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- Barrier for RIF: Sochi Investment Forum will not take place in February for the fifth consecutive year
Barrier for RIF: Sochi Investment Forum will not take place in February for the fifth consecutive year
In February 2025, the Russian Investment Forum (RIF) in Sochi will not be held for the fifth time in a row, Izvestia has found out. Last summer, presidential advisor Anton Kobyakov said that the forum might be resumed in February 2025. However, so far regions and business associations have not been invited to the event, and there is no accreditation for journalists, although usually such events are prepared at least six months in advance. Roscongress confirmed to the editorial board that the event is not included in the fund's plan. The main task of the site was to develop regional projects - once the construction of the Crimean Bridge and modernization of BAM were launched there. Whether it is expedient to resume it now - in the material "Izvestia".
What is the Russian Investment Forum
About the fact that the Russian Investment Forum will not be held in February this year in Sochi, told "Izvestia" representatives of business and regions that previously participated in the event. Traditionally, it has been held in February.
Three regions - the Arkhangelsk, Tula, and Ulyanovsk regions - told the editorial board that they had not received an invitation. The Trans-Baikal Territory has no information about the RIF, and the Orel Region noted that the participation of the subject in the forum is possible "if it is resumed".
The largest business associations - SME Corporation, Delovaya Rossiya, Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) - also noted that they had not received an invitation, and no dates had been announced.
In addition, the "Support of Russia", referring to Roscongress (the organizer of the RIF), said that there are no plans to hold the forum now. The press service of Roscongress told Izvestia that the event is not shown in the plan of the fund, and in case of changes in the data the information will be published. At the same time, the plan already includes the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF is traditionally held in June) and the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF - in September).
At the same time, Vladimir Gamza, Chairman of the CCI Council on Financial-Industrial and Investment Policy, confirmed that the decision to hold the forum has not been made yet.
The last time the RIF was held in 2019. Then two years in a row it was canceled because of the pandemic, and in 2022 was going to resume. According to the Roscongress website, the last time RIF was planned to be held in 2022. Then the dates were already known in October, and the business program - in December 2021. However, in January 2022 the event was canceled due to the epidemiological situation.
Nevertheless, last summer, presidential advisor Anton Kobyakov said that the event could be resumed in February 2025. According to him, now there is no generalizing forum on the regional agenda, it does not fit into the program of SPIEF and WEF.
"We want to restore this forum, and I hope the government will support us, and we will be participants of the Sochi forum in 2025 on the traditional dates for this forum in February," Anton Kobyakov said at a briefing on the results of SPIEF-2024.
"Izvestia" sent an inquiry to the government about whether it is planned to hold the forum in February 2024.
It is also known that accreditation of journalists at the RIF has not started. The press service of "Business Russia" admitted that if the forum will be held, it will be in the second half of the year - active preparation for such large-scale events begins about nine months in advance.
What RIF gave Russia
Russia regularly holds a number of business events, but each of them has its own focus. SPIEF and WEF are mainly devoted to stimulating foreign investment, developing cooperation and discussing major economic issues. The main task of the RIF, however, was to demonstrate the investment potential of the regions, recalled Freedom Finance Global analyst Vladimir Chernov.
For example, from 2014 to 2018, the RIF in Sochi worked out the details of the Crimean Bridge construction project, presented projects to create new ski resorts and modernize existing ones in Karachay-Cherkessia, Stavropol and Krasnodar Krai, the expert listed. He added: projects for the construction of roads, bridges and railway lines, including the modernization of the Trans-Siberian Railway and BAM, were also considered.
Last time, in 2019, the forum attracted more than 8,000 participants from 65 countries, 576 agreements worth almost 1 trillion rubles were signed, said Yaroslav Kabakov, director of strategy at Finam Investment Company.
After 2019, the Russian Federation fell into a band of difficult political and economic conditions that seriously hampered the participation of non-residents, as well as private investors, in projects - the coronavirus pandemic and anti-Russian sanctions, said independent expert Andrei Barkhota.
- Holding the RIF became not quite expedient, in particular, for financial reasons: the expenses for the forum itself practically did not pay off. At the same time, it has become impossible to optimize these expenses due to inflation," he said.
The organizers publicly announced plans to resume the event, primarily to gauge interest and give participants time to prepare, Yaroslav Kabakov believes. However, interest may not have followed.
Regional projects in Russia
However, the absence of the forum since 2020 has not slowed down the development of the regions, says Irina Khominich, professor of the Department of Global Financial Markets and Fintech at Plekhanov Russian Economic University. Local projects are still a priority for the state.
For example, last year the president ordered to realize the project "Five Seas and Lake Baikal". It will involve the coastal areas of the Azov, Baltic, Caspian, Black and Japanese seas and Lake Baikal - in the next five-six years it is planned to open 10 new resorts, such as "Gorskaya" (the northern side of the Gulf of Finland), "Primorsk" (Zaporozhye region), "Russian Baltic" (near Kaliningrad), "Baikal Harbor" (Buryatia).
Today, potential RIF participants are concerned about "hot" issues on the agenda at the federal level, such as the stability and the ruble exchange rate, wage growth, the fate of household deposits in banks, and the availability of credit resources for corporate borrowers, believes Irina Khominich.
However, these challenges are being discussed, and investment agreements are being concluded at other, less specialized platforms - SPIEF, WEF, Moscow Financial Forum. In addition, starting from 2023, Russia has a new event - the Caucasus Investment Forum. In the summer of 2023 it was held in Minvody, and in 2024 - in Grozny. Its main goal is similar to the RIF's objective - interaction between the state and business to develop the investment potential of the country's constituent entities.
There are other platforms on the regional agenda: the Healthy Society Forum in Moscow, which has been held since 2020, Urbanhab (the opening of the discussion platform took place on the first day of SPIEF-2024), and Transport Week in Moscow (it has been organized since 2007).
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