Governor Georgy Poltavchenko held a working meeting with Jean-Maurice Ripert, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the French Republic in the Russian Federation. According to the Governor Georgy Poltavchenko business presence of France in St. Petersburg has become very prominent, especially in recent years.

      In particular, Alstrom Transport SA Company has announced its intention to establish in St. Petersburg production of modern trams. A part of the first Russian Mistral-class helicopter carrier was built on Baltic Shipyard. Number of other French companies announced their plans to get involved in industry, construction and energy projects.

      "French investors have invested in St. Petersburg’s economy a total of 1 billion 700 million U.S. dollars. This is a very good performance. But what is most important: we have good prospects for further development," Georgy Poltavchenko said. He noted that today the city is developing several industries that could be of interest to French producers. He noted that today there are few industries developing in the city that could be attractive for the French manufacturer: in particular, pharmaceutical and automotive clusters.