GORKI, September 22. /ITAR-TASS/. A total of 398 contracts worth 603 billion rubles ($15.5 billion) were signed at the international investment forum held in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi last week, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Monday.
“To my mind, the forum was a success as a lot of interesting contracts were signed there,” Medvedev said at a meeting with Russian vice-premiers.
The Russian prime minister said at the same time that the issues discussed at the forum were the most important thing rather than the number and the sums of contracts signed at the investment conference.
The forum focused on the discussion of the government’s regional policy in the current conditions and the investment environment in Russian regions, the premier said. “The dialogue was very intense and involved the participation of government members, governors, experts and business representatives,” the Russian premier said.
The Sochi investment forum offered its participants an opportunity to speak about attracting additional investment in current conditions to Russian regions, the premier said. “Proposals were made on taxes, tariffs and infrastructure, including measures to support entrepreneurial activity,” Medvedev said.
Russia needs to raise the competitiveness of its economy, strengthen the domestic market and replace imports with its own output, the premier said.
Russia was taking measures for import substitution before but “now this policy has to be continued”, Medvedev said, especially considering that a whole range of goods have been barred from the domestic market as Russia’s response to Western sanctions, the premier said.