Guide to Investment

Ekaterinburg

PwC Russia (www.pwc.ru) provides industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services. Over 2000 professionals working in PwC offices in Moscow, St Petersburg, Ekaterinburg, Kazan, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and Vladikavkaz share their thinking, experience and solutions to develop fresh perspectives and practical advice for our clients. The global network of PwC firms brings together more than 161000 people in 154 countries.PwC first appeared in Russia in 1913 and re-established its presence here in 1989. Since then, PwC has grown to become the largest professional services provider in Russia. According to the annual rating prepared by the independent rating agency Expert RA, published in Expert magazine, PwC is the largest auditor, tax and legal advisor in Russia (see Expert, 2000-2010).

This overview has been prepared in conjunction with and based on the materials provided by the Administration of Ekaterinburg. This publication has been prepared for general guidance on matters of interest only, and does not constitute professional advice. 2 | Guide to investment | PwC

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Contents
7 9 11 12 Welcome message from the Head of Ekaterinburg Chairman of the Ekaterinburg City Duma Welcome message from the Mayor of Ekaterinburg Foreword by the Partner of PwC in Ekaterinburg Ekaterinburg: an overview Geographic location Human resources Science Economic potential The citys development strategy Living standards and personal income Ekaterinburgs social and economic development in 2010 versus other Russian cities with one million-plus inhabitants Banking system Economic structure by sector Manufacturing Technoparks and industrial parks Construction Urban infrastructure Hotels and restaurants Transport Transport potential Foreign trade relations Investment potential Major investment areas Tax system Conclusion Contacts
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Welcome message from the Head of Ekaterinburg Chairman of the Ekaterinburg City Duma
Dear ladies and gentlemen, Welcome to Ekaterinburg, the capital of one of Russias most advanced regions. Today, the capital of the Ural Federal District is a leader in most critical metrics among Russian cities with one million inhabitants or more. Over the past 15 years, the city has succeeded in diversifying its economy and preserving its traditional competitive advantages, while working hard to create new ones. The citys industrial base is dominated by heavy engineering, which accounts for a 35% share, with metallurgy, chemicals, construction materials and food processing also prominent sectors, with an aggregate share of 27%. Ekaterinburgs qualitative economic development is reflected in the increasing integration of science and production, and the growth of science-intensive industry and high-tech production facilities. The services sector and wholesale and retail trade are also gaining momentum. The city's economic development priorities are focused on the quality of the business and social infrastructure, and creating a favourable climate for businesses, including foreign partners. Its particularly noteworthy that our investment resources have come primarily from the local business community, which has eagerly taken up the challenge of investing in and developing diverse sectors of the citys economy. Both Russian and foreign companies are actively carrying out a number of ambitious, large-scale development projects. Ekaterinburg has been active in expanding its international links. Every year, the city hosts hundreds of business delegations. Ekaterinburg ranks third among Russias cities, behind only Moscow and St Petersburg, in the number of foreign consulates and diplomatic missions. But, even with all the positive trends in developing business and trade relations, the international business communitys insufficient awareness of Ekaterinburgs strong potential has hampered the development of new areas for cooperation. So, we hope this Investors Guide will help you learn more about the many opportunities that Ekaterinburg has to offer. We believe the most promising areas for cooperation are: - creating new production facilities, primarily for innovation-driven sectors. - developing technoparks. We are particularly interested in sharing experience and technology related to providing public services. - promoting tourism and trade - cooperating in exhibitions and trade shows: Along with business missions, exhibitions and trade shows offer valuable opportunities to identify suitable business partners. Thats why we would like to invite you to use Ekaterinburg-Expo, our new exhibition centre, as a venue for your next trade show or exhibition. Ekaterinburg is open for business cooperation, which we see as the cornerstone of future success and prosperity for us all!

Evgeniy N. Porunov Head of Ekaterinburg Chairman of the Ekaterinburg City Duma

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Welcome message from the Mayor of Ekaterinburg

Dear partners, I am pleased to present this Investment Guide to Ekaterinburg, one of Russias largest and most dynamic cities. Todays Ekaterinburg is not only the capital of the Ural Federal District but also a leader in many categories among Russias major cities with million-plus populations. We encourage you to learn more about our citys diverse economy, key urban infrastructure, historical leaders in industry and innovation, and the citys development strategy and future prospects, all of which together define the Urals capitals business profile. Historically, our city has been famous for its advanced industrial production facilities. Now, in the early 21st century, Ekaterinburg is also a major transportation and logistics hub and a centre of information, business, science, technology and culture that offers significant investment potential. The citys extensive international links are supported by the presence of many foreign diplomatic missions and business representative offices. In recent years, Ekaterinburg has hosted world-class national and international events: the SCO and BRIC summit meetings in 2009, the Innoprom exhibition and forum in 2010, and many others. In 2011, Ekaterinburg was selected as one of several host cities across Russia for the 2018 Football World Cup. The Urals capital not only values its rich heritage and is actively building its present, but also looks to the future with confidence. Ekaterinburgs strategic development plan up until 2025 calls for an entire range of programmes focused on the citys integrated development as an efficient, modern, innovation-friendly business environment, a space for living and realising the boldest of ideas. The Ekaterinburg City Administration has consistently emphasised strengthening and expanding the citys economic relations at the local, interregional and international levels. Youll find our city to be hospitable, ready for open dialogue and welcoming to new friends and business partners. We hope that what you learn from this Investors Guide to Ekaterinburg will start you on the path to a long-term and mutually beneficial cooperative relationship!

Alexander E. Yakob Mayor of Ekaterinburg

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Foreword

Ekaterinburg is one of Russias most attractive cities for doing business. In May 2010, Forbes magazine published a new rating on the business appeal of Russian cities. Among the 103 cities analysed, Ekaterinburg ranked third according to six different parameters: business climate, consumer purchasing power, ability to weather a crisis, social characteristics, infrastructure, and ease of doing business for business owners and top managers. For a long time, Ekaterinburg has retained its leadership position thanks to a diversified economy and the equal playing field that the local authorities have ensured for all businesspeople. Ekaterinburg was founded as a mining community on the banks of the Iset River in 1723. Throughout its history, the city has developed as one of Russias leading industrial, cultural, transportation, administrative, scientific, military and political centres. Among Russias major metropolitan areas, Ekaterinburg ranks third in size, with a total population of over 25 million and a land area exceeding 3 million square kilometres. Building on its strong economic potential and status as the capital of the Ural Federal District, Ekaterinburg is considered the countrys second most important economic hub, just behind the Moscow metropolitan area. Ekaterinburg's investment appeal has been growing at a very dynamic pace. This is due to the citys unique economic and geographic location at the crossroads of transport routes between Europe and Asia. This favourable geographic location has enabled Ekaterinburg to become one of Russia's major transport and logistics centres, integrating traffic flows from all directions on all modes of transport, including rail, motor and air, linking Ekaterinburg to all regions of Russia. In recent years, Ekaterinburg has experienced a rapid pace of social and economic development. A building boom, growing manufacturing base and expanding services sector have been the main drivers of the city's dynamic social and economic development and financial sustainability. The City Administration maintains strong cooperative relations with both Russian and foreign business partners and guarantees support in promoting and carrying out investment projects. This Guide to Investment is designed to help potential investors assess the most promising sectors of Ekaterinburgs economy. It was prepared jointly by PwC Russia and the External Relations Committee of the Ekaterinburg City Administration, which has generously provided reference materials and data.

Maxim Matsiborko Partner, Head of PwC office in Ekaterinburg

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Ekaterinburg: an overview

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Geographic location

Human resources

Ekaterinburg is one of Russia's largest and most dynamically growing cities. As the administrative centre of the Sverdlovsk Region and the Ural Federal District, it is one of Russias most important industrial, transportation, trading, financial, scientific and cultural centres. Ekaterinburg's geographic location is extremely favourable. The city occupies a low-lying section of the Ural Mountain range, which puts it at the confluence of major transportation routes from Central Russia to Siberia (first the Great Siberian Route, which was then followed by the Trans-Siberian Railway). As a result, Ekaterinburg has emerged as the strategically important centre of Russia, which continues to link the European and Asian parts of the country. The city has a population of 1 386 500 inhabitants and covers a land area of 491 square kilometres, ranking fourth in Russia. Ekaterinburg is 1 667 kilometres from Moscow, or two hours by airplane.

In the past five years, gains from in-migration and a reduced rate of population decline have helped increase the city's population by 28 300. Ekaterinburg has a broad labour market, with over 700 000 people employed across all economic sectors. Industrial employment continues to dominate within Ekaterinburgs labour market, a legacy of the citys heritage as a centre of heavy industry. The citys popu-lation boasts a high level of education, including a significant number of people with higher vocational education. With its strong scientific and technical heritage, the city enjoys significant human resources potential.
Ekaterinburg's population (in thousands)* 1380 1370 1360 1350 1340 1330 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

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Science

As one of Russias largest scientific and technological centres, Ekaterinburg is the site of intensive scientific research activities. The regions scientific community has made a significant contribution to the technological modernisation of industrial facilities in the Ural region, as well as the development of new sources of raw materials, and improvements in the region's environment. The city is home to 20 academic scientific institutions that conduct research in many areas, including mathematics and mechanics, physics and chemistry, metallurgy, environmental science, geology, nanotechnology and many other fields of science. Their research is highly regarded both within Russia and internationally. Ekaterinburg is one of Russia's major centres of higher education-based research. The city boasts 45 higher educational institutions with 180 000 students studying practically all specialist disciplines available in Russia. With 65 000 students, the Boris Yeltsin Ural Federal University, named in honour of Russia's first President, was founded in Ekaterinburg in 2010 by presidential decree on the basis of two of the regions oldest higher educational institutions. The city's higher education-based research community has increasingly been integrating into academic and industry research.

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Economic potential
Every year, critical projects in all areas of business (industry, trade, and residential construction) are carried out in Ekaterinburg, reflecting the citys strong economic potential and dynamic growth. This has resulted mainly from the development of the services sector, growing industrial production and residential construction, as well as the concentration within Ekaterinburg of macro-regional level administrative and support functions. In the period 2003-2010, the volume of goods shipped by large and medium-sized enterprises grew by 2.7 times, while retail sales grew by over 2.5 times, the number of residential and commercial premises built rose by 2.3 times and 4.8 times, respectively, and real earnings increased 1.9 times.

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The citys development strategy

Ekaterinburg is one of the first cities in Russia to develop its own strategy. For the past eight years, Ekaterinburgs development has been guided by the Strategic Development Plan up to 2015, approved by the City Duma in June 2003. The Plan constitutes a set of materials on the city's development strategy, which integrates key future development goals, missions, programmes and projects focused on achieving strategic results. Today's Ekaterinburg is an interregional financial and business centre and a venue for international events. In June 2009, the city hosted several important transnational events: a meeting of the heads of state of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) member countries (the SCO Summit and the first BRIC Summit). In 2010, Ekaterinburg hosted such significant events as the 12th round of German-Russian interstate consultations, the 10th German-Russian Petersburg Dialog Forum, and the 6th session of the Russo-German Youth Parliament (in June 2010), among others. In 2010 and 2011, Ekaterinburg was the site of Innoprom, the Ural International Exhibition and Forum of Science and Innovation. In 2011, this important event is expected to attract attendees from over 40 countries. Ekaterinburg is currently building Ekaterinburg Expo, the regions largest exhibition complex and the most advanced facility of its kind in Russia. Ekaterinburg Expo is scheduled to host Expo 2020, which is billed as Russias first global multi-purpose exhibition. Ekaterinburg has also been selected as one of several Russian host cities for the 2018 World Cup Football Championship. The regions preparations for the 2018 World Cup are expected to have a very positive impact on job creation, labour productivity, salary levels, and the general quality of life.

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Living standards and personal income

In many social and economic indicators, Ekaterinburg outperforms Russias other million-plus cities. The high income level of Ekaterinburg's population drives the citys leadership in terms of retail sales growth (RUR 450.7 billion in 2010). The citys sales volume per capita is 2.7 times higher than the nationwide average. Ekaterinburg is a traditional shopping centre for residents of smaller cities and towns in the Ural region and Siberia. The average monthly salary in the city is RUR 26,097.
Ekaterinburgs social and economic development in 2010 versus other Russian cities with one million-plus inhabitants Indicator Population as of beginning of year Unit of Measure 000 Volgograd 1014,9 Ekaterinburg 1375,4 Kazan 1136,6 Nizhniy Novgorod 1278,8 Novosibirsk 1409,1 Omsk 1127,7 Rostov-on-Don 1048,1 Samara 1133,8 Ufa 1038,1 Chelyabinsk 1095,9

Volume of locally produced goods shipped Industrial production index Capital investment by large and mediumsized businesses Retail sales New residential construction % RURm RURbn sq.m 000 87,2 7164,8 170,2 325,5 107 62200 450,7 1026,8 99,3 18608,9 259 771,8 13347,4 204 365,4 98 13964 1017 12197,2 157,9 349,8 70,5 12650,8 233,1 850 76,9 12203,6 200,6 588,7 95,3 12998,6 300,6 654,41 73,6 11521,4 231,5 1487,4

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Banking system

Ekaterinburg has one of the countrys most advanced banking systems. The number of banks operating in Ekaterinburg has doubled over the past five years. The city's banking sector encompasses over 80 lending institutions, including: 19 banking organisations registered in Ekaterinburg; 2 banking organisations registered in the Sverdlovsk Region; 46 banking organisations registered in other regions of the Russian Federation; and over 10 representative offices of banking organisations and one non-banking lending institution (Clearing Agency of Ural Regional Currency Exchange, CJSC).

of BSGV Bank CJSC in Ekaterinburg (Bank Societe General Vostok), the Ekaterinburg branch of UniCreditBank CJSC, the Ekaterinburg branch of Promsvyazbank OJSC, a branch of Absolut Bank in Ekaterinburg, the Ekaterinburg branch of Home Credit and Finance Bank,

Some of the characteristics of Ekaterinburg's banking sector are: a broad range of activities; an advanced institutional structure; a significant need for accelerated capitalisation of the banking sector to increase the range of services to meet growing customer demand; a high degree of customer loyalty; and a high degree of innovation. As of the beginning of 2011, Ekaterinburg has 10 foreignowned registered banks, including: the Ural branch of KMB Bank, the Ural branch of Raiffeisen Bank CJSC, a branch the Ural branch of CitiBank CJSC, a branch of MBAMOSCOW in Ekaterinburg, and a branch of BNP Paribas Vostok in Ekaterinburg. PwC | Ekaterinburg | 21

Economic structure by sector

Manufacturing
aerospace industry, motor vehicles, and many other things. In recent years, the small business sector has been shifting away from its traditional focus on trade and services towards manufacturing and auxiliary services, as well introducing new technologies and proactive cooperation with leading businesses. Import structure in 2010

Manufacturing is Ekaterinburg's leading economic sector with an annual turnover exceeding RUR 150 billion. Heavy engineering dominates the citys industrial structure. Ekaterinburg is the largest centre of heavy engineering in the Ural region and in Russia as a whole. It has 50 major heavy engineering enterprises that account for over 40% of the city's production. Goods manufactured in Ekaterinburg are shipped to over 100 countries around the world. Equipment, machinery and vehicles, tools and instruments, and automation facilities and systems designed and manufactured in Ekaterinburg are used widely by leading metallurgical, mining, chemical, and machine-building plants, as well as in such sectors as power generation, oil and gas, housing and public utilities, food processing, consumer goods, and water and land transport. In addition to military orders, the city's defence industry produces high-quality goods for the public health sector, agriculture, housing and public utilities infrastructure, the

n 43,2% Machine-Building n 22,5% Metallurgical Production and Production of Metal Ware n 3,1% Other Production Facilities n 4,2% Production of Miscellaneous Non-Metallic Mineral Commodities n 0,6% Cellulose and Paper Production, Publishing and Printing Business n 13,1% Food Production n 7,3% Chemical Production (Including Pharmaceuticals n 5,2% Production of Rubber and Plastic Goods n 0,8% Light Industry

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Technoparks and industrial parks

Ekaterinburg's development strategy is focused on creating a favourable infrastructure and organisational conditions within the city to stimulate innovative processes as a critical driver for ensuring sustainable economic development and improved public welfare. The city is aggressively creating an infrastructure for innovation-driven businesses (technoparks, industrial parks and innovative technology centres). An IT cluster was created in 2010, which includes equipment manufacturers, such as ASK, IskraUralTel and Data-Center. In early 2011, a project to build an IT park in Ekaterinburg was presented. To date, over RUR 1.2 billion of investment financing has been raised for the project, which is expected to become a branch of the Skolkovo Innovation Centre and to generate RUR 240 million in earnings by 2018. The Priborostroyeniye Technology Park was created as part of the Semikhatov Automation Research and Manufacturing Association. The Akademicheskiy Centre for Innovation and Technology (a part of the Ural division of the Russian Academy of Sciences) continues its efforts to promote innovative products manufactured by research institutes and small businesses. Its innovation-driven initiatives encompass such areas as metallurgy, industrial waste recycling and beneficiation, instrument engineering, construction materials and new types of equipment. The Tekhnomet Technology Park has been created to focus energy conservation technologies in metallurgy and machine-building. Construction has started at a 1.7-hectare site provided by the City Administration on the Averon Technology Park, which will produce electronic medical equipment and automation equipment.

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Construction

The strong growth in Ekaterinburg's economy is best reflected in the city's building boom. In 2010, Ekaterinburg's large and medium-sized construction companies carried out building contracts worth a total of RUR 22,7 bln.. Ekaterinburg is currently the site of the largest building project in Russia and Europe: construction of the Akademicheskiy housing estate, which will provide over nine million square metres of new housing. In twenty years, over 325,000 people, or about one-fourth of Ekaterinburg's current population, will be able to live there. The first apartment units are already occupied and the estate features a newly built secondary school, the citys largest, which will accommodate 1,000 students from September 2011.
New residential and commercial construction

1200 1000 800 735,3 600 400 200 0

2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
495,5 502 899,53 955,02 859,1 816,53 658 964,5 1026,8

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Urban infrastructure
Hotels and restaurants

The city's hotel infrastructure consists of fully refurbished and newly constructed facilities. To date, Ekaterinburg has 56 hotels, of which 44 were built in the past five years, including such cutting-edge, world-class hotel facilities as the Hyatt Regency Ekaterinburg, the Angelo Airporthotel Ekaterinburg, the RAMADA Ekaterinburg, the Park Inn Ekaterinburg and the Accor Novotel. Ekaterinburg has an extensive food service and restaurant sector with 1,563 restaurants that can serve up 120,500 diners. With a sales volume of RUR 15.4 billion in 2010, the citys dining establishments offer a wide selection of international cuisine, including Russian, Ukrainian, Caucasian, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, French, German, Cuban, Serbian and Czech, among others.

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Transport

In recent years, the growth of the city's economy has stimulated a rapid increase in the number of motor vehicles, which not only requires ongoing maintenance and repair of the citys road network but also resolving major transportation issues facing the city, primarily through building new roads and rebuilding existing ones as well as building new transport facilities. Ekaterinburg's municipal public transportation system features most types of surface transport (tram, trolleybus, bus, minibus taxi and regular taxi, and suburban electric train) as well as an underground subway system. Public transport routes serve all city districts. The municipal transport fleet is upgraded every year for an average of new 75 units annually.

Two new subway stations - Chkalovskaya and Botanicheskaya - will be opened by the end of 2011. This will complete construction on the first subway line, which is 13.5 kilometres long and has nine stations. Construction of the second line to link the city's west and east sides is scheduled for 2012.

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Transport potential

The construction of several state-of-the-art logistics hubs represents a quantum leap in the development of the city's transportation infrastructure. In the near future, the city will be in a position to handle up to one-fourth of Russia's total cargo traffic. To date, annual freight traffic amounts to 3,464,000 tonnes. The city's strong transport potential is driven by its unique geographic location, proximity to national and regional highways, a major railway hub, and an airport that ranks fifth in Russia in terms of passenger traffic.

Koltsovo Airport is an international air-transport hub that meets all international standards. The airport can handle a large volume of passengers (up to eight million passengers annually) and cargo traffic of 79 400 tonnes. It has a modern terminal serving international and domestic airlines. To increase passenger flow, an express train was put into service between Koltsovo Airport and the main railway station. From downtown Ekaterinburg, you can reach the airport in 20 minutes.

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Foreign trade relations

Ekaterinburg maintains strong trade relations with 129 countries around the world. The citys enterprises do business with partners from the Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Germany, the United States, China, Italy, India, Ukraine, South Korea and Belarus. Over 100 business missions visit the city annually. Ekaterinburg currently has 20 foreign consulates, including: 11 consulates-general: the United States, the United Kingdom, Kyrgyzstan, the Czech Republic, Germany, the Peoples Republic of China, Vietnam, France, Hungary, Tajikistan and Azerbaijan; 8 honorary consulates: Austria, Hungary, Democratic Republic of Congo, South Korea, Mongolia, Republic of Seychelles, Italy and Luxembourg; and an office of the Embassy of Belarus. In addition, the city hosts: 2 trade missions: the Netherlands (unaccredited) and Ukraine; as well as several official representative offices without diplomatic status, including Czech Trade, an agency for supporting Czech business; a correspondent station of ICE, Italy's Foreign Trade Institute; NBSO, a centre for supporting Dutch business; a contact bureau of Rheinland-Pfalz (Germany) in Russia; and the Finnish-Russian Chamber of Commerce. As of the end of 2010, Ekaterinburg had 320 registered foreign businesses. On average, 20 foreign businesses are launched in the city annually. Ekaterinburg has 12 partner cities in 7 countries: Guangzhou (sister city) in China; Genoa, Turin and San Remo in Italy; Plzen in the Czech Republic; Inchon (sister city), Seongnam and Pohang in South Korea; Minsk and Mogilev in Belarus; Plovdiv in Bulgaria; and Annaba in Algeria.

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Investment potential
In 2010, large and medium-sized businesses of all types made capital investments totalling RUR 62.2 billion aimed at developing the citys economy and social services. Major investment projects include the construction of the Ekaterinburg City urban business district and the Akademicheskiy housing estate. Ekaterinburg is becoming more appealing for Russian and foreign investors. International retail chains (Metro, Auchan, IKEA) and hotel chains (Hyatt Regency Ekaterinburg, Park Inn Ekaterinburg, Angelo Airporthotel Ekaterinburg, RAMADA Ekaterinburg, Accor Novotel) came to Ekaterinburg right Moscow and St Petersburg and are now successfully operating in the city. Among the citys retail outlets are stores of Europe's leading fashion labels, such as Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, etc. In the past five years, the auto market has also seen considerable transformations with several dozen new showrooms opening up, offering, among other things, such luxury makes as Bentley, Ferrari, Porsche and others.

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Major investment areas include:

Tax system

technical upgrade of industrial enterprises; establishment of joint ventures for manufacturing competitive and innovative products; creation of dedicated centres rendering general industrial services (casting, galvanics, etc.); upgrade and refurbishment of boiler rooms, heating networks and heating lines; upgrade and refurbishment of sewage disposal plants, sewerage systems and pumping stations; recycling of domestic waste; construction of sorting plants; recycling of glass, paper, rubber and sludge; - recycling of medical waste, household appliances waste and wood; cleaning of storm water drains; upgrade of lift facilities; major repairs of apartment blocks; energy conservation for housing and public utilities infrastructure; upgrade of vehicles used for intra-city transportation; and construction and refurbishment of roads, construction of road junctions; subway.

In the Russian Federation, investment and business activity must comply with the current tax regime. The Russian Tax Code establishes the system of taxes and fees and general principles governing taxation and fees in the Russian Federation. Main taxes and fees include: Income tax 20%. VAT 10% or 18% (based on the type of goods) Property tax 2.2% Transport tax - from 15.7% (based on engine horsepower) Personal income tax 9%, 13%, 15% or 30% (based on the type of income) Insurance premiums - 34% (charged to the labour compensation fund, based on annual earnings)

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Conclusion

The Ural region, centred around the city of Ekaterinburg, is a cornerstone of Russia which forms the heart of the countrys industrial base. Ekaterinburg is the leader among Russian cities with million-plus population in terms of investment appeal and the sustainability of positive social and economic development trends, as well as the level of development of its retail and service sectors, and the maturity of its consumer market. A significant part of Ekaterinburg's investment appeal is based on the fact that it is home to many foreign consulates, as well as the central office of the Ural Customs Administration. Another attractive feature is Koltsovo International Airport, Russia's largest regional transport and logistics hub, which has been fully refurbished to turn

Ekaterinburg into an air transport centre. It is also important that Ekaterinburg has been included in the Great Cities of the Future rating. This study, conducted by the English-language edition of Forbes magazine, was based on the top ten positions in the Worldwide Emerging Markets Index, as calculated by MasterCard after researching the 85 most promising cities that drive development in the world's 30 leading markets. In the MasterCard index, Ekaterinburg ranks 59th, with Moscow (14th) and St Petersburg (41st) the only other Russian cities to outrank the Ural capital.

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The rating took into account eight primary criteria: overall economic and business environment; economic growth rate; conditions for doing business; standard of financial services provided; business compatibility with other markets; people's educational level and IT infrastructure development standard; overall quality of life; and overall safety level and number of potential risks. This is why a number of major Russian and foreign investors, after assessing Ekaterinburg's investment potential, are successfully doing business in the city in such diverse sectors as construction, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, chemicals, construction materials, textiles and food processing, and agriculture. The Ekaterinburg City Administration and the citys leadership are ready for an open dialogue and are doing their utmost to ensure that our business partners grow and prosper together with the city, and that Ekaterinburg offers a favourable environment for your business operations. We are ready to help you realise your investment plans. Welcome to Ekaterinburg!

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Contacts
Ekaterinburg City Administration PwC Russia - Ekaterinburg

24A Lenin Ave., Ekaterinburg, 620014 Tel.: +7 (343) 355 2990 Fax: +7 (343) 355 2992 www.. Committee for External Relations Svetlana A. Garipova Committee Chair Tel.: +7 (343) 354 5567 garipova@adm-ekburg.ru Ekaterinburg Congress Bureau Tel.: +7 (343) 371 79 27 Fax: +7 (343) 371 79 26 E-mail: dunaeva@adm-ekburg.ru www.ekaterinburg-convention.com Ekaterinburg Information and Tourist Service 21 8 Marta St., Ekaterinburg, 620014 Tel.: (343) 376-43-61 www.its.ekburg.ru

7A Gorkiy St., Ekaterinburg, 620075 Tel.: +7 (343) 253 1433 Fax: +7 (343) 253 1430 26 E-mail: office.ekb@ru.pwc.com www.pwc.ru Maxim Matsiborko Managing Partner E-mail: maxim.matsiborko@ru.pwc.com

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