On May 3 – May 16, 2015 the Director of the Center for PPP Studies of the Graduate School of Management St. Petersburg State University (GSOM SPbU) Svetlana Maslova, Head of the Research Projects Department GSOM SPbU Anna Menshikova and Manager of the Research Projects Department GSOM SPbU Andrey Yushkov visited the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and had several rounds of constructive negotiations at the UNECE International PPP Centre of Excellence (ICoE). The topics which were discussed include the establishment of the UNECE PPP Specialist Centre at SPbU, development of PPP Standards in the field of transport, and other PPP activities of UNECE.

 

Representatives of GSOM SPbU have submitted official Expression of Interest in order to become the PPP Specialist Centre for Research in Transport and participate in different activities of ICoE.

 

Svetlana Maslova and Andrey Yushkov have been included in three Project Teams working on the development of PPP Standards in transport sector (roads, airports and railways). Svetlana Maslova is also invited to become a member of the UNECE PPP Team of Specialists which unites leading international experts in the field of PPP.

 

PPP Standards are developed by UNECE in order to support governments in the process of PPP projects implementation and help international community achieve Sustainable Development Goals which are going to be adopted by the UN General Assembly in September, 2015. According to Svetlana Maslova, this confirms once again the relevance of PPP Standards development which will improve public sector efficiency and lead to the dynamic development of infrastructure, especially in emerging and transition economies.