ST. PETERSBURG, June 5. /TASS/. Traditional, or inertial, drivers of Russia’s economic growth are nearing exhaustion, making a new economic growth model necessary, Sberbank CEO German Gref said at Sber’s business breakfast held as part of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2026).

He also noted that Russia possesses all the intellectual resources necessary to support its own technological development.

TASS has compiled the key statements made by the Sberbank chief.

Economic growth drivers

Traditional, or inertial, drivers of Russia’s economic growth are nearing exhaustion, making a new growth model necessary: "Unemployment remains at historic lows, while capacity utilization is also at a high level, and labor productivity is not yet growing at a pace sufficient to offset these factors. Traditional, or inertial, drivers of economic growth are now approaching exhaustion. This raises the question of what the future economic growth model could be and what the government can and should do for this model to begin functioning."

Foundations of the economy

Representatives of small businesses are the foundation of the economy and the creators of added value: "It seems to me that this is one of the fundamental things that must seriously change in our country. <…> They are the foundation of the economy. And the economy, as we know, is the foundation of the entire state."

The efficiency of the economy is the efficiency of the entire state: "It seems to me that our attitude toward business, toward the people who through their work create the economic foundation of this development, is critically important. And the smaller the enterprise, the more attention should be paid to protecting it from administrative barriers and helping it."

AI and technology

Russia possesses all the intellectual resources necessary to support its own technological development: "The good news is that we have all the resources, first and foremost intellectual resources, needed to maintain our technological development at the proper level."

Russia ranks among the world’s top five countries in artificial intelligence, and the gap with other nations will narrow: "We are definitely among the five countries that belong to this club. We have our own national models and sufficiently developed companies, people, and teams that possess the full range of competencies required to develop foundational models."