Stansmor Tomas

   Head of the St. Petersburg Representative Office of Deloitte & Touche
   After graduating from the American University in Washington, D.C. with a Bachelor's degree in Political Science, Tom has become interested in Russia while staying in Russia and Poland during the summer of 1992 as a law student. There he has been researching Russian trademark, copyright, and patent legislation. In 1993 he has graduated from the Franklin Pierce Law Centre in Concord, New Hampshire, with both a Master's degree in Intellectual Property and a Doctor's of Law degrees. In 1993 he has written his first article for a major journal, entitled "Licensing in the New Russian Federation," which was published in Les Nouvelles in its September 1993 issue, Vol.XXVII.
   An internship at Sojuzpatent that year, researching Russian Federation's new patent legislature, has further increased his interest in Russian business and culture. Tom explored licensing agreements with The Scientific Computer Centre of the Russian Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Precision Mechanics and Computer Technology and the Laser Association of the Russian Federation, and was also involved in organizing an International Patent Seminar.
   From January until August, 1995, Tom has been working in a Moscow law firm where he has managed the work of numerous attorneys, researching Russian legislation for foreign clients. He also has supervised the filing of patent applications on behalf of American clients in Georgia, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova and Turkmenistan, and provided help with off-shore company registration.
   Tom has joined Deloitte & Touche CIS in Moscow in July of 1995. One of his major projects during that time dealt with applying Russia's bankruptcy legislation in order to restructure bankrupt enterprises and overseeing the drafting by the Creditor's Committee of required documentation in order to obtain financing for a USAID restructuring project. He outlined trademark laws of the Russian Federation for the eventual instruction of enterpreneurs on the procedures, requirements and costs of trademark protection and incorporated intellectual property protection services into the USAID Project's nation-wide network of Business Service Centers.
   In February 1997, Tom has been moved to the Tax Department of Deloitte & Touche in Moscow. During that time he has been analysing various tax-planning structures and offering advice on Russian and international tax planning issues for numerous Fortune 500 companies. Tom was also responsible for the Deloitte & Touche CIS monthly tax newsletter. Writing for a regular column called "The Tax Advisor" in the Moscow Times, the most-read expatriate paper in the city, added to his extensive writing experience.
   Since moving to the company's St. Petersburg office, Tom has found himself working with a very tight-knit group of people. He has found that in such a small business community having a highly visible and vocal office is essential for bringing in new clients. Tom also continues to write in his tax advice column for the St. Petersburg Times.
   Tom comments that about four or five years ago, "a whole wave of Americans full of entrepreneurial feelings came over [to Russia]." He also has caught on the fever and together with his stepbrother he has started a business in Russia, selling American hobby goods, such as models of boats, trains, race cars and airplanes, through an exclusive contract with the largest hobby goods mail-order catalogue company in the U.S. The store that they have started, called Capitol Hobbies, is located at the Year 1905 Street metro station in Moscow and continues to be extremely successful.

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