Russia - St Petersburg is eyeing up a billion dollar investment that could deliver a new convention centre and 40,000 square metres of extra exhibition space in the ‘Venice of the North’ by 2013.
It is understood that Gazprombank is ready to finance the deal following eight years of research. The vehicle for the development is ExpoForum and the company is believed to be looking to break ground by autumn 2010, with a site marked out beyond Pulkovo airport.
The project will include hotels, commercial office and residential space, as well as a major convention centre project.
The traditional trade fair site at Lenexpo, in the city, recently hosted the United Russia governing party for its annual congress and Vladimir Putin, a native of the city, was one of over 800 delegates.
However, Lenexpo general director Sergey Alexeev, who also heads the Russian Union of Exhibition Fairgrounds (RUEF), is not convinced by the proposed ExpoForum business model.
“How they will provide ROI is still to be seen,” he says. “It is a young team there and they don’t have experience and don’t understand this is a business and a market, not just a venue game. They want 100,000sqm of events space, but we, at Lenexpo, are a mirror of the actual market’s current 40,000 square metres of demand.
“The biggest problem in Russia is financing projects,” he tells EW, admitting that Lenexpo itself is looking for investors for its own 2020 programme of development.
With major new events facilities also being considered at Constantinovsky Palace and in the wider Leningrad Oblast by the local authorities there, the city has many new options, although all are thought to be chasing funding.
Rezidor’s new conference and events centre at the Park Inn Pribaltiskaya Hotel is another major addition to the city’s event venue stock.
And the US$9.8m conference centre, PetroCongress, is to open in January 2010 at the international organiser Restec’s territory in central St Petersburg. It provides space for 360 delegates and potential for smaller exhibitions.
