levels. The Conference was very productive, and all the participants took an active part in discussing and weighing transport-related issues. I believe that such conferences are very useful. The Conference demonstrated that the participants are ready to engage in bilateral and multilateral co-operation including work with international financial institutions such as the World Bank. Speaking of Russia, once must note that today the investment climate for foreign investors is becoming more favorable. Statistics show that - for the first time in a number of years - Russia's GNP is on the rise. Provided this trend continues and trade with Russia increases dramatically, Russia's transport links with foreign countries will require further development and integration into international transport systems. It bears noting that some Russian transport-related investment projects have a certain drawback. They do not always take into account the financial capabilities of Russian transport-service users. For if a given project is realized, but remains outside the ability of the consumer to use it, it will fail financially. It is thus necessary to take into account the financial capabilities of targeted users of transport services in Russia at the project approval stage. Only thus may one receive a well-balanced forecast of the project's pay-back period and take the right decision on whether or not to build a certain facility. The St. Petersburg Conference was held in an amiable atmosphere of co-operation and mutual understanding. Of course, later on, in different settings, the hard-headed resolving of technical differences and such obstacles as taxes and customs barriers and the like will certainly take place. But I believe that this will be for the benefit of the carriers, as it will result in providing better cargo and passenger transportation services to the client. This, after all, is why we finance international transport projects.
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