From Wednesday to Saturday this week, the St. Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annual Petersburg (SPIEF) begins for the 25th time.

These conferences have always appealed to Russian and international business leaders looking to gain a foothold with the Kremlin by hosting glamorous parties or announcing major investments. But the invasion of Ukraine has made it radioactive, writes Bloomberg.

Many leaders fear being seen in this year’s edition of the forum, and some have asked Roscongress organizers not to identify them on visit certificates, three sources familiar with the circumstances of the case said. Roscongress has not replied to the news agency’s request for comment.

The invasion of Ukraine has sparked extensive sanctions that threaten to send Russia’s economy into its deepest recession in decades, but confrontation with the West has barely been mentioned by organizers who have chosen “new opportunities in a new world” as the slogan for this year. conference.

Get the party planned

Foreign visitors are indeed required to bring cash, as Mastercard and VISA cards issued outside Russia do not work.

– In the past, Russia has used forums to show the country’s success, while business leaders can show they have connections and money. If not all domestic participants want to make their presence known, this is even more true for foreign participants, Ekaterina Schulmann told Bloomberg. He is a political analyst and researcher at the Robert Bosch Academy, and moderated several SPIEF debates last year.

Oligarchs previously competed to host the biggest parties with artists like Sting and Robbie Williams, but most oligarchs are now approved by the US and the European Union and several parties are planned this time around.

The Taliban are coming

His political guests were also not of the same caliber. While, for example, French President Emmanuel Macron, Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi have visited previous conferences, according to the Tass news agency this year we are talking about representatives of the Afghan Taliban, investment ministers from Myanmar’s military government and central bank governors in Venezuela – all from countries with severe sanctions.

The directors of two large industrial companies also informed Bloomberg that the entry ticket was 960,000 rubles (16,600 dollars) per. people make someone cancel a conference because business doesn’t make sense when many international companies are not present.

– No top managers in international companies will be photographed at SPIEF this year. Restrictions on travel to Russia are a convenient excuse for those who don’t want to be there or don’t want to damage bridges to the Kremlin, said director Chris Weafer at Macro-Advisory Ltd. to the news agency.