MOSCOW, November 10. /TASS/. More than 70 countries will take part in the 9th St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum, Deputy Prime Minister Tatiana Golikova said.

"All of us have done our utmost to make the Forum an interesting event. To date - and this figure will probably change later - 73 countries and 56 official delegations have confirmed they will be taking part in the Forum," the senior official said at a press conference hosted by TASS.

Ministers of culture from more than 30 countries will visit the Forum, Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova said. "I have attended the Forum in various capacities, but I have never heard that 34 ministers [of culture] would be coming to St. Petersburg for the Forum," she added.

The 9th St. Petersburg International Cultural Forum will be held on November 16-18 after a three-year hiatus. It will be held at several venues across Russia’s "Northern Capital," including the world-renowned State Hermitage Museum, the General Staff Building, the Russian Museum of Ethnography and the St. Petersburg State Academic Capella. TASS is serving as the Forum’s general information partner.