Mayor of Yekaterinburg Arkadiy Chernetskiy accepted a project known as All Colors Invited and targeted at facilitating the introduction of new foreign representations and consulates in the city; these are expected to attract additional investments in the city’s economy. There are currently fifteen consulates in Yekaterinburg, with the number expected to rise to twenty in a few years’ time, the spokesperson for the city council reports. In addition, over 500 branches of international corporations are predicted to have been established in Yekaterinburg by 2015 against only 200 representations available at the moment.

The project is supposed to help create new workplaces and promote the spread of new industrial know-hows and innovations as well as strengthen the city’s scientific and cultural ties with the global community. Besides, the predicted advances in the development of the region’s foreign economic and diplomatic ties are expected to raise the number of tourists coming to the area and improve Yekaterinburg’s relations with a number of its ‘twin cities’, the spokesperson says.