The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in 2021 was expected not only for the sake of practical usefulness (after all, all key members of the government and the president himself are among the main speakers), but also because of the symbolism of a return to normal life.
The forum brought together an unprecedented number of participants of a unique level on one platform. 13,000 participants from 140 countries of the world came to St. Petersburg. 11,000 Russian and foreign companies worked on the site. 800 of them were represented at the level of their leaders. In three days, 347 sessions were held at the forum, only within the framework of the business program 147 events were held with a total duration of 431 hours.
Representatives of more than 1000 media organizations from 45 countries, excluding Russia, covered the work of the form. The SPIEF has done 52,000 COVID-19 tests. And for good reason – about 500 of them were positive. The guests were also able to enjoy the cultural program, which included more than 30 cultural and sports events.
The most discussed topics of the SPIEF were pandemic and digitalization of society, sustainable development and development of the Arctic. In total, 347 sessions were held within the framework of the forum, which lasted a total of 431 hours. More than 800 agreements were signed for a total of 3.9 trillion rubles, of which 165 were with the participation of foreign partners.
MAJOR DEALS:
• NOVATEK and China’s Zhejiang Energy signed the basic terms of an agreement to supply China with up to 1 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas per year from the Arctic LNG-2 project for 15 years. The agreement was signed by Novatek’s 100% subsidiary Novatek Gas & Power Asia Pte. Ltd. and a subsidiary of Zhejiang Provincial Energy Group – Zhejiang Energy Gas Group Co., Ltd.
• Russian Platinum, VEB and VTB signed a memorandum on the Chernogorskoye field in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Total investments in the project will amount to RUB 570 billion.
• Qatar bought 24.9% of the Western High-Speed Diameter road project in St. Petersburg.
• Mikhailovsky HBI, created by Alisher Usmanov’s USM group and Mikhailovsky GOK (part of Metalloinvest, also owned by Usmanov), will receive a $ 620 million loan from Sberbank to build a hot briquetted iron plant in the Kursk region.
• Metalloinvest will invest 160 billion rubles. in the “green” metallurgy. The corresponding agreement was signed by the company and the government of the Belgorod region.
• NLMK will invest 250 billion rubles. in the construction of a new mining and metallurgical production on the basis of the company’s Stoilensky GOK in the Belgorod region.
• The Russian Ecological Operator (REO), the public organization Delovaya Rossiya and the RT-Invest company signed a document to abandon landfills. By 2035, Russian million-plus cities and resorts will completely abandon waste disposal at landfills.
• Network International LCC, a leader in the e-commerce market in the Middle East and Africa, has signed an agreement with the Russian payment system Mir. Mir cards will be accepted in the United Arab Emirates.
• The Russian Export Center (REC) and Alibaba signed a memorandum on the promotion of Russian goods on Alibaba sites.
• State-owned Avtodor signed agreements with MTS, Megafon and VimpelCom on high-speed mobile communications along federal high-speed toll highways.
• RDIF signed an agreement to build a Sputnik V manufacturing facility in Bahrain. The vaccine produced there will go to the countries of the Middle East and North Africa.
• VTB signed a commercial partnership agreement with the National Bank of Qatar.
• Route M-11 “Neva” until 2024 will become the first unmanned logistics corridor in the Russian Federation. The Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation has signed a corresponding agreement with a number of companies.
• Gazprombank, VEB.RF and the Russian Agency for Export Credit and Investment Insurance (EXIAR) are considering providing up to $ 800 million for the construction of a gas chemical complex in Uzbekistan. The corresponding agreement was signed with one of the largest oil and gas companies in Uzbekistan – Jizzakh Petroleum.
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