ST PETERSBURG INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC FORUM 20126: IN RETROSPECT

On June 16–18, the 20th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum was held, bringing together more than 12,000 participants from 133 countries, including media representatives and accompanying persons.

The Forum’s most important outcome is that it has once again confirmed its reputation as one of the largest, most respected, and desperately needed platforms in the world for direct and open discussion between representatives of the state, the business community, academia, and the expert circles from around the world of the current challenges facing the global economy and financial sector. The number of Forum participants continues to grow year after year: another testament to Russia’s enduring role as a crucial global business and finance hub. 

European Participation 

High-ranking participants
 

• Prime Minister of Italy Matteo Renzi
• Prime Minister of Malta Joseph Muscat
• President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker
   

High-level delegations

• Italy
• Luxembourg
• Malta

Ministers

• Austria
• Albania
• Bulgaria
• Hungary
• Italy
• Slovenia
• Finland

Corporate CEOs

1. ABB Ltd. (Switzerland)
2. BP (United Kingdom)
3. Carlsberg (Denmark)
4. Crédit Agricole CIB (France)
5. Danone (France)
6. Enel (Italy)
7. Ferring Holding (Sweden)
8. Fortum Corporation (Finland)
9. Glencore (Switzerland)
10. HSBC  (United Kingdom)
11. Knorr-Bremse (Germany)
12. Metro (Germany)
13. Nestlé (Switzerland)
14. OMV (Austria)
15. Pirelli (Italy)
16. PricewaterhouseCoopers International (United Kingdom)
17. Royal Dutch Shell (Netherlands)
18. Schlumberger (France)
19. Schneider Electric (France)
20. Siemens (Germany)
21. Total SA (France)
22. Trafigura Group Pte (Netherlands)
23. TUI (Germany)
24. Volkswagen (Germany)

Media representatives
 

• Austria,
• Belgium,
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Bulgaria
• Denmark
• Estonia
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Greece
• Hungary
• Italy
• Latvia
• Malta
• Moldova
• Poland
• Serbia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• United Kingdom

Agreements
 

This year, the Forum again saw record growth in the number of investment agreements signed.
 

A total of 356 official documents were signed at the Forum, including:

• 292 agreements
• 53 memoranda
• 6 roadmaps
• 2 programmes
• 2 contracts
• 1 technology transfer agreement

The total value of signed agreements not classed as confidential was RUB 1 trillion 46 million.
 

Over the three days of the Forum (June 16–18), 50 Russian regions signed 180 agreements. The most documents were signed by the Government of St. Petersburg (24 agreements totalling RUB 118 billion), the Government of Tula Region (17 agreements), and the Leningrad Region Administration (12 agreements totalling RUB 110 billion). These agreements are designed to boost socioeconomic development in Russia’s regions, implement major investment projects, and expand economic and cultural cooperation between the regions.
Contracts signed by Italy and Russia during the Forum are valued at USD 1.3 billion.

The agreements are designed to strengthen ties between enterprises, official bodies, and Russia’s regions in such fields as telecommunications, science and education, transport, environmental protection, export development, construction, electricity, healthcare, fuel and energy, banking and investment, regional socioeconomic development, investment projects, trade and commerce, technology, and social and cultural cooperation.