Despite language barriers, three visiting Russian businessmen found similar ground with Whitehorse in both housing construction goals and cold winter weather.

Russia's new real estate market saw three Siberians in the Yukon's capital last Thursday and Friday to gather housing development ideas.

Civil engineer and development company owner Andrey Slobodyan, chief engineer Nockolay Kirin and realtor Gennady Malkov were hosted by Midnight Sun Rotary Club member Al Fedoriak.

Fedoriak said in an interview today he has been to Russia 'probably seven times.

'I've met these people before in Russia,' he said.

Malkov's son Andre was his interpreter on his trips to Russia, Fedoriak said, and now lives in Whitehorse as an administrator for Kluane Drilling Ltd. The younger Malkov was also the interpreter for the group during this visit.

'They were coming to Canada to look at different construction processes, and they asked if I'd arrange something in Whitehorse, and I did,' said Fedoriak.

The proposed development site the Siberian men are working on is a 1,000-hectare, 800-home subdivision of Barnaul, a city of 640,000 in the Altai Federation of the Russian Republic.

The visiting contingency toured a number of local homes and contracting businesses in their whirlwind, two-day tour. They learned about log homes with Davignon Contracting Ltd., and Yukon Alaska Log Homes, although in Russia, log home construction would be confined to milled logs, Fedoriak said.

The group learned about multiple dwelling construction with Doug Gilday of Narrow Gauge Construction, before sitting down with representatives from Yukon Engineering Services, where they discussed sewage and service systems in suburban dwellings.

The rookie subdivision developers also received advice from real estate lawyer and local Rotary Club president Serge Lamarche.

The men were seen taking photos of various homes in Whitehorse, which at first concerned some residents, Fedoriak said.

'However, when the exercise was explained, it proved beneficial to all concerned.'

The tour, although jam-packed, was well-supported by the businesses approached, said Fedoriak, who organized the information-gathering tour.

'Real estate is a relatively new vocation in Russia, where private ownership has only in recent years become a reality,' said Fedoriak. 'Serge provided details of the legal ingredients to a successful transfer of property rights and titles.'

Since Russia moved to a free market economy, the resultant economic growth has created new business for Siberian construction professionals and entrepreneurs.

'I think they were very impressed with the quality of the work they saw,' said Fedoriak. 'From here, they've taken some house plans and photos home to study.'

He said he is not sure if the Siberians are interested in hiring a Whitehorse consultant for their subdivision, but that it's a possibility.

Prior to arriving in Whitehorse, the group visited Toronto to meet with urban planners.

'They were very sincere in describing the quality of the construction they saw in Whitehorse as far exceeding the quality of construction that they had seen at the Toronto venues,' said Fedoriak.

Aside from his personal travels to Russia, Fedoriak is a past governor of Rotary Club District 5010, which is composed of the Yukon, Alaska, Siberia and the Russian Far East.

The Rotary Club is an international organization of entrepreneurs and business professionals whose self-stated purpose is to 'provide humanitarian service, encourage high ethical business standards in all vocations, and help build goodwill and peace in the world.'

With files from Al Fedoriak.