Russia’s Flagship Economic Forum Decouples From West

This year’s installment of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which started Wednesday, promises instead panels of mostly Russian officials and business people discussing Russia’s economic challenges and measures to meet them. Mr. Putin will address the plenary session and representatives from scores of Russian state-owned enterprises, government agencies and think tanks fill out a program that promises to assess “New Opportunities in a New World.”

The global visibility of the conference—Russia’s answer to the World Economic Forum held in Switzerland—has ebbed and flowed over the years. In its heyday, before Mr. Putin’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, it was a must-attend event for Western business executives eager to invest in Russia’s vast energy sector. More recently, it has been a sort-of neutral meeting ground for Russian officials and business people and Western counterparts, many of whose governments imposed sanctions on Moscow after Crimea.

As Russia’s war in Ukraine drags into its fifth month, this year’s forum is punctuating the economic schism with the West.

The program lists a smattering of Chinese participants and attendees, including a panel on Russia-China business dialogue.

Alparslan Bayraktar,

Turkey’s deputy energy minister, is listed as joining his Russian counterparts and Russian bankers on a green-energy panel.

Otherwise, the agenda features, in large part, Russians discussing Russia. Panel titles include “The Made-in-Russia Brand: Consumer and Business Patriotism in the Service of Import Substitution” and “Oil and Gas: A Digital Window of Opportunity Amidst the Storm.”

Conference organizers said they only identified Russian attendees who gave permission to use their names. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman

Maria Zakharova

said Wednesday that representatives from 135 countries were expected.

The event is held each year in Russia’s second-biggest city, former imperial capital and hometown to Mr. Putin. In a message to participants earlier in June, Mr. Putin took aim at the “mistakes of Western countries in economic policy over many years and illegitimate sanctions.”

Hosted during the long days around the summer solstice, the gathering has showcased Russia’s investment opportunities, cultural distinction and the close relationship between business and government over the years.

“It was really a big deal,” said

Bill Browder,

previously a top investment fund manager in Moscow who was barred from Russia years ago. “I don’t think they can now call it an ‘international’ forum.’” He has long criticized the Kremlin over human rights, following the death of his fund’s attorney,

Sergei Magnitsky,

in a Russian jail. Mr. Putin has said he thought

Mr. Magnitsky

died of a heart attack.

Russia’s business climate soured for Western executives in 2014. Still, the conference played host to global business leaders, particularly in the oil and natural-gas business. U.S. sanctions curtailed business in the country, but didn’t cut it off.

The 2022 post-invasion sanctions are much broader, making it in many cases illegal or risky for U.S. or European entities to court business ties with much of the Russian economy.

“While there are no sanctions prohibitions on meeting and greeting such persons, provision of any services to them is also prohibited, and that can be interpreted broadly by sanctions regulators,” said Chip Poncy, global head of financial integrity at K2 Integrity, a risk and compliance advisory firm.

Washington is asking people to stay away. “We urge governments and companies to join our boycott and send a clear message that there is no ‘business as usual’ while Russian forces brutalize Ukraine,” State Department spokesman

Ned Price

said in a tweet referencing the conference.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said some foreign leaders were expected, but he declined to name them, saying that he didn’t want to “give extra work to U.S. ambassadors.” The Kremlin has accused U.S. diplomatic missions of putting pressure on other states to ostracize Russia.

Besides the sanctions deterrent, traveling to Russia has become harder due to flight bans, with many visitors having to fly via Dubai, Istanbul or Belgrade, Serbia. But trains from Moscow to St. Petersburg were packed Tuesday, with Russian travelers displaying forum badges and discussing coming sessions.

Write to Ann M. Simmons at [email protected] and William Mauldin at [email protected]

This year’s installment of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, which started Wednesday, promises instead panels of mostly Russian officials and business people discussing Russia’s economic challenges and measures to meet them. Mr. Putin will address the plenary session and representatives from scores of Russian state-owned enterprises, government agencies and think tanks fill out a program that promises to assess “New Opportunities in a New World.”

The global visibility of the conference—Russia’s answer to the World Economic Forum held in Switzerland—has ebbed and flowed over the years. In its heyday, before Mr. Putin’s 2014 annexation of Crimea, it was a must-attend event for Western business executives eager to invest in Russia’s vast energy sector. More recently, it has been a sort-of neutral meeting ground for Russian officials and business people and Western counterparts, many of whose governments imposed sanctions on Moscow after Crimea.

As Russia’s war in Ukraine drags into its fifth month, this year’s forum is punctuating the economic schism with the West.

The program lists a smattering of Chinese participants and attendees, including a panel on Russia-China business dialogue.

Alparslan Bayraktar,

Turkey’s deputy energy minister, is listed as joining his Russian counterparts and Russian bankers on a green-energy panel.

Otherwise, the agenda features, in large part, Russians discussing Russia. Panel titles include “The Made-in-Russia Brand: Consumer and Business Patriotism in the Service of Import Substitution” and “Oil and Gas: A Digital Window of Opportunity Amidst the Storm.”

Conference organizers said they only identified Russian attendees who gave permission to use their names. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman

Maria Zakharova

said Wednesday that representatives from 135 countries were expected.

The event is held each year in Russia’s second-biggest city, former imperial capital and hometown to Mr. Putin. In a message to participants earlier in June, Mr. Putin took aim at the “mistakes of Western countries in economic policy over many years and illegitimate sanctions.”

Hosted during the long days around the summer solstice, the gathering has showcased Russia’s investment opportunities, cultural distinction and the close relationship between business and government over the years.

“It was really a big deal,” said

Bill Browder,

previously a top investment fund manager in Moscow who was barred from Russia years ago. “I don’t think they can now call it an ‘international’ forum.’” He has long criticized the Kremlin over human rights, following the death of his fund’s attorney,

Sergei Magnitsky,

in a Russian jail. Mr. Putin has said he thought

Mr. Magnitsky

died of a heart attack.

Russia’s business climate soured for Western executives in 2014. Still, the conference played host to global business leaders, particularly in the oil and natural-gas business. U.S. sanctions curtailed business in the country, but didn’t cut it off.

The 2022 post-invasion sanctions are much broader, making it in many cases illegal or risky for U.S. or European entities to court business ties with much of the Russian economy.

“While there are no sanctions prohibitions on meeting and greeting such persons, provision of any services to them is also prohibited, and that can be interpreted broadly by sanctions regulators,” said Chip Poncy, global head of financial integrity at K2 Integrity, a risk and compliance advisory firm.

Washington is asking people to stay away. “We urge governments and companies to join our boycott and send a clear message that there is no ‘business as usual’ while Russian forces brutalize Ukraine,” State Department spokesman

Ned Price

said in a tweet referencing the conference.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said some foreign leaders were expected, but he declined to name them, saying that he didn’t want to “give extra work to U.S. ambassadors.” The Kremlin has accused U.S. diplomatic missions of putting pressure on other states to ostracize Russia.

Besides the sanctions deterrent, traveling to Russia has become harder due to flight bans, with many visitors having to fly via Dubai, Istanbul or Belgrade, Serbia. But trains from Moscow to St. Petersburg were packed Tuesday, with Russian travelers displaying forum badges and discussing coming sessions.

Write to Ann M. Simmons at [email protected] and William Mauldin at [email protected]