MOSCOW, June 5. /TASS/. The Russian economy has adjusted itself to Western sanctions well enough and is gradually entering a growth trajectory, the chief of the international economic organizations sector at the Economic Studies Center, Vyacheslav Kholodkov, said about the results of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
He believes that the just-ended forum was very fruitful in this respect.
"The SPIEF brought together senior managers of 511 foreign companies and the heads of many regions of Russia, who offered to business people quite a few projects for capital investment," he said. "The presentation of the Russian territories’ investment attractiveness ratings drew much interest."
"Strange as it may seem, there were more businessmen from the United States than from any other country," Kholodkov said. "A group of 560 US businessmen representing 140 companies attended the forum. A quarter of all foreign businessmen who were present in St. Petersburg."
"It was so despite the waning hope Washington may lift the current anti-Russian sanctions in the near future and in defiance of unprecedented pressures from the US Congress on President Donald Trump over the issue of relations with Russia and the possibility of tighter restrictions on trading, economic, financial and technological ties with Russia," he said.
Kholodkov attributes the US businesses’ activity on the Russian track to what he described as "keen business intuition, energy, resoluteness and resourcefulness."
"They have sensed the growing trend. The Russian economy has become accustomed to the western sanctions. It is gradually emerging from the crisis and has already achieved a trajectory of growth, although still moderate one," Kholodkov said.
He believes that the forum proved very helpful in the search for identical or close positions.
"The SPIEF’s results will help the country’s leadership to identify rational proposals and achieve the optimal trajectory of structural reforms.
During the three-day forum 386 investment agreements and memorandums 2 trillion rubles worth were signed. Last year’s contacts signed totaled one trillion rubles in value.