The APEC Summit 2012 will take place in Vladivostok on September 8th and 9th 2012. The dates were announced late last week by Russian president Dmitry Medvedev while attending the Business Forum in Japan. Preparations for the APEC summit are well under-way in the Primorye Krai region which is seeing massive investment in infrastructure development to facilitate the summit and provide a lasting legacy for the region.

New roads, bridges, hotels are just some of many major infrastructure projects being undertaken.

Aeroexpress is considering building its own terminals and providing train services between city centre rail hubs and and airports in Saint Petersburg, Vladivostok, Sochi, and Kazan. The volume of investment required to complete the project has not been disclosed yet. AeroExpress currently operate rail services which connect Moscow's three major airports, Domodedovo, Sheremetyevo and Vnukovo with rail termini in central Moscow.

In the first 10 months of 2010 the company carried over 8 million passengers. They estimate almost 20% of passengers travelling through Moscow airports use Aeroexpress services as a means of getting into the city.

The long-mooted reconstruction of Sanatornaya – Shamora Bay – Artem Road has been given the go-ahead and will help solve the problems of Vladivostok traffic, the Primorsky Territory Administration press service has announced. The Primorye Governor Sergey Darkin emphasized that this is one of many projects to create a modern transport infrastructure for Vladivostok being undertaken in preparation for the November 2012 APEC summit meeting. Today the construction of a new exit route from Vladivostok – a highway linking Novyi Settlement – De Freez Peninsula – Sedanka – Patrokl Bay as well as city roads are being realized.

As Vladivostok prepares to host the 2012 APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) summit, complex infrastructure is being built with an army of Caterpillar construction equipment.

Over the past year local Cat dealer Amur Machinery has sold 29 Cat machines and rented another ten to the contractor, ZAO Crocus. In February an order of seventeen machines were delivered to the customer consisting of four 428 E backhoe, seven bulldozers, including two D9R machines, three rollers and three tracked excavators CS56 in the 35-ton class.

Cat Financial provided the funding for this mix of construction equipment.

A Taiwan company has won a contract to design the world's largest aquarium in Russia's Vladivostok city, the company has announced. The Huangs Green Country Industrial Co Ltd won the bid on the project that is part of Vladivostok's preparation for hosting the 2012 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit, it said.

Russia’s Primorsky region has announced a $1-1.2bn gambling zone outside Vladivostok. By 2012 regional officials expect the ‘Primorsky Vegas’ to become eye candy for APEC summit guests and by 2025 a must destination for Asian gamblers. Zone-skeptics argue that all the project will achieve is to expose the weaknesses of the RF’s national four-zone gambling program and divert funding from more important long-term regional development.

New street market opened in Vladivostok

Vakldivostok authorities have authorised a new street market which has begun operation at the former tramway ring. It is the sixth 'farmers market' authorised in Vladivostok and will operate from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. The other markets are located at the second river, school, Fadeeva, Nekrasov and village transport stops. Quality local produce is sold at prices ten to thirty percent cheaper than in shops.

Aging Vladivostok to get a shot in the arm

By John Bonar

Vladivostok, Peter the Great’s entrepot outpost in the Far East, sits like an aging dowager Empress with wrinkles cracking the foundation cream, pondering its future. Rickety trams trundling up and down the city’s hills, tawdry  outdoor markets, creaking infrastructure, leaking water mains and grey hulking concrete housing blocks on the hills ringing the immense bay that is home to Russia’s Pacific Fleet characterize the city as a Soviet relic.

Medvedev tours APEC sites

Last weekend President Dmitry Medvedev visited the construction sites of infrastructure for the 2012 APEC summit in Vladivostok.

He examined the site of the bridge being built over the Golden Horn Bay which will be the final stage of the highway from Vladivostok Airport to Knevichi Sanatorna station which will be used to ferry guests for the Summit to Goldobina Peninsula and the bridge to Russky Island which will be the summit venue.