Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to the Lakhta Center on June 5, 2024, in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Vladimir Putin visited the newly built Lakhta Center, a Gazprom skyscraper, ahead of his meetings at the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum SPIEF 2024.
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The annual economic forum hosted by Russia in Saint Petersburg was known as the country's “Davos” in reference to the World Economic Forum held in Switzerland every year.
However, the war in Ukraine has changed the balance of global geopolitical and trade relations. Long gone are the days when dozens of Western business leaders and heads of state attended the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, an event that enabled Russia to showcase its economy and investment opportunities.
Now, Russia is looking to use SPIEF to forge new relationships with countries that appear less sensitive about dealing with a country that has invaded its neighbor — specifically a number of countries in Asia, Latin America, and Africa — and those that are willing to look the other way. To war for their own economic interests, such as Russian oil and gas clients in Eastern Europe, Slovakia and Hungary.
SPIEF is the latest effort in the Kremlin's campaign to try to show that everything is still normal, Max Hess, a fellow at the Foreign Policy Research Institute and author of “The Economic Warfare: Ukraine and the Global Conflict Between Russia and the West,” told CNBC. Thursday.
“They are promoting an international presence and local propaganda, too, but apart from a few usual figures like the Hungarian Foreign Minister (Peter Szijjártó), no one new or notable has emerged, and no new investments or major deals will be agreed.” “In this forum, at least not with major foreign countries.”
A look at the position of Russian private bank Alfa Bank during the 27th Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum in Saint Petersburg, Russia on June 05, 2024.
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SPIEF has been blacklisted by most Western companies and politicians since February 24, 2022, when Russian forces invaded Ukraine. But Russia is keen to show that it is open to business from elsewhere, and in fact, its need and desire for economic partnerships with non-Western countries has been accompanied by increasing anti-Western sentiment and rhetoric in the past few years.
Moscow claims it wants to combat Western hegemony and establish a “multipolar” world order, and has promoted trade partnerships that exclude the West as a means to that end. In this regard, the theme of the SPIEF Forum 2024 is “Foundations of a Multipolar World – Shaping New Areas of Growth”.
This year's program includes sessions on expanding Russian development in the Arctic, expanding the BRICS group of economies and Russia's automotive industry. There are also sessions on “family values”, another cornerstone of Russian President Vladimir Putin's fifth term in office, and Russia's relationship with the West.
One session, titled “Evil Empire: Has the West succeeded in demonizing Russia?”, asks delegates to consider whether the West's alleged “smear campaign” against Russia has succeeded.
Russian Presidential Assistant for Foreign Policy Yuri Ushakov told reporters before the forum that representatives from 136 countries are attending the forum, which runs from June 5 to 8.
Putin will address delegates on Friday, where he is expected to boost Russia's economic resilience, investment opportunities and growth despite international sanctions. It is uncertain to what extent the war in Ukraine, or the “special military operation”, will feature in his rhetoric, with Moscow likely wanting to sidestep the conflict as it looks to attract investment.
Guests from foreign countries are seen during the first day of the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum 2024.
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What angers Western countries is that Russia has already managed to adapt its economy to a new reality of sanctions and trade restrictions imposed on some of its largest industries, such as the oil and gas sector.
The Russian economy is expected to grow faster than all advanced economies this year, the International Monetary Fund forecast in April.
In its latest World Economic Outlook, the International Monetary Fund said it expects Russia to grow by 3.2% in 2024, exceeding the expected growth rates of the United States (2.7%), the United Kingdom (0.5%), Germany (0.2%) and France (0.7%). %). ).
Russia says Western sanctions on its vital industries have made it more self-sufficient and that private consumption and domestic investment remain resilient. At the same time, its continued exports of oil and commodities to countries such as India and China, as well as alleged sanctions evasion and high oil prices, have allowed it to maintain strong oil export revenues.
Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks to the BRICS Business Summit via pre-recorded video on August 22, 2023 in Johannesburg, South Africa.
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Analysts will be watching for any announcements related to BRICS – the group of economies that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa and, since January, new members such as Ethiopia, Iran and Egypt – with Turkey discussing the possibility of joining. Join the cluster. Opportunities for economic partnership between BRICS countries feature heavily at this year's SPIEF.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday that he welcomed Ankara's interest in joining the group, saying that the issue would be on the agenda of the next BRICS summit.
Analysts like Hess believe that any talk about BRICS expansion is a political stance.
“Will Putin actually get anything meaningful for what he wants? No, maybe the kabuki theater (political posturing) will continue and Turkey will have more talks about BRICS membership. But as we saw with the January announcement of expanding that organization,” Hess said, “it is a complete burger and not complete”.
