SPIEF 2026 kicks off
The 29th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) has commenced at the ExpoForum Convention and Exhibition Centre in Saint Petersburg.
This year, the event is themed “Pragmatic dialogue – the path to a stable future”.
The direction set by the organizers clearly reflects the spirit of the times: the focus has shifted from declarative statements to specific, financially backed projects.
According to analysts’ forecasts, the total value of contracts and agreements signed during the forum’s four days may exceed 5.5 trillion rubles.
Despite external pressure, the forum is reaffirming its international status, bringing together delegations from more than 130 countries.
Saudi Arabia’s status as the guest country became the main diplomatic and economic focus. This coincides with the 100th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Russia and Riyadh.
The participants are actively discussing a return to open dialogue among representatives of major Western business. The American and European delegations include heads of chambers of commerce, investors, and public figures from the United States, Germany, France, and Austria, who are ready to build pragmatic ties in the new realities.
Saudi Arabia’s special status was quickly converted into practical agreements between the energy ministries of Russia and Saudi Arabia on a comprehensive program of scientific and technical cooperation through 2030, including joint design of equipment for deepwater drilling.
Energy sovereignty and logistics emerged as cross-cutting themes in the first hours of the forum.
Novatek PJSC is signing agreements with international investors to finance key logistics hubs in Kamchatka and Murmansk, aiming to optimize the Northern Sea Route. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation and Russian Railways, together with partners from Iran and Azerbaijan, have formalized plans to modernize the ITC’s western route. This will cut cargo delivery time from the Baltic Sea to the Persian Gulf by nearly half.
In the digitalization section, the focus is on developing large-scale artificial intelligence systems. A consortium of major IT giants (Yandex, Sber, and Rostelecom) is creating a unified, trusted environment for training industrial neural networks.
AI technologies are being introduced into real-world regional governance. The Urban Hub platform presented AI-based projects to optimize traffic flows and power grids, which are already being launched in Tatarstan, Nizhny Novgorod, and Leningrad regions.
The forum’s main event will traditionally be the plenary session scheduled for June 5. The President of Russia Vladimir Putin is expected to deliver remarks analyzing the state of the economy and presenting strategic proposals for business. The President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev will also take part in the session, underscoring the strategic importance of the Central Asian vector in Russia’s foreign policy.
The forum will continue until June 6, and each day is expected to see new major contracts.
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Roman Bondarchuk, UzA
Saint Petersburg, Russia
