Anatoly Lubarsky,
Editor-in-chief
New East/Segodnya magazine

       Almost ten years ago, when we were creating our magazine in St.Petersburg, we had no doubts that its main purpose was to introduce the life and the most difficult problems of our city in various spheres, such as economics, industry, transport, ecology, investments, science and culture. It was supposed to promote the broadening of business contacts between St.Petersburg and the countries of Europe, Asia and America. Therefore, it was to be published not only in Russian but in the identical English version.

       At that time we decided that every issue of our magazine would be entirely devoted to a thorough discussion of a single but universal subject. Our magazine is still following that pattern.

       It is life itself that gives us topics for our successive editions. Very often our friends and our correspondents - heads of companies, institutes and industrial enterprises, scientists, writers and our foreign readers - draw our attention to this or that subject. Specifically, this is how we were able to make our special editions devoted to the investment climate in our city, to its ecological situation, to the problems of development of the city's transport centre, to businesswomen of Russia, to the role of St.Petersburg in the exploration and development of the Arctic Regions and to the foreign economic contacts of our city.

       It the recent years our magazine's opportunities have widened significantly due to the Internet. The two printed editions of our magazine have been supplemented with their electronic versions in Russian and in English. According to our server's statistics, readers from 50 to 60 countries of Europe, Asia and America visit our Internet site.

       I shall be happy if our new site St.Petersburg: through centuries, which we have set up in cooperation with the Committee for the Organization and Conducting of the 300-th Anniversary of St.Petersburg, provides you the opportunity to learn something new about our city which is standing on the threshold of its anniversary.

      The name of our site St.Petersburg: through centuries implies its contents. It is a documentary survey, consisting of essays, notes and reports, telling about St.Petersburg's international contacts during the three centuries of its existence. Very often, about little known or completely forgotten.
      Our documentary survey will be daily supplemented. We are going to finish our story during the jubilee festivities in the year 2003.