Vladimir PUTIN at the «RUSSIA CALLING!» Forum at WTC Moscow

On November, 30 – December, 01, the 13th VTB Capital Investment Forum “RUSSIA CALLING!” Is being held online an WTC Moscow. This year the key theme of the Forum this year is «Rethinking priorities in favor of sustainable development».

Within the framework of the Forum, a plenary session is being held in the format of a videoconference with the participation of President of Russia Vladimir Putin and President - Chairman of the Executive Board of VTB Bank Andrey Kostin.

While opening the discussion, Andrey Kostin noted: «If earlier we assembled a hall where there were 2500 investors, more than a thousand came from abroad, then last year our forum was seen by three million people, of which 180 thousand were foreign participants, foreign spectators, who could see our session via Internet. Therefore, I am sure that we will return to the face-to-face format, but, of course, we will keep all the opportunities that Internet provides us in order to cover the audience as widely as possible».

In his speech, Vladimir Putin estimated the current state of the Russian economy and situation in social sphere and emphasized: «The Forum traditionally brought together domestic and foreign investors and experts to discuss current topics of the business agenda, key trends that determine the development of the investment potential of certain business directions, markets and even entire countries».

President of Russia also touched upon the topic of the coronavirus epidemic, for more than 2 years being in the focus of everyone’s attention, and that has as a very large impact on investment, business and cooperation ties, on the entire global economy: «The economy is gradually recovering, but the  recovery rate has become questionable. The reason is well known to everyone - this is another wave of the disease caused by a new strain of coronavirus».

According to President of Russia, in the coming weeks it will become clear how serious the consequences of the new strain of coronavirus are: «It is necessary to monitor constantly the effectiveness of tests and vaccines, use clear algorithms to track the spread of infection, and maintain an increased readiness of the healthcare system».

«You can effectively fight [the spread of infection] only by coordinating the actions of the entire world community», - Vladimir Putin added.

Speaking about the economic agenda, President of Russia noted that inflationary pressure has become a distinguishing feature of the current situation: «The rise in prices is caused by a whole complex of reasons that overlapped each other. Recently, the demand for services in tourism, transport, catering declined and shifted towards goods».

Due to the borders’ closure and the introduction of movement restrictionы, many supply chains were broken, deficits began to form in certain categories of goods, what, in its turn, caused a rise in prices: «The extremely soft budgetary policies of the most developed countries have become a significant factor in accelerating inflation. In the current year, there is an increase in budget deficits, global inflationary risks also persist».

Vladimir Putin did not ignore the theme of crisis on the global energy market, which served as a multiple increase in the quotations of nitrogen fertilizers: «It is obvious that this situation creates risks for further growth in food prices». Largely under the influence of external factors, the consumer price growth in our country accelerated, which is a sensitive problem, especially for families with low incomes. «The solution to this problem requires the utmost attention», - President of Russia noted. Vladimir Putin also added that it is important not only to fight the effects of inflation, but also to act proactively, removing the factors that are pushing prices up.

An increase in production volumes and an increase in the availability of food products in the domestic market is a key criterion for the effectiveness of work under this direction.

Vladimir Putin noted: «Russia was the first of the largest economies in the world to normalize its budgetary policy in the epidemic. Starting next year, we will strictly follow the budgetary rule in the formation and execution of the federal budget. <…> Thanks to the responsible and calculated actions of the state and business, the Russian economy has already exceeded the pre-crisis level. In January-September of this year, Russia's GDP grew by 4.6%. According to the results of the year, its growth is forecasted at the level of 4.2%».

According to President of Russia, the unemployment rate in September in the country dropped to 4.3%: «Today we can say that the labor market in Russia has fully recovered. And this did not happen in all the leading economies in the world. Our strategic task is to support and consolidate positive trends in the Russian economy, to ensure its sustainable, long-term development, to increase the potential rates of economic growth».

According to Vladimir Putin, the main points of growth for investing capital, investments that should have a comprehensive effect for the sectors of the national economy and for the regions of the country, and increase the income and quality of life of our citizens are to increase the share of infrastructure investments in GDP (talking about infrastructure budget loans) , the allocation of funds from the National Wealth Fund for investment on a repayable basis in major investment projects, primarily in the field of infrastructure. This will attract additional private investment. Other important areas for investment are social and environmental projects that meet the goals of sustainable development, a program to improve the energy efficiency of the economy, and the development of digital ecosystems. It is important to put this work on a systematic basis».

At the end of his speech President of Russia conducted Q&A session.

VTB Capital Investment Forum "RUSSIA CALLING!" has been held since 2009. Every year the event attracts an authoritative audience, including representatives of government agencies, heads of Russian and international companies, investors. The agenda of the forum covers the topical issues of the global economy, finance and business. The forum's influence for the business community has been repeatedly recognized by a number of international awards, including the IPRA Golden World Awards, Extel Survey, Communicate Magazine’s Corporate and Financial Awards.

The aim of the forum is to attract investment to the Russian economy, to develop a dialogue between Russian business and foreign investors. In addition to the main meetings in Moscow, the forum holds offsite sessions: in 2009, 2011-2013 and 2017 - in London, in 2013 - in New York.

Since 2010 VTB Capital Investment Forum "RUSSIA CALLING!" is held at World Trade Center Moscow. In 2010, the number of participants reached 1,000; since 2011 the forum has been receiving over 2 thousand guests. In 2019, the event was attended by over 2,500 guests, including more than 500 investors and 600 foreign delegates from 68 countries, government officials and heads of leading global corporations. In 2020, the forum was held online for the first time.