ST. PETERSBURG, June 6. /TASS/. The atmosphere of the ongoing St. Petersburg International Economic Forum will demonstrate US companies that they can do business in Russia, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Pankin said on Thursday on the sidelines of the forum.

"American businessmen who have stayed here for a long time and who have come here for long, who have serious interest and who have anything to lose, will not withdraw from Russia on the spur of the moment," he said in an interview with TASS. "We hope that the atmosphere of the Petersburg Forum will help a wide range of American businessmen see that they can do business Russia. It cannot be ruled out that looking at the examples of others American businesses will be able to influence the US government using their lobbying possibilities."

He pointed out that US businesses have their concrete benefits from being present in Russia. "Let the Americans make money, give them jobs, give exports possibilities, give them possibilities to earn returns on innovation, don’t freeze, don’t hamper - this is what the whole thing is about," he stressed.

He said about 120 American companies had arrived in St. Petersburg to take part in the forum. "Several section meetings involving US businesses are planned on the sidelines of the forum. A dialogue on Russian-US business will be organized and I hope it will be productive," Pankin said. "It will look at the situation from the politics-or-business and politics-and-business points of view. It will focus on how companies having long-term interests, large-scale investments and serious plans in Russia can do business when their own government restricts their possibilities."

The 2019 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is being held on June 6-8. The forum’s motto this year is "Creating a Sustainable Development Agenda". The organizer for SPIEF-2019 is the Roscongress Foundation. TASS is a media partner, the official photo hosting agency and the operator of SPIEF’s presentation zones with support from multinational firm EY, and the Foreign Investment Advisory Council in Russia.