October 31, 2013. The international agency Mackenzie placed Yekaterinburg on the list of the world’s 600 cities with development potential, Head of Yekaterinburg Administration Alexander Yakob said on air during Open Studio program.

‘Five Russian cities made it to this list of Top 600 Cities of the World, including Yekaterinburg. These are objective rating estimates,’ Yakob pointed out.

He said another big international rating agency, MasterCard, is now looking at the Mid-Urals’ capital as well. Yakob hopes that the opinions of these agencies will influence the choice of the BIE members when they vote for the city that will get to host the EXPO 2020 Exhibition.

As for the Russian rating agencies’ estimates, Yekaterinburg is always at the top of the list, Yakob noted.