Alexey Uljukaev Introduces the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2014

ST PETERSBURG, Russia, April 24, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

The forthcoming St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2014 was the topic of a press conference given by Alexey Uljukaev, Russian Minister of Economic Development, on April 23, 2014. Also at the press conference were Sergey Belyakov, Deputy Minister of Economic Development, and Anatoly Kotov, Chair of the St. Petersburg Committee for Economic Policy and Strategic Planning.

The 2014 Forum will be held in St. Petersburg from May 22 to 24, focusing on the theme 'Sustaining Confidence in a World Undergoing Transformation'.

As of April 23, the SPIEF 2014 programme includes 75 sessions to be held in various formats:

• 2 plenary sessions
• 42 panel sessions
• 12 arena sessions
• 7 briefings
• 5 business roundtables
• 4 sessions in TV debate format
• 1 workshop
• 2 business breakfasts

One new initiative on the SPIEF 2014 business programme is the session 'Putting Private Sector Infrastructure Money to Work', which will be held in a workshop format that is a first for the Forum. At the workshop, participants will be seated around tables in small groups of ten people. The results of discussion will be presented to the audience and put to the vote.

On April 24, 2014, the Forum programme and confirmed participants will be posted on the official event website at http://www.forumspb.com.

"The preparation for the Forum has been superb, and this applies to all of the key ingredients: the programme, the speakers, and the participants," Uljukaev said. "It is no surprise that an interesting topic has drawn such interesting people."

A wide range of Russian and global businesses will be represented at the Forum, with confirmed participation by 142 heads of major international companies and 419 heads of Russian enterprises. Confirmed participants hail from 68 countries in key regions across the world: the BRICS countries, the United States, the European Union, the Middle East, Northeast Asia, Australia, and the CIS. The list may grow further still, since registration for the Forum is ongoing.

SPIEF 2014 budget 

Total financing for SPIEF 2014 is RUB 1,125,172,500.

Of this amount, the contribution from the federal budget is: RUB 45,790,500

Contributions from all other sources total: RUB 1,079,382,000, including fees and payments from partners, sponsors, and participants.

SOURCE St Petersburg Economic Forum