"A second automobile plant - General Motors - will open on November 5," Valentina Matviyenko said in her annual address to local legislators.
The construction of the $300 million GM plant was launched in Shushary, on the outskirts of Russia's second city, in June 2006. The plant is due to reach full capacity in 2008, when the Chevrolet Captiva sports utility vehicle is due to start rolling off the assembly line.
GM Europe President, Carl-Peter Forster, announced last year that his company would more than double the originally planned capacity for the Shushary plant to 70,000 vehicles annually.
GM is currently represented in Russia by joint venture GM-AvtoVAZ, which started production back in September 2002. The plant, located in Togliatti in the Volga region, produces the Chevrolet Niva, off-road vehicle, as well as the Viva.
In 2006, GM sold more than 132,000 cars on the Russian market, 84% of which were Chevrolets.
General Motors, one of the world's largest carmakers, was established in 1908 and the company currently has production facilities in 35 countries.
GM is not the only foreign carmaker reaching out to the Baltic city. Toyota Motor Corp. opened an assembly plant last fall. June will see the launch of construction on South Korea's Hyundai plant in St. Petersburg. Suzuki and Nissan have also opted for projects in the city.
