St. Petersburg establishes itself as a political, social and cultural center of international caliber on the heels of Russia’s growing economy and increasing political influence in the world. Among major international events hosted by St. Petersburg were Russia-EU Summit in 2003 attended by more than 40 Heads of State and Government, a G-8 Summit and concurrent events during the Russian G-8 Presidency in 2006, several traditional sessions of the St. Petersburg Forum. Other international events are in prospect. St Petersburg is a fast growing center of knowledge-based industry. All of this is a good reason to think of St. Petersburg as the Northern capital of Russia.
This growing international exposure brings about an urgent need for professional language mediators, including interpreters and translators. Previously, linguistic services for high profile international events used to be provided by the staff of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs based in Moscow. This was an irrational situation in a city with its own established traditions of translation.
The School is a project for training professional interpreters and translators to meet the needs of the Government, international organisations, as well as of the business community. It is a cooperative effort of the Linguistic Service of the Russian MFA, the Commission of European Communities and the United Nations.