Russian Official to Discuss Trade at Luncheon

Assemblyman Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach) will be host today for a luncheon for a ranking Russian official who will discuss trade and investment opportunities in the Sakhalin region of the Russian Republic.

Vladimir Zaitsev, deputy chairman of the region’s Parliament and chairman of its supervisory body, will speak before 30 county business people at the Irvine Marriott.

Zaitsev’s two-week trip to Southern California is being paid for by Palmco Corp., a Newport Beach commodities trading firm negotiating to build part of a $3-billion natural gas pipeline in the Sakhalin region. He will return Friday to Russia.

Sakhalin is an island off the Pacific coast of Siberia, known for its oil and gas deposits and fishing industry. The region includes Sakhalin and the Kurile Islands, to which both Japan and Russia claim ownership. As a designated free economic zone, the region offers tax breaks on certain foreign investments.