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EEF can't be called SPIEF's 'little brother' anymore — official

The EEF has long stepped out of the shadow of its 'older brother' to stand on its own in the calendar of international events and among Russia’s national priorities, Anton Kobyakov said

MOSCOW, August 25. /TASS/. The Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) stepped out of the shadow of its "older brother," the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, long ago, as it has now even begun to pull ahead in terms of the money-value of deals made, Anton Kobyakov, Adviser to the Russian President, Executive Secretary of the Forum’s Organizing Committee, said in an interview with TASS ahead of the event.

"The EEF is kind of like SPIEF's ‘little brother’: one is 18 years older than the other, so they belong to different eras. SPIEF began back in the (former Russian President Boris - TASS) Yeltsin era. However, the EEF has long stepped out of the shadow of its ‘older brother’ to stand on its own in the calendar of international events and among Russia’s national priorities," he said.

By 2021, the last peaceful year before the special military operation, the number of agreements reached at the two forums was practically equal, Kobyakov stressed. "Now, the EEF is pulling ahead, for a number of reasons. First, because alongside official statistics, there are also actual figures adjusted for commercial confidentiality," he said.

According to the official, the recorded volume of deals at last year’s SPIEF reached almost 6.5 trillion rubles (data for 2026 is not yet available as the results are still being tallied), while last year’s EEF, in its tenth anniversary, saw a figure of 6.05 trillion rubles, which is not the final total precisely because it excludes deals protected by trade secrets.

"Therefore, the actual volume is significantly higher. At this Eastern Economic Forum, 380 major agreements were signed with a total value of 6.5 trillion rubles, covering energy, industry, science, logistics, and other areas related to the development of the Far East," he concluded.

The Eastern Economic Forum will be held September 1-4 in Vladivostok on the campus of the Far Eastern Federal University. The theme of this year’s EEF is "The Far East: Development for the Benefit of People." The event is organized by the Roscongress Foundation with the support of the Russian government. TASS is its general information partner.

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