15 Dec 2005 14:46

Interfax Opens New Press Center in Irkutsk

The Interfax-Siberia News Agency, part of Interfax Information Services Group, has announced the opening of its new press center in the city of Irkutsk.

"The Interfax-Siberia agency, which was set up in the Siberian Federal District nearly two years ago, has become one of the principal channels informing Russian and foreign audiences on events taking place in our region," the governor of Irkutsk region, Alexander Tishanin, told the first news conference at the new press center.
"The diverse nature of the information space and initiatives on the part of the media themselves, such as initiatives to set up independent press centers of this kind, are important in shaping drawing a complete and objective picture of events in our region. I am sure that the performance of the new facility will result in a broader coverage of political and economic events, in shaping an accurate image of the Irkutsk region, and in our region becoming more attractive for investment from both within and outside Russia," Tishanin said.
"Irkutsk region is one of the more interesting regions of the Siberian Federal District, both from the viewpoint of the intensity of economic development and from the viewpoint of the significance of political developments here," said Interfax-Siberia President Yelena Pochesneva.
"The Interfax-Siberia agency‘s nearly two years of business in Irkutsk region have confirmed that our subscribers take a steadily growing interest in events occurring here," she said.
"As it opens its new press center, our agency expects to start 2006 with new opportunities, ambitious plans and long-term projects that will logically fit into the overall strategy of Interfax Group and speed up the development of the region," Pochesneva said.
Interfax-Siberia‘s first press center in Irkutsk, which was closed when the new center was launched, opened in April 2004. It was the venue of about 170 briefings and news conference for figures at various levels of the legislative and executive branches of government, well-known businesspeople, heads of large companies and banks, politicians, public figures, scientists, athletes, and members of the arts community. In 2005, the center hosted delegations from Britain, China, Mongolia, and South Korea.
"We hope that our new press center, which is located in the very center of the city, will be more convenient for journalists and newsmakers and will help the agency carry out its task of creating a constructive dialogue between government and business," Pochesneva said.
Interfax has 19 press centers, located in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk, Irkutsk, Tomsk, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Kazan, Perm, Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar, Yekaterinburg, Tyumen, Chelyabinsk, Khanty-Mansiisk, Ryazan, Yaroslavl, and Voronezh.