BANGOR, Maine, USA, March 20, 2009 - It all started in March 1993 with 3 Americans, a Canadian, 2 Englishmen, a Swede and a Japanese gentleman recruited from ads in the New York Times and International Herald Tribune. With their hearts in their throats and a fistful of rubles, their commercial Aeroflot flight landed in Moscow for a meeting with destiny, a prospective brides social attended by 45 Russian women and organized by a fledgling dating service calling itself Anastasia. Russian women had long been noted for their ravishing beauty and distinct charm. So at a time when international dating, let alone long distance relationships, were scarce and precarious propositions, Anastasia, co-owned by Russian and American interests, saw a niche and was giving love in Russia a shot.

As The Iron Curtain came down, a flood of western influence and post-Soviet culture swept past each other in a rush towards assimilation. With it, came the admiring glances and open minds of those eager for something different…a taste of the exotic, a break with the past, a different life anchored by an international romantic concept that mixed tradition with modern love.

Rising from the ashes of The Wall’s collapse, and dubbed AnastasiaDate, the small two person outfit comprised of a Russian woman and her American husband initially conducted romance tours to Moscow and St. Petersburg. Owner Elena Sykes expanded the operation to include excursions to Kiev and Odessa for Western men anxious to meet equally eager Russian and Ukraine women. The fever candle was lit.

In December 2003 AnastasiaDate.com was christened and the once diminutive tour group boldly burst forth into the electronic age. Through hard work, plenty of smarts, good timing and bold moves, success and notoriety set in. 14 Valentine’s Days and as many Christmases and New Years later, AnastasiaDate has become the world’s leader in global online dating and romance tours to Russia and CIS.

AI now boasts major office space in the U.S. and Moscow, with more than 300 employees, over 1000 affiliates and an operation that serves every time zone in the world.”Our members now exchange hundreds of thousands of letters daily…” smiles the tall stunning blond spokeswoman for Anastasia, our guide through the Moscow headquarters. “We make hundreds of international phone connections per day, and deliver hundreds of dozens of roses and gifts. Our romance tours have included up to 10 cities from the Black Sea to almost the Arctic Circle.” beams our strikingly beautiful spokesperson. “Our offices never close. We believe that love is an around the clock commitment!” So committed seem the dozens of Russian professionals who have made Anastasia’s Moscow office their home.

ABOUT AnastasiaDate

Founded in 1993, AnastasiaDate is the industry leading International Introduction and Romance Tour Company with over 36 million online visitors yearly. Over 600,000 letters are exchanged daily by members on the site, together with thousands of phone calls and video chat sessions. Anastasia has conducted years of international advertising and is affiliated with thousands of dating agencies in most major cities of the world.

To learn more about AnastasiaDate visit their informative web site at: www.AnastasiaDate.com