Tourist center opens doors

A tourist information center has opened at 41 Nevsky Prospect.

The $107,000 facility in the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace has two full-time staff offering information on hotels, cultural and sporting events and sightseeing tours. Information is available in English and Russian, with some workers also speaking French and German.

The center can also provide advice on travel agencies, insurance, car rental, resorts and sanatoriums. It is open daily from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Inquiries can be sent by e-mail to tourism@gov.spb.ru (mail should state that it is intended for the tourist center), or by calling Lilya Shiffer at (812) 311-2843 or 311-2943.

St. Petersburg Pay Phones will be the controlling partner in the National Pay Phone Network established with one other company and a financial group, according to an Interfax report.

Mobitel (40 percent) and LV Alliance (9 percent) are in the deal with SPPP, which will have 51percent.

The goal will be to modernize existing pay phones and to unit pay-phone networks throughout Russia, officials said.