Prominent politicians comment on St. Petersburg Economic Forum

Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko. Source: ITAR-TASS

In the wake of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) Russia's prominent politicians and businessmen talk about the impact of the forum on the Russian economy.

Valentina Matvienko, Head of the Federation Council:

 International multi-million-dollar contracts signed in St. Petersburg   

St. Petersburg International Economic Forum has become a presidential platform, and the participation of the Russian president attracts not only high-profile state officials and politicians, but it also brings together the world’s business leaders.

For business, the forum is an opportunity to introduce its economic and investment potential and to attract investors. The figures are not available so far, but we have signed the $100-million contracts

Viktor Vekselberg. Source: ITAR-TASS

The forum is a success, and it has produced a very positive impression on everybody.    

Viktor Velselberg, Skolkovo Foundation President:  

The new chief of the Central Bank will please business 

I hope we will hear a more specific position on access to money and the cost of this money.

Hopefully, [future chief of the Central Bank] Elvira Nabiullina will please business with a softer and more discreet position toward lending rates, and this will have a positive effect on the economy in general. We need cheaper and more long-term money.

Vladimir Yakunin, President of JSC Russian Railways

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is a unique platform for the exchange of views and experience, and it continues to gain momentum year-by-year. Current global economic trends are discussed at the highest level here.

President of JSC Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin. Source: RBW @ Facebook

The participation of Russian Railways representatives in the forum is not just a tribute to its tradition of representation, but is especially important during this time of tight, intense negotiations with both the Russian and international business communities.

Indeed, the establishment of the Integrated Transport & Logistics Company [ITLC], which became a key Russian Railways project, was announced at the forum and signed by the heads of Russian, Kazakh, and Belarusian railway administrations, in the presence of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The ITLC is currently one of the few ongoing business projects concerned with integration processes in the Common Economic Space [CES], as well as the only one consolidating the various branches of infrastructure. It will form the infrastructural platform for other large-scale economic projects within the CES, and investment therein will serve the transportation needs of the economies of the Customs Union and neighboring countries to date.

Also at the forum, agreements were signed with the German company Siemens on the maintenance of Lastochka [Swallow] trains at the Metallostroy depot, as were memorandums with the Bank of Foreign Economic Activity and with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development on financing infrastructure projects, as well as a memorandum with Gazprom on the joint development of a project to introduce innovative, gas-turbine locomotives.

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