MOSCOW, June 15. /TASS/. More than 40 countries all over the world will send their official delegations to this year’s St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), presidential aide Yuri Ushakov has told reporters.
"For objective reasons, it is now quite hard to travel to St. Petersburg. Nevertheless, we expect a fairly large number of guests. As far as high-ranking foreign delegations, official governmental delegations are concerned, we expect them to come from more than 40 countries of the world," Ushakov said.
In his words, the delegations of Armenia and Kazakhstan will be led by presidents of those countries. Moreover, the forum will see the participation of "numerous delegations, led by vice presidents, deputy premiers, ministers, governors, various senators."
"According to our calculations, there will be over 40 countries. Indeed, this would be a broad participation, given the situation," he added.
Ushakov said he had no information on whether Afganistan’s Taliban government plans to send its delegation to St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
"I have no information about that. But let’s see the lists of participants. Everything opens tomorrow, and there will be a formal opening ceremony. Currently, everything is in a floating state, so to speak, for obvious reasons," he said.
A diplomatic source told TASS in early June that Gamal Nasir Garwal, temporary charge d'affaires of Afghanistan in Moscow, who was appointed by the temporary government of the Taliban (movement outlawed in Russia) will attend the 25th International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg.
The forum will also be attended by heads of leading international organizations and unions, including the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF), the World Coal Association, the Economic Community of Central African States, the Collective Security Treaty Association (CSTO), the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), the Eurasian Economic Commission, the Eurasian Development Bank and others.
Participation of businesses
"We also expect businessmen to visit the forum or attend it via a video linkup. Maybe, there will not be as many representatives of major foreign companies as there used to be, but, nevertheless, foreign participants will come here," Ushakov said.
According to preliminary information, a total of 1,244 Russian companies and 265 foreign ones have confirmed their participation.
Traditionally, the forum will also be attended by representatives of Russia’s federal and regional authorities, such as deputy prime ministers, ministers, heads of governmental agencies and services, heads of Russian regions, legislators and so on.
"As far as the forum’s media coverage is concerned, a total of 4,188 journalists from 30 states have been accredited," the Kremlin aide said.