Participants in the meeting included First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Maxim Oreshkin, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov, Minister of Finance Anton Siluanov, Governor of the Central Bank Elvira Nabiullina, as well as Chairman of the Management Board and CEO of Sberbank German Gref.
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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Colleagues, good afternoon.
The annual International Economic Forum opened today in St Petersburg. It has become an increasingly important event for Russia, as well as for our foreign partners.
However, I asked you to come here today to discuss economic policy – specifically, our present-day economic policy and its future. I suggest that we focus on these topics during today’s meeting.
Let me remind you that we have been working to achieve our national development goals by leveraging the opportunities provided by the real economy, its various sectors, as well as the capabilities of Russian companies. Federal and regional government agencies, our colleagues on the ground, businesses and academia, as well as the civil society all work together towards this end.
These national goals include strengthening our national sovereignty in manufacturing and finance, achieving leading positions in technology, and improving transport and logistics connectivity between Russian regions and with our foreign partners.
Of course, our main and most important task is to improve the quality of life for people, enhance our cities and communities, develop healthcare and education, and address environmental challenges, among other priorities.
It is clear that, in order to work on all this as efficiently as possible, we need to monitor the situation, observe the macroeconomic trends within our borders, while also taking account of external challenges and the situation in international markets. Based on this analysis, I suggest we discuss the short-term options available to us and potential legislative amendments that could be enacted to adjust and supplement our efforts aimed at developing the economy, social services, regions, and all of Russia.
Let me add that we outlined several tasks for 2025 at the December meeting of the Council for Strategic Development and National Projects. They primarily deal with promoting balanced economic growth and structural reforms. I suggest that we have a detailed discussion on this matter today as well.
In two days, as we know, the plenary session of the St Petersburg Economic Forum is scheduled to take place. Of course, the discussion we will have at this forum will cover the topics we are about to raise during this meeting.
Just a few days ago, I had a meeting with German Gref to discuss the topics on our agenda today. I would like to ask him to share his perspective as a banker in order to kick-start our conversation. He can share the way he sees what is happening in our economy, since he is an insider working in the financial sector.
Sber is Russia’s flagship financial institution and lender. People there know what is going on in the real economy. He will tell us everything and present his report, after which we will zero in on this topic.
Mr Gref, go ahead, please.
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