I will be in St. Petersburg for a few days at the end of the month. I'll need to make about 10-20 minutes of outgoing calls a day. The options I have now are:

1)US based T Mobile Cell phone at $4.95/minute
2)UK based Orange cell phone £1.40/minute ($2.65/minute)

Are pre-paid SIM cards readily available at the airport or elsewhere in St. Petersburg (I'll be staying close to Nevsky Prospekt)? Does anyone know rates to call the US? Any other options?

Thanks for your help

You did not say if these calls were to be within Russia or International. I've used my T-Mobile from time to time, when I have had to call from Russia to USA. You are correct the cost is $4.99/min. Recently, switched to a local SIM card. As I recall, I am now charged something like 12cents per minute for inbound from anywhere, or outbound within Russia. Have not used it much to call outbound Internationally, as I find it more convenient and ecomical to have others call my local Russian SIM#. However, as I recall last time I specifically checking on it, the outbound rate to call Internationally from SIM card # was about $2.95.
Arguably, the least expensive way is to purchase a local phone calling card in Saint Petersburg. I do not know if will be helpful or informative to you, but you may want to check out : www.jeans.mts.ru

Thanks. I'd be calling the US. Do you recall how much the SIM cost and how easy it is to find stores selling them?

If I can inexpenively mak local calls, I'm planning on dialing a local St. Petersburg number to access IDT's network. A call to the US would be $0.45 plus the local call.

There are cell phone shops all over St. Petersburg. It's impossible to miss them.

There are cell phone shops all over St. Petersburg. It's impossible to miss them.

Very true. They are everywhere BUT being a foreigner often limits the kind of SIM card you can get with a lot of Russian carriers. MTC requires you to be registered with OVIR before getting a SIM card and, if you want roaming, you must keep a $50 balance at all times. MegaFon is a bit more lenient and I'm not sure about BeeLine. I am in Novosibirsk, Russia, right now and am trying to get a SIM card for a colleague in just a few hours. We were told yesterday that he could only get a card with local calling options due to his temporary stay here. Mine is years 5 old and apparently allowed more privileges due its age (before more controls became common) and the fact that I had a long term registration here when I bought the card.

If you are limited by this, just get a Russian friend who has a "propiska" in St. Pete to sign for the card for you. You'll still pay for it and you can keep the card when you leave the country. It costs $5 to freeze most cards up to 6 months. After 6 months, the accounts die off unless some activity is shown. If you won't need it, give it to the friend. Russians are often glad to have an extra one to keep in their wallet. Good luck!