Outcomes of SPIEF 2019



Outcomes of SPIEF 2019

The SPIEF 2019 key topic was ‘Creating a Sustainable Development Agenda’. The sheer number of business community participants, variety of thematic events, and level of representation on both national and international levels underscore the status of SPIEF as a truly global economic forum. Over the years, SPIEF has become an open platform to exchange best practices and key competences in the interest of providing sustainable development. 

Moreover, the project now operates on a year-round basis. In addition to providing overviews of key discussion topics in the Roscongress Information and Analytical System, the Forum organizes over 100 events in Russia (‘Regions of Russia: New Points of Growth’), as well as worldwide events dedicated to both economics and humanities.   

During the past four years, the number of Forum participants grew by 60% and the upward trend will remain for years to come.

This year the Forum brought together a record-breaking number of participants: over 19,000 people from 145 countries, with 1,300 guests representing heads of companies. In 2019, for the first time SPIEF was attended by representatives from countries such as Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Côte d’Ivoire, Lesotho, Nepal, Niger, San Marino, Somalia, and Eswatini.

“Neither American nor European countries want to leave the Russian market and are highly unlikely to do so in the future. Trade wars that Washington wages combined with protectionist measures will only slow down the global economic growth. Against this background, I believe the European Union countries are starting to comprehend the mutual benefit of good neighbourly relations with Russia,” said Anton Kobyakov, Advisor to the President of the Russian Federation, Executive Secretary of the SPIEF Organizing Committee, at the concluding press conference.  


BUSINESS PROGRAMME

The Forum featured over 230 events, with more than 170 of which were part of the business programme, including various panel discussions, roundtables, business breakfasts, televised debates, and business dialogues between countries. Thematic areas hosted over 50 events.  

The main event of the Forum was the plenary session, with the participation of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, President of the People's Republic of China Xi Jinping, President of the Republic of Bulgaria Rumen Radev, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic Peter Pellegrini, and Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres.

The leaders commented on a range of issues, including the major problems of global economy today, current globalization model, international trade, and financial system. The session covered the questions of malicious competition between states, protectionism, trade wars, unilateral sanctions and limitations. 

During his address to the participants of the Forum, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin talked about the tasks the country is facing, as well as about the importance of national projects as a driver of economic growth. The Russian president said: “We made a decision, identified development priorities and goals and planned our work within the so-called national projects, which presume combined efforts of the state, the regions of the Russian Federation, society, and, naturally, the business community to work on the shared tasks. The projects also require concentrating considerable resources to achieve the goals we set before us. The overall budget of the national projects should total around 25.7 trillion roubles, which is about 400 billion dollars. Our priorities are healthcare, education, research and development, and support for entrepreneurship. Also, considerable funds will be allocated to develop major infrastructure, transport and the energy industry.”

In his speech during the plenary session, President of PRC Xi Jinping said: “In the global dimension, sustainable development is the maximum common denominator for global cooperation. The United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, in the spirit of harmonious coexistence of man and nature, taking into account the needs of today's generation and future generations, provides the agenda for growth in three interdependent areas: economic growth, social development, and the environment.”


MAIN PROGRAMME

The Forum programme consisted of four thematic blocks: ‘The Global Economy in Search of a Balance’, ‘Russian Economy: Achieving National Development Goals’, ‘Technologies Shaping the Future’, and ‘People First’. Experts, representatives of the business community and government officials held discussions on stimulating new industries, supporting macroeconomic stability, resistance of the banking system, lowering administrative barriers for business – in other words, all the components that can make the Russian economy competitive globally. 

Discussion participants unanimously agreed that digitalization and technological transformation are the foundation of the sustainable development, while business plays a key role in achieving these goals. On the global scale, National Strategy for Artificial Intelligence Development has been presented. 

During the four days of the Forum over 1,300 speakers and moderators, including Russian and international experts, took part in discussions. They shared their knowledge, experience and best practices with the participants of the Forum. 

The participants had a chance to attend sessions dedicated to expanding cooperation with BRICS (in innovation and pharmaceuticals), SCO (transport infrastructure), and CIS (innovation), development of the Eurasian Economic Union, strengthening the ties between Eurasian Economic Community, Latin American countries and ASEAN states. 

On the sidelines of the Forum, a session titled ‘Challenges and Opportunities for Business in Russian–European Relations Today – and in the Future’ was held for the first time. The session was organized together with the Association of European Businesses. 

Business dialogues between Russia and other countries were very popular this year. Eighteen events of this format took place during the Forum and included the following dialogues: Russia–Finland, Russia–Italy, Russia–France, Russia–Germany, Russia–Sweden, Russia–Switzerland, Russia–China, Russia–India, Russia–USA, Russia–Africa, and others. Traditionally, the results of the National Investment Climate Rating have been reported during the Forum. Winners of the 5th year edition included Moscow, Tatarstan, Tumen and Kaluga Regions, and St. Petersburg. 

SPIEF was also host to several special events: the B20 Regional Consultation Forum, a Valdai Discussion Club Session, SCO and BRICS conferences, the Second Russia–China Energy Business Forum, an event dedicated to the Trialogue of Dialogues between St. Petersburg, Sochi, and Trianon, as well as the International Youth Economic Forum. 

Over 1,700 best graduate and post-graduate students, young scientists and politicians attended the Youth Economic Forum, including a delegation from the leading US universities. 


Start Day Events

On 5 June, the SPIEF 2019 Start Day featured a number of events: the Russian Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SME) Forum, as well as numerous seminars, roundtables, and business sessions organized by Roscongress Foundation partners. Start Day events were attended by over 2,800 participants and covered by over 900 media representatives.

The anniversary 5th Russian SME Forum was co-organized by the Roscongress Foundation, OPORA ROSSII and SME Corporation. Discussions have followed four specialized tracks: youth, training, investment, and international. Young entrepreneurs and renowned experts discussed a wide range of issues, such as best Russian and international practices, running projects in different spheres, interaction between large and small business in industry and e-commerce, attracting investment into innovative projects, and export support. Plenary session titled ‘Engagement to Entrepreneurship: On the Road to Success’ served as key event of the SME Forum.


GUESTS AND PARTICIPANTS 

St. Petersburg International Economic Forum welcomed state and government officials from 110 countries. 

The Russian and foreign delegations were the largest they have been in recent years. The Forum was attended by heads of state, vice presidents and prime ministers: President of the Republic of Moldova Igor Dodon, President of the Republic of Bulgaria Rumen Radev, Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne, Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Milorad Dodik, Prime Minister of the Republic of South Ossetia Erik Pukhayev, Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic Peter Pellegrini, Vice President of Venezuela Tareck Zaidan El Aissami, Vice President of Paraguay Hugo Velázquez Moreno, Prime Minister of the Republic of Abkhazia Valeri Bganba, Deputy Prime Ministers of Belorussia, Belgium, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Qatar, Kirgizia, Cuba, Luxembourg, Mongolia, Serbia, Uzbekistan, and Nguyễn Văn Bình, Member of the Politburo, Secretary of the Central Committee, and Chairman of the Economic Commission of the Vietnam Communist Party. 

The Forum’s business events featured the participation of Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres, as well as heads of leading international organizations and associations, such as SCO, CIS, Eurasian Economic Commission, World Energy Council, Gas Exporting Countries Forum, Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation, Arctic Economic Council, and New Development Bank BRICS. 

The Forum was host to 57 foreign ministers, 79 heads of foreign diplomatic corps, and speakers of parliaments, including President of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Zimbabwe Mabel Chinomona and Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Republic of the Philippines Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

For reference: Among the countries who sent representatives of government officials to the Forum were: Albania, Antigua and Barbuda, Afghanistan, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Zimbabwe, Iran, Yemen, Canada, Côte d’Ivoire, Lesotho, Mauritius, Mexico, Republic of the Union of Myanmar, Niger, Paraguay, San Marino, Sierra Leone, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Montenegro, and Eswatini.

The Russian government officials present at the Forum included: 6 Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoys of the Russian Federation to federal districts; 8 Deputy Prime Ministers of the Russian Federation; 16 Ministers of the Russian Federation; 32 heads of federal services and agencies; 84 subjects of the Russian Federation, 79 of which were represented by their heads.

The Forum was attended by the representatives of 80 partners of the Roscongress Foundation from 37 countries. 


Business community representatives 

The status of the Forum was evident in the attendance numbers. Overall, the Forum was attended by over 3,500 Russian and foreign companies, over 570 foreign and over 1,800 Russian companies were represented on the executive level. 

This year, the largest delegation – 1100 strong – came from China. The delegation included the heads of large Chinese companies, such as China Chengtong Holdings Group Ltd President Zhu Bixin; Chairman of the Board of Directors of China COSCO Shipping Corporation Ltd Lirong Xu; Chairman of the Board of Directors of China National Machinery Industry Corporation Ltd Zhang Xiaolun; Chairman of the Board of Directors of China Petrochemical Corporation Dai Houliang; and Chairman of the Board of Directors of COFCO Corporation Lyu Jun.

The largest delegations came from the US with 542 participants, Germany – 334, the UK – 312, France – 249, Japan – 219, Switzerland – 190, Italy – 160, the Netherlands – 106. 

One of the Middle East’s leading businessmen Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, founder of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Global, attended the Forum for the first time. The Forum was attended by 60 representatives of the Forbes 200 Russia’s Richest Businessmen list.


MEDIA 

Forum attracts a lot of international media: applications were received from 56 countries (not including Russia). A total of 4,816 media representatives (4,003 – Russian, 813 – international) from 1,299 organizations (1043 – Russian, 256 – international) covered the event. 


AGREEMENTS

Apart from being a leading expert, discussion and exhibition platform, SPIEF is an important practical field for negotiating and signing business contracts for major international projects and agreements.

This year, the Forum saw 745 agreements signed totalling 3.271 trillion roubles (only those agreements whose monetary sum was not a trade secret were counted). 

The largest agreements included:

1. Leningrad Region and RusChemAlliance Ltd. signed an Agreement on social and economic cooperation during implementation of the project worth 750 billion roubles. The complex for processing ethane-containing gas and producing liquefied natural gas (LNG) will be built near Ust-Luga, Kingisepp District. 

2. Rostov Region and YUG-Energo signed an agreement to implement a set of projects totalling 177 billion roubles using the capacities of Novoshakhtinsk Refinery. 

3. Leningrad Region and EuroChem Group AG signed a memorandum of intent for signing special investment contracts during project implementation under EuroChem-Northwest-2 worth 163 billion roubles (USD 2.5 billion). 

4. VEB.RF and Rockwell Capital investment company signed an agreement on constructing a new pulp and paper mill in Krasnoyarsk Territory worth 140 billion roubles. 

5. VEB.RF, Gazprombank, Sberbank and Acron Group signed an agreement of allocating 110.5 billion roubles (USD 1.7 billion) as a syndicated loan for 15 years for developing the Verkhnekamsk potassium-magnesium salt deposit’s Talitsa area (Perm Territory). 

6. Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment of the Russian Federation, Gazprom Neft, the Federal Supervisory Natural Resources Management Service, Omsk Region and Omsk Refinery signed a cooperation agreement to implement the Fresh Air federal project (part of the Ecology National Project) worth 100 billion roubles. 

7. Murmansk Region and NOVATEK signed a cooperation agreement worth 100 billion roubles. NOVATEK will invest in constructing a shipyard in Belokamenka, create approximately 15,000 new jobs in the Region and take part in Murmansk Region’s social projects. 

8. Setl Group and Sberbank signed an agreement on strategic cooperation worth 100 billion roubles. The agreement provides for Sberbank’s intent to be Setl Group’s financial partner and extend credits for its existing and future projects. 


The Roscongress Foundation signed international cooperation agreements with organizations from 14 different countries. 


PARTNERS 

In 2019, 148 companies served as Forum Partners, which is 1.5 times greater than in the previous year. SPIEF is of great interest to international companies. 

New noteworthy foreign partners of the Forum included two largest companies from Saudi Arabia: national oil company Saudi Aramco and diversified manufacturing company SABIC. Both received the status of General Partners of the Forum and presented large stands in the exhibition area. 

Another first-time partner of the Forum was Qatar Airways, one of the largest air carriers in the world. Facebook placed ads in the SPIEF magazine and the official mobile app. 

Mir Payment System became the General Partner of the Forum for the first time, while Tele2 sponsored the Official Gala reception on behalf of the Organizing Committee. 

A few new partners joined the traditional partner pool of SPIEF. VTB Bank acted as a General Sponsor of the event. Aside from the aforementioned companies, General Partners of the Forum included Rosneft, Tinkoff Bank, Sberbank, Gazprom, DOM.RF, Mercedes-Benz RUS (Official Car of the Forum), Rosseti (SPIEF 2019 Strategic Partner), and Aeroflot (Official Airline of the Forum). 

Stability of the partner base is illustrated by Tinkoff Bank: having joined the Forum last year, this year the bank kept its partner status and sponsored the concert of Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli in the Palace Square as part of the SPIEF Festival of Culture. Mercedes-Benz RUS provided 400 comfortable vehicles to the guests of SPIEF and chose the Forum venue to present its brand-new electric car Mercedes-Benz EQC. 

New formats of business cooperation contributed to the growing interest among partners of the event. Innovation Space and Innosocium Lab merged to form a Building Trust area of the Roscongress Foundation that featured a rich innovative and social agenda. 

Skolkovo Foundation, VEB Innovations (now VEBVENTURES), and ER-Telecom acted as Partners of the Innovation Space, which allowed to increase the number of participating projects threefold; they became participants of the exhibition area of the Innovation space. New partners included a number of innovative companies, such as Parus Electro, manufacturer of rapid charging stations, VRT, designer of VR-simulators for the military, and others. 

Innosocium Lab attracted 10 new partners: Uralkali, Uralchim, Lukoil, PepsiCo, MARS, Eksmo-AST, and others. Tretyakovskaya Gallery and Druzya Foundation provided the intellectual support. 

‘Healthy Life’ Area made its debut at SPIEF. Area’s agenda attracted major medical and pharmaceutical companies. Global healthcare leaders MSD, GSK, and BIOCAD became partners of the area, joined by pharmacy chain Eapteka.ru, with the participation of Johnson & Johnson and Sanofi. Rich business programme that covered healthcare also attracted such partners as Abbot, GE Healthcare, and Phillips. 

Russian Railways (RZD), previously Partner of the Sporting Programme, upgraded its status to General Partner of the Forum. EKA became Partner of the Sporting Programme, while World Class and VENVENTURES co-organized the ROSCONGRESS SPIEF RACE 2019 in the downtown St. Petersburg. Kalashnikov Concern became General Partner of the practical shooting competition, Novotrans Group became General Partner of the gala-match in ice-hockey, while Golf Estate – of a golf tournament. KSK supported the debut Chess Express tournament that took place aboard Sapsan high-speed train from Moscow to St. Petersburg. 

SPIEF 2019 was a breakthrough for Roscongress Club, a club for business and political elite. This platform hosted meetings and presentations on the highest level, including Project Office of Digital Economy of the Russian Federation programme and Russian Regions’ Event Potential rating by National Congress Bureau. 

Avtodor and Transmashholding, traditional partners of the Governor’s club, were joined by TransContainer in the pool of partners of the area. 

Breakfast with the French ex-president Nicolas Sarkozy and his following meetings at the Roscongress Club emphasize the high stature of these communication platforms. 

 

SOCIAL AGENDA

This year SPIEF featured two new platforms promoting social agenda: Building Trust and ‘Healthy Life’ Area. These thematic zones hosted over 50 events. 

Innovation, social agenda and education were the main components of the Building Trust area that combines two Roscongress Foundation projects: Innovation Space and Innosocium Lab.

Spectre of topics covered was quite ample: markets for breakthrough technologies, blockchain and cryptocurrency, marketplaces and e-commerce, green innovations. Social agenda touched upon the questions of active involvement of women in social, political, and economic life. The roles of women were among the topics covered at the meetings at the Eurasian Women's Forum Visiting Reception, co-organized by the Russian Federation Council. The expansion of Russian culture was also under discussion. A public talk by Mikhail Kotyukov was also organized, during which the minister took questions from students. The special zone of the area hosted interviews with politicians, government officials, representatives of big business. 

Building Trust area presented three competitions at SPIEF:

- Innosocium, the all-Russian social project competition. Winning projects have been presented at the Innosocium Lab stand;

- The first East Bound competition of innovative research in the field of AI (organized by the Roscongress Foundation, VEB Ventures, and Skolkovo Foundation); 

- BUSINESS PRIORITY ‘Pitch Session for a Billion’, a competition of innovative startups. During the event, 13 companies that presented their projects received support of interested investors totalling 1.129 billion roubles. 

Those who took part in the competitions called it a “social lift” and provided them with unique set of tools: expertise, assistance with legislature compliance, connection on all levels: with government, state and private companies. 

The #SOCIALHUB event, a project of the Presidential Grants Foundation (PGF), the Roscongress Foundation Social Platform and the Innosocium Foundation presented 18 winning projects of the presidential grant competition.

Innosocium Lab stand also featured The Unalienable exhibition, presenting works of art by people with cognitive disorders. The exhibition was opened by Olga Golodets, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation. The exhibition presented the works of artists, many of whom reside in special facilities. One of the many downsides of these institutions is lack of professional and creative development of its residents. Unalienable supported non-profit organizations that created studios in facilities for people with cognitive problems. 

For reference: the project was organized by Innosocium Foundation and Unalienable Foundation, supported by the Roscongress Foundation and Council on Guardianship under the Government of the Russian Federation. 

The Forum presented a ‘Healthy Life’ Area, a new unique platform that drew experts on science and medicine to discuss key questions of life continuity expansion and life quality improvement. 

Agenda of the track laid the foundation for a number of SPIEF events aside from the separate programme of the area. At the session dedicated to corporate healthcare programmes Alexander Shokhin, President of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, launched a new National Competition in corporate healthcare. A few sessions have been dedicated to healthcare digitalization, creating innovative medication, strategy of drug supply. Business programme events discussed immunization, increasing the birth rate, preservation of children’s health, fighting non-infectious diseases, development of biotech, innovative pharmaceutics, preventive and nuclear medicine. 

For the first time at SPIEF Minister of Healthcare of the Russian Federation Veronika Skvortsova met with heads of leading international and Russian pharmaceutical companies and associations. 

‘Healthy Life’ Area and Doktor TV hosted interview sessions with representatives of government, public sector, science, and business. 

Presently, healthcare track is a permanent fixture in SPIEF Business Programme. Starting 2019, all Roscongress events will feature ‘Healthy Life’ thematic events. 


PRESENTATION AREA

Special networking area, the SPIEF Presentation Area supported by EY and the Foreign Investment Advisory Council (operated by the Russian News Agency TASS and the Roscongress Foundation), drew the attention of representatives of Russian and foreign companies, media and state agencies. 

During the four days of the Forum it was visited by around 3,000 people. Rich presentation programme focused on export potential of Russian pharmaceutical companies, industrial policies of big cities, dialogue on the cost of trust in international relations. 

All in all, the space hosted 13 sessions that featured presentations for major Russian and global investment projects, results of international analytical and research reports from entrepreneurial sector, examples of best practices, EY Growth Navigator demo version, and Hainan Province business and investment potential. 


EXHIBITION AREA

SPIEF Investment & Business Expo is a traditional part of SPIEF. This time, 34 organizations and subjects of the Russian Federation took part in the expo. They demonstrated their investment potential, current projects, newest technologies, products and solutions. Thus, Ryazan District presented its major investment project: the Ryazan Dry Port multimodal logistics hub; Moscow showed a full-size high-tech model of Ivolga train; Samara Region exhibited the Sokol aerial investigation complex; Northern Caucasus recreational complexes’ development projects were presented at the VisitCaucasus Fund stand. 

Qatar pavilion has an unusual future in store: at the end of the Forum with the support of the Roscongress Foundation, the pavilion was donated to the Life Line Charity Foundation. The pavilion will relocate to the St. Petersburg Yachting Club and will host the first events in July.

The total number of SPIEF 2019 exponents reached 122.


EXPERT AND ANALYTICAL SUPPORT FOR THE FORUM

The Information and Analytical System of the Roscongress Foundation continued developing its Summary service, a joint effort by the Roscongress Foundation and the Russian News Agency TASS, which provides readers with a condensed version of key discussions, describing the conclusions, problems, and solutions mentioned therein. The total of 115 summaries will be released after the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum 2019.

Additionally, SPIEF 2019 Summary, an analytical report on the outcomes of the Forum will be made available on the Forum website and in the Information and Analytical System of the Roscongress Foundation.

Expert community preparing analytics for the Forum included over 70 specialists in the fields of economics, international relations, regional development and digital economy from St. Petersburg State University of Economics, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, Regional Economic Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Leontyevsky Centre, National Rating Agency, and experts of the National Private-Public Partnership National Council. Their work will result in a set of expert conclusions based on the Business Programme discussions. 


CULTURAL PROGRAMME

SPIEF Festival of Culture organized by the Roscongress Foundation together with the Government of St. Petersburg offered over 100 versatile events. Museums, theatres, concert venues, exhibition centres, parks and palaces presented their programmes. 

Particularly noteworthy were two charity concerts: BIOCAD started off its global information campaign in the fight against rheumatic diseases, while a gala concert featuring stars of Russian ballet was held in support of youth with severe disabilities.

The vast music programme featured the first Music Fest ‘From Classics to Rock’ that was held for two days in the Palace Square. On the first day, classical music was represented by singers of the Vienna State Opera – Andrea Bocelli and Aida Garifullina. The final day saw rock and symphony come together as legendary rock band Bi-2, accompanied by a symphony orchestra conducted by the Honoured Artist of Russia Felix Aranovsky, hit the stage. The concert gathered an audience of over 60,000 people. The performance of Bi-2 with the orchestra lasted for two hours being of the most exciting events of the Festival of Culture.

Awards ceremony for winners of various prizes and contests were held as part of the Festival. The Official Reception hosted by the SPIEF Organizing Committee featured awards presentation to the winners of the ‘International Cooperation and Development of International Trade’ Prize and the winners of the district stage of the national ‘Exporter of Year’ Prize in the North-West Federal District. 

During the Forum St. Petersburg hosted the exhibition of modern artists from different countries ‘Artificial Intelligence and Intercultural Dialogue’ that was organized by the State Hermitage Museum and the Russian Direct Investment Fund. The exhibition featured works of 14 artists and art groups from 10 countries.


SPORTING PROGRAMME

This year’s sporting progamme had three dimensions: 12 events in various disciplines, two sessions in the Business Programme, and 5 project stands in the Exhibition Area. 

Business programme session ‘Sports for Everyone: Global Trends and Entrepreneurial Approach’ featured Olga Golodets, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, Anatoly Meshcheryakov, State Secretary – Deputy Managing Director, Russian Railways, and Dmitry Pristanskov, State Secretary – Vice-President, Norilsk Nickel. 

On the first day of SPIEF 2019 the sporting programme opened with the three-time Olympic Champion in Greco-Roman Wrestling Alexander Karelin inaugurating the ROSCONGRESS SPIEF RACE with over 400 runners taking part. Euro 2020 stand and Football Park brought together UEFA Events CEO Martin Kallen, Christian Karembeu, a world and European champion from the French national team, and Sol Campbell of England, a member of the Euro 1996 bronze winner team. 

FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich opened the chess programme. The 14th World Chess Champion Vladimir Kramnik held a simultaneous play for the Forum participants, and Guinness Book of Records record holder Timur Gareyev demonstrated blind play skills. Also, the Chess Express blitz tournament took place on a high-speed Sapsan train travelling from Moscow to St. Petersburg featuring World Chess Olympiad winner Vadim Zvyagintsev.

Head of the Republic of Udmurtia Alexander Brechalov opened the laser range at the Kalashnikov Concern booth. Two-time Olympic biathlon medallist Ivan Tcherezov and two-time practical shooting world champion Vsevolod Ilyin took on expert roles and demonstrated modern firearms for participants of the Roscongress Kalashnikov Cup tournament at Nevsky Shooting Club. 

A hockey gala match between the teams of SPIEF and the Government of St. Petersburg ended with a combative draw 2:2. Two-time Olympic medallist Alexei Yashin and three-time world hockey champion Danis Zaripov played with the SPIEF team.

The two-time world championship medallist and Minister of Sport and Youth Policy of the Nizhny Novgorod Region Sergey Panov, ambassador of the Sibur basketball programme and the European champion Sergey Bykov, VTB Capital Investment director Vladimir Potapov also took part in the basketball gala match with the SPIEF team.

More than a hundred players took part in the Roscongress Cup international golf tournament in the Peterhof golf club. 

Over 70 guests of the tournament also took part in a golf lesson, given by the Russian national golf team senior coach Igor Ivashkin together with the current Russian golf champions Yekaterina Malakhova and Artemy Yalovenko.

Derbi horse-riding club hosted the Roscongress Sport Club events, including a ROSCONGRESS CUP hurdle-jumping tournament, with support from J.U.M.P. group. The tournament attracted around 100 participants. 

Besides, SPIEF participants competed in tennis for ROSCONGRESS CUP gala tournaments, opened by the Vice-Governor of St. Petersburg Vladimir Kirillov, as well as squash. The city residents attended the Roscongress SPIEF Drive Festival, which also included the international Ladoga Trophy-Raid, Peace Rally from St. Petersburg to Monaco, the Leningrad Retro Rally and the Speed Festival race car parade.


TRANSPORT AND LOGISTICS

Timely and high-quality preparation of transport infrastructure, as well as ensuring comfortable, fast and safe transportation for SPIEF participants, residents and guests of the city, are one of the most important prerequisites for a successful Forum.

Assessments of transport demands of various Forum client groups and developed transport schemes for arrivals and departures of Forum guests and participants with main, transit and alternative routes allowed to identify the number and types of vehicles needed. 

The Forum transport system included:

180 accredited minibuses and buses of various capacity that provided shuttle services from main hubs (Pulkovo International Airport, Moskovsky Rail Terminal) and recommended hotels to ExpoForum and back, to the venues of business, cultural and sporting programmes;

400 official Forum cars;

100 accredited taxis. Taxi could be ordered both on the official Forum website and via the participant’s mobile app.

The transport infrastructure met the peak demand, as well as all quality and safety requirements.

Use of SPIEF shuttles helped considerably reduce the overall load of the city transport system and became a convenient way for participants to quickly reach the Forum venue from the city and their hotels at any time.


DINING AT THE SPIEF VENUE

A number of restaurants were open for SPIEF 2019 participants and guests at ExpoForum: 

– the main FORUM restaurant (set menus featuring three cuisines: Russian, Pan-Asian and Italian). During the Forum the restaurant was attended by over 6,500 participants;

– Blok Meat Restaurant, Grand Café Dr. Zhivago and China Gramota restaurant, managed by Restaurants by Rappoport holding, were attended by over 4,500 people;

– Kuban restaurant featuring European and Kuban dishes (at the Forum’s Krasnodar Region zone) served over 4,000 participants.

Two restaurants at Hilton St. Petersburg ExpoForum (GRIL’ and PARC) were also open to the participants, serving over 2,000 people during the Forum.

Throughout the duration of the Forum, cafés and business networking areas providing coffee breaks were open at all times.