St. Petersburg International Economic Forum
The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is an annual Russian business event for the economic sector, which has been held in St. Petersburg since 1997, and under the auspices of the president of Russia since 2006. Each year, more than 10,000 people from over 120 different countries take part. The forum brings together the chief executives of major Russian and international companies, heads of state, political leaders, prime ministers, deputy prime ministers, departmental ministers, and governors.
In December 2015 the SPIEF Foundation was renamed the Roscongress Foundation.
The key purpose of the forum is to provide practical solutions for businesses and governments, helping to overcome the geographic and information barriers between Russia and other countries. The forum was historically intended for Russia to attract foreign direct investment, discuss economic policy and project a global image that Russia was open for business after the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
The SPIEF forum has often been described as the 'Russian Davos'; ie. the Russian analogue of the World Economic Forum that is usually held in Davos, Switzerland.
Since the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, leading politicians and business executives from the Western world and their allies were notably absent from SPIEF events, even as overall attendance rose at the forum, where Russia attracted non-Western nations' participation, with attendance up from 69 countries in 2022 to 75 countries in 2023, and the number of individual participants also increased from 14,000 people from 130 countries, with 81 countries sending official representatives in 2022 to more than 17,000 participants from 130 countries taking part in events, both offline and online formats, in 2023. Journalists from "unfriendly countries" were denied admittance. In response, SPIEF forums have adjusted their focus to highlight leading politicians and business executives from various countries such as the People's Republic of China, India, Turkey, Iran, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Serbia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Nicaragua and the Central African Republic. In addition, delegations from disputed polities such as the Taliban and the Donetsk People's Republic were among the notables present at the 2022 forum.
At 2025 forum, the line-up of the most prominent group of world leaders that Russia has attracted to the conference since the war began is Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto, Chinese first-ranked vice-premier Ding Xuexiang, Sheikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the third in line to the throne of Bahrain, and South African deputy president Paul Mashatile.
History
The first St. Petersburg International Economic Forum was held on June 18–20, 1997 under the auspices of the Council of the Federation, the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the CIS and with the support of the Russian government. The forum welcomed more than 1,500 attendees from 50 countries. The Russian and Belarusian governments signed credit agreements worth RUB 500 billion.The St. Petersburg Economic Forum International Foundation was formed in 1998 in St. Petersburg, with Herman Gref, then the Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg, and chairman of its Municipal Property Management Committee, appointed in charge of its activities. An investment contribution was also provided by Leningrad Region. The grounds for the allocation were outlined in a decree from the governor of Leningrad Oblast:
In 1999, Russian president Boris Yeltsin signed a decree giving the go-ahead to the economic forum in St. Petersburg, and recommended that the St. Petersburg Economic Forum International Foundation be allocated the required funding and be offered support in organizing the event. Furthermore, it was also recommended that the Russian government provide possible financing and organizational support to the Council of the Federation and the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the CIS.
Information regarding the long-term role of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum International Foundation in the organization and running of the forum in St. Petersburg has not been made publicly available. Until 2004, the SPIEF organizing committee consisted of the Council of the Federation and the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the CIS. In 2004 the chairman of the Council of the Federation Sergei Mironov and the Minister of Economic Development and Trade of Russia Herman Gref joined the organizing committee, the former as chairman and the latter as co-chairman.
In 2005, President of Russia Vladimir Putin took part in the forum for the first time. Through his participation, the forum attained the informal status of a "presidential" event.
In 2006 the president of Russia announced his support for the proposal of the Russian government to hold an annual economic forum in St. Petersburg. Responsibility for the organization of the forum was given to the Russian Ministry of Economic Development, which built on the experiences of the Council of the Federation and the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the CIS. Under the auspices of the ministry, the current format of SPIEF is more of a successor to its previous incarnation than its continuation.
Based on the decision of the Russian president, significant changes were made to the organizing committee, with the then Minister of Economic Development and Trade of the Russian Federation Herman Gref appointed its chairman. Sergei Mironov was made co-chairman of the organizing committee, which he held until his departure from the Council of the Federation in mid-2011.
The forum was then restructured under the auspices of the Russian Ministry of Economic Development. Since 2006, SPIEF had been held at the Lenexpo Exhibition Complex, situated on Vasilievsky Island in St. Petersburg. Prior to this, the forum was held at the Tauride Palace, the headquarters of the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the CIS. The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum Foundation was established in March 2007 to deal with the organizational and technical aspects of running the forum. Anton Troyanov was appointed Director of the Foundation.
The first Forum in the updated format was held in 2007, organized by the SPIEF Foundation under the leadership of the organizing committee. The same year a partnership between the World Economic Forum and SPIEF was announced. On January 25, 2007, St. Petersburg International Economic Forum and World Economic Forum representatives met in Davos to sign a Memorandum of Cooperation between the WEF and the SPIEF.
In 2007, Herman Gref left his post at the Russian Ministry of Economic Development to take a position at Sberbank of Russia. As a result, the organizing committee became headed by Elvira Nabiullina, who was appointed to the post of Minister of Economic Development that same year.
On January 22, 2008, Russian president Vladimir Putin issued a decree to form a new SPIEF organizing committee and approved its provisions. At the same time, the Russian government was instructed to set aside a budget to finance the preparation and running of the forum. The forum's provisions dictate that the organizing committee be chaired by the minister, i.e., the role of chairing the committee falls under the purview of the minister, who in turn approves the members of the organizing committee.
Herman Gref was appointed Co-Chair of the new organizing committee. Since 2008, Sberbank of Russia has remained the forum's largest sponsor.
Between 2008 and 2011, the forum was held with the participation of Dmitry Medvedev in his capacity as President of Russia. At that time, Vladimir Putin served as Prime Minister. During one government meeting, Prime Minister Putin expressed disappointment at his colleagues who took part in the forum.
According to media reports, after the 2008 Forum, during a government Presidium meeting, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Igor Shuvalov, whose address at SPIEF had resonated greatly with investors, received a verbal admonishment from Vladimir Putin.
At the same time, Vladimir Putin's comment came following a statement by Minister of Agriculture Alexey Gordeyev, and was not addressed directly to one particular person.
In April 2009, Alexander Stuglev was appointed Director of the SPIEF Foundation, replacing Anton Troyanov. Alexander Stuglev's post also means he is automatically included in the organizing committee. In the same year, St. Petersburg Governor Valentina Matviyenko signed a resolution "On conducting the annual St. Petersburg International Economic Forum", which specified the main points of cooperation between the city, the forum's organizing committee, and the SPIEF Foundation, and established the Coordination Committee.
In May 2012, the post of Chair of the SPIEF organizing committee went to the new Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, Andrey Belousov. In 2012, SPIEF was held on June 21–23. The structure of the programme was built on four pillars: "Securing the Future", "Realizing Russia's Potential", "Responding to Impact Technologies", and "Conversations to Make a Difference". As in previous years, the forum was attended by the president of Russia. After a four-year hiatus, SPIEF once again welcomed Vladimir Putin, who was elected president the same year.
The plenary session was also attended by President of Finland Sauli Niinistö. President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari was also expected to attend, but cancelled his trip just one day earlier due to domestic problems when the Supreme Court of Pakistan ruled that the Prime Minister was occupying his post illegally.
File:Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Vladimir Putin meeting with Megyn Kelly, NBC News anchor and moderator of the St Petersburg International Economic Forum plenary session.jpg|thumb|Russian president Vladimir Putin and Indian prime minister Narendra Modi meeting with NBC's Megyn Kelly, 1 June 2017
In June 2013, the post of chair of the organizing committee went to new Minister of Economic Development of Russia Alexey Ulyukaev. However, organization of the forum and development of its business programme were overseen by Deputy Minister Sergey Belyakov.
In 2014, the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum found itself at the centre of controversy over the Russo-Ukrainian war. Due to diplomatic tensions between Russia and a number of Western nations, heads of major corporations based in the US, Europe, and other regions declined to participate in the forum. Speaking to reporters, an official White House representative confirmed that their administration had discussed the possibility of declining invitations to SPIEF with US business executives. Executives who declined to attend the forum included heads of Boeing, International Paper, Goldman Sachs, ConocoPhillips, Siemens, and others. The forum's organizers maintained that this absence of several multinational corporations played no role in shaping the event's official programme.
In 2014, Belyakov was fired from his government post. In September of the same year, he was appointed chairman of the board of the SPIEF Foundation. In November 2014, Minister Ulyukaev left the post of Chair of the organizing committee. In his place, the president of Russia appointed Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Sergei Prikhodko. Since that time, the forum has been organized directly by the Russian government administration, rather than the Ministry of Economic Development.
On December 4, 2015, the SPIEF Foundation was renamed to the Roscongress Foundation.