St. Petersburg Economic Forum to showcase Russia's isolation this year - Bloomberg
This year's SPIEF will be mostly lower-level officials, with businessmen generally wary of attending to avoid sanctions
Before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum was a meeting place for world leaders and investors. But this year's SPIEF, scheduled for June 14-17, will be an indicator of Russia's deepening isolation.
Source. Bloomberg
The organizers tried their best to lure high-ranking foreign politicians to the forum, the agency writes. But as a result, even some leaders of the former Soviet republics decided to stay away, the publication notes.
Bloomberg, having studied the forum's program, points out that instead of politicians and businessmen from Europe and the United States, this year's PMEF will be attended mainly by lower-level officials from the Middle East, Latin America and Asia.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó will be the highest-ranking guest. Venezuelan Oil Minister Pedro Tellechea will take part in the discussion of global energy alongside Putin.
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva refused to participate in the SPIEF.
President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev will not attend the forum either (last year, speaking at the forum, he publicly declared his non-recognition of the "DNR-LNR").
The leader of the Bosnian Serbs, Milorad Dodik, who visited Moscow last month, will not attend the IPEF either.
According to Bloomberg, Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz will speak about ties between Russia and Latin America, while Chinese Ambassador to Moscow Zhang Hanhui and President of the Union of Chinese Entrepreneurs in Russia Zhou Lixun will discuss relations with China.
In the discussion on relations between Russia and India, only two of the 12 participants are from India.
The forum will also include representatives of the European Business Association and the American Chamber of Commerce.
The Middle East will have the most representatives at the forum. The delegation from the UAE will be headed by the Minister of Economy Abdullah bin Touq Al Marri.
Russian businessmen are also cautious about participating in the SPIEF, Bloomberg writes, as its participants were sanctioned after the last forum. This year's forum will be attended by Oleg Deripaska, Alexei Mordashov, Leonid Mikhelson, Vladimir Yevtushenkov, Vladimir Potanin and Vadim Moskovich via video link.
Putin, according to Dmitry Peskov, plans to speak at the forum's plenary session as usual.
Large-scale parties with Western stars, as before, should not be expected, Bloomberg notes.
Earlier, The Bell learned that for the first time in history, no Western journalists will be accredited to this year's SPIEF, and the invited speakers include philosopher Alexander Dugin, who was notified of suspicion by the SBU, actor Vladimir Mashkov, and pranksters Vovan and Lexus.
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