The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum kicks off in the northern capital on June 14. Russian President Vladimir Putin will attend. Final preparations for the event are being completed in the city on the Neva.
Brutal workers in helmets are the absolute masters on the site of the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, but tomorrow they will be replaced by people in suits. Meanwhile, in pavilions and conference rooms, where billions of dollars worth of deals will be discussed, the final cut.
Over 400 facilities have been built from scratch on a 100,000 square meter site. The design of the forum’s main restaurant was first invented by a neural network. 70 chefs will feed the participants with dishes of Russian cuisine, three sets from different regions of the country have already been selected.
“We will have pumpkin soup with crab from the Far East, broth with beef and pie from central Russia, the next soup is still being finalized – we are calling it back,” the chef said. of the Anton Gribanov brand.
Only 17 tons of products will be delivered to this restaurant, and it is not the only one here. This place focuses on northern cuisine. The menu includes reindeer fillet with parsnips for 3,000 rubles and special desserts – frozen taiga berries for 1,750 rubles per serving, as well as the exclusive “Oil” – a dessert made from cedar milk with pike caviar, for which 5,900 rubles is not a shame to pay. All menus are not only in Russian, but also in Chinese – this year the forum will have a noticeable Asian accent.
If all previous years the guests of the forum were driven by cars of a well-known German brand, this time they have Chinese-made crossovers in their service. They have all kinds of driver assistance systems. There is also voice control: the machine understands the Russian language well, but has forgotten its native Chinese.
The shift from Europe to Asia is a completely understandable trend of the entire St. Petersburg Economic Forum. First of all, partners from friendly countries are expected here. Although it is known that Western companies will also come – but almost incognito.
“Sanctions are a political issue. Companies want to work, western companies really come to the forum. In terms of geography, of course, there are more companies from friendly countries, as they have entered the Russian market in recent years,” says Alexei Valkov, director of SPIEF 2023.
More than 100,000 participants from 100 countries around the world have already registered for the forum. Most of the guests come from Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.
The guest country this year is the United Arab Emirates. At their stand, with the motto “Impossible is possible”, familiar to all Russians, not only the tourist opportunities of the region are presented. The Emirates are one of Russia’s largest trading partners in the Arab world, the trade turnover between the countries is increasing every year.
“Participation in such an event is an opportunity to outline other prospects for joint cooperation. I am convinced that as a result of the forum, new thoughts will emerge on how to develop our relations in the future,” said UAE Ambassador to Russia Mohammed Ahmed Al Jaber.
The main theme of this year’s economic forum is “Sovereign development is the basis of a just world.” Let us join forces for the sake of future generations.” Tomorrow, for four days, St. Petersburg will become a platform for discussing and solving the most important issues of global development. For forum participants to succeed, a hereditary shaman will come even here to perform rituals for the fulfillment of desires.
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