A diverse lineup of activities on the opening day of SPIEF 2026
The first day of the 29th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2026) has concluded at the ExpoForum venue in Saint Petersburg.
This year, representatives from more than 130 countries are taking part in the forum, including delegations from Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Europe, and the United States. Dozens of business sessions, negotiations, and agreement-signing ceremonies are being held on the sidelines of the forum.
On the first day, updated versions of the Aurus Senat and Aurus Senat Long executive cars were unveiled at the exhibition. The manufacturer modernized the exterior design, expanded the color range, and updated the multimedia systems.
AvtoVAZ President Maxim Sokolov said the company may present a prototype of the Lada Azimut hybrid before the end of this year. In addition, according to him, the automaker ended the first five months of 2026 with net and operating profit.
Healthcare issues were also addressed at the forum. In particular, an experimental implant to restore vision was presented. The development by Sechenov University and the Motorica Group of Companies is designed to compensate for vision loss in patients with severe retinal damage.
According to Deputy Minister of Health Andrey Plutnitsky, about 931,000 people with HIV currently live in Russia. At the same time, the incidence rate has decreased by about half over the past decade.
On the first day, agreements were signed and deals were concluded at the forum venues. VTB Bank and IC Group agreed to build a data processing center in the Donetsk People’s Republic. The new data center, designed for 500 racks, will become one of the largest digital infrastructure facilities in the region.
In the field of information security, Ozon Bank and Kaspersky Lab agreed to jointly develop solutions to protect customers against fraud and malicious software.
SPIEF 2026 continues.
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Roman Bondarchuk, UzA
Saint Petersburg
