Mr. Alexander Garese, a French lawyer who has been involved in the Russian and CIS business arena for the past 15 years, has recently given a lecture in Moscow on business opportunities in the country. Mr. Garese is working on a book which will cover the legal and business sectors in Russia, Ukraine and other countries in this region.
Among the best opportunities in Russia, Mr. Garese mentioned telecommunication (equipment and service) with a total market size of US$ 33 billion expected for 2005. Mr. Garese mentioned the strong growth of the cellular subscriber base which reached to more than 67 million by the beginning of 2005. He also mentioned that the number of Internet subscribers reached 20 million in 2005 and revenues for Internet services in 2005 to more than US$ 1 billion.
Other sectors Mr. Garesi discussed were Russia’s oil and gas industry, which continues to prosper a result of growing production, high prices and increasing exports. Medical equipment and pharmaceuticals, car components and aftermarket replacement parts and agricultural equipments were also mentioned by Garese.
