Japanese forwarder, Nippon Express has changed the name of Nippon Express (St. Petersburg) LLC, established in July 2006, to Nippon Express (Russia) LLC and in addition, has set up a Moscow branch for Nippon Express (Russia) that opened for business on July 1. The name change for the St. Petersburg- based unit to Nippon Express (Russia) refl ected its status as the Nippon Express Group subsidiary responsible for operations throughout Russia,the company said in a statement.

The opening of a Moscow branch, following the setting up of a representative offi ce in the Russian capital in June 2005, had been largely driven by the"substantial upsurge" in trade betweenJapan and Russia in recent years.

The Moscow branch will seek to meet the full range of logistics needs, with emphasis on air/ocean cargo forwarding operations (particularly 3PL and warehouse distribution operations) and high-quality overseas removals operations, the statement added.