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Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum 2014

Putin to discuss energy issues, talk to world media chiefs at SPIEF

President is expected to deliver a speech at the Energy Club Summit

© ITAR-TASS/ Valery Sharifulin

ST. PETERSBURG, May 24 /ITAR-TASS/. On the last day of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2014 (SPIEF) currently ongoing in the northwestern Russian city, Russian President Vladimir Putin will focus on discussing energy sector development issues.

Putin is expected to deliver a speech at the Energy Club Summit, at the SPIEF plenary session entitled “Oil and gas companies as an engine driving change in the world economy”. The discussions are expected to focus on the key tendencies on the global oil and gas market, such as broader use of new hydrocarbon production technologies.

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One more topic to debate will be increasing the energy efficiency of the Russian economy, including with account for the Russian government-set task to cut the GDP energy intensity by 40% by 2020.

The meeting’s participants will discuss the role of oil and gas companies in giving positive dynamics to the global economy and in particular the latest measures to improve the attractiveness of Russia’s economy and the Russian oil and gas sector.

One of the key issues will be the establishment of strategic partnerships between leading representatives of the global oil and gas industry and leaders in developing advanced technologies to implement large-scale oil and gas projects and have a multiplier economic effect from their implementation.

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The Energy Club Summit is expected to bring the signing of a number of agreements. Russian state oil company Rosneft alone, according to its CEO Igor Sechin, plans to ink 10 different documents.

Besides the Energy Club Summit, the St. Petersburg forum will see another 10 sessions in various formats united by the common topic “Unfolding the competitive potential of Russia”.

At the meetings, businessmen and officials are going in particular to discuss the global prospects of Russia’s IT market, bottlenecks of Russian logistics on which 20% of GDP is spent compared to 7-8% in Europe, reduction of administrative barriers, problems of small and midsized enterprises, and ways to attract foreign businesses to regions, as well as other issues.

A business roundtable dedicated to Russian-Chinese economic relations will also be organized at the forum. The role of the Chinese direction has always been important for Russia, but relations have lately started becoming more active with Asian states against a backdrop of political differences with Western nations over the situation in Ukraine, which has been in turmoil since a coup occurred in the country in February.

Interaction issues at the roundtable will be debated by representatives of the financial, industrial and trade sectors of Russia and China.

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Putin is also expected to talk to a number of energy business representatives on Saturday, including Royal Philips CEO Frans van Houten to discuss implementation of strategic investment projects by the Dutch concern in Russia.

After the SPIEF, Putin is expected to meet with chief executives of global news agencies, who earlier took part in a discussion on the topic “The media today: global transformation trends and prospects”. More than 50 heads of leading mass media from different countries have arrived in St. Petersburg on an invitation from Itar-Tass to attend the event.

The Russian president’s day agenda will start from an event having nothing to do with economics. Today, when Russia marks the Day of Slavic Writing and Culture and commemorates Saints Cyril and Methodius, St. Petersburg will join the nationwide celebration. Putin will listen to a choir performing on the occasion.

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