Conversation: St. Petersburg International Economic Forum

Sratfor ^ | May 21, 2014 | NA

[mgist]

David Judson: Hi, I'm David Judson, Editor-in-Chief of Stratfor. Joining me today is Lauren Goodrich, Chief Eurasia Analyst. Thank you for joining me.

Lauren Goodrich: Thank you. David: The topic today is the upcoming St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. We have got President Putin of Russia doing a fast pivot from China, where he is today, to catch up to this summit of sorts, economic summit of sorts -- which is particularly interesting, I understand, because of the nature of the guest list, who is coming and who is not. But before we get into that maybe you could explain to us and our viewers what this forum is about. Is this Russia's Davos or is this one of those summits you read about in the airline magazine? Lauren: It is a lot like Russia's Davos. St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is a place in which the Russian leadership has tried to rally investment and rally the symbolic nature of showing that the world is interested in Russia and that Russia has a lot to offer to the world.

Each year the economic forum has shifted in terms of what its goals are, what its tasks are and what the importance of that investment in Russia is. For example, in 2008 and 2010 it was really about can we get companies in here can we get companies to invest in the privatization of the Russian economy, because that was where Russia was focused. This year is a little different.

This year is about who are our friends still with everything that has been happening between the West and Russia.

[mgist]

This was the Russian Davos held recently. Obama warned American CEO not to attend. The lack of media coverage is simply another indicator of the fact that we are NOT a free country.