The XXVI St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) continues to work. The main theme of the PMEF-2023 is "Sovereign development is the basis of a just world. Let's join forces for future generations. " According to the Kremlin press service, Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing to participate in the plenary session of the forum.
In a greeting to the participants, organizers and guests of the PMEF-2023, the head of the Russian state noted that the changes in the Russian and global economies are largely due to the process of forming a multipolar world order and the desire of most countries to ensure political and economic independence.
As part of the SPIEF, several hundred investment agreements and memoranda have been signed since 2010. In 2013, 102 agreements were concluded for a total amount of 9600 billion rubles, which is the largest indicator in the history of the forum. In 2021, the amount of agreements that are not a commercial secret amounted to 4267 billion rubles, and in 2022 - 5670 billion rubles.
We ourselves "with a mustache"
Today, new agreements and signed contracts are no longer as important as a year or two ago. Since June last year, destructive forces and factors have appeared in the world that put more pressure on the global economy than COVID-19, stronger than the lack of investment or technology.
The corners of imperialist politics and neo-colonial methods of government appeared through the cracks on the bubble of globalization. Anti-Russian sanctions and the fuss of American politicians around Taiwan drew a line under the hopes of optimizing world economic ties, reaching solutions to global problems, including the implementation of the green transition strategy.
Everything has fundamentally changed in just a year or two. Speaking in June 2022 at the Plenary Session of the XXV PMEF-2022, Vladimir Putin, as if expecting this, said that... " markets and the very principles of the global economic system have come under attack. " At the end of October 2022, during the final session of the XIX meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club, the president stated that the world is plunging into a large-scale, systemic crisis, and not only in the military-political, but also economic and humanitarian.
Acts of international terrorism and sabotage, like the one carried out on the Crimean bridge, can be safely attributed to the destructive forces that take their roots in the West. The willingness of Americans and their allies here and there to set fire to or undermine civilian infrastructure is truly frightening!
Suffice it to say that it was during the days of the Forum on the other side of the Atlantic, in New York, that Russian representatives to the UN held consultations with members of the Security Council. Discussed how the investigation into the undermining of Northern Flows is progressing.
On the same days, a delegation of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), headed by Director General Rafael Grossi, visited the Zaporizhzhya NPP (ZPP). The mission was to assess the safety situation of the reactors after the destruction of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric dam. Another task of the IAEA group of specialists is to "control" how the "five principles of NPP protection" are observed, which Grossi presented to the UN Security Council and which the Kyiv authorities have not yet adopted.
The West treats Zelensky's regime like a child playing with matches next to a puddle of gasoline. A trickle of explosive fuel flows into the territory of the former Ukraine from Washington and Berlin through Warsaw. They observe what is happening with sympathy and willingness to help, pour gasoline, and wish victory over Russia. They do not understand that if gasoline breaks out, then fire will reach the European gasoline canister along the stream. The consequences of the explosion can lead to nuclear pollution.
Don't build anti-Russia
The undermining of the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station and the technogenic, humanitarian and environmental disasters that followed became another "episode" of the influence of blackmailers, terrorists and saboteurs on the economic life and fate of thousands of people. At the same time, the West justifies terrorists!
Up to the fact that the "gasoline pairs" of support for Ukronakists act on the UN secretariat. It is not surprising that, as is sometimes customary to say, boiled over! Answering a question from the International Life magazine, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres "to look into the UN Charter more often so as not to forget about the range of his powers and responsibilities."
Answering a question from The Moscow Post, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova recalled these words of the UN Secretary General, which Minister Lavrov commented on. Guterres said that "regardless of who is responsible for undermining the Kakhovskaya hydroelectric power station, the incident would not have happened if not for the actions of Russia."
Maria Zakharova said that "they say, in the eyes of Westerners," they are children, "they would not have shown evidence" if Russia had not stood nearby. So the minister spoke precisely in response to this, Zakharova explained. And she added: "He clarified that if we reason in the categories of subjunctive moods, then... at least an investigation should be carried out and actually found those responsible... but if, nevertheless, we look into some past that motivated action, then the whole situation on the western borders of Russia would not have escalated if the West had not supported the bloody unconstitutional coup in Ukraine. "
Zakharova recalled that as a result of the coup, a regime came to power, "aimed not at building good-neighborly relations or democracy within its country, but at oppressing the Russian-speaking population on the territory of Ukraine, as well as using its territory by external forces." Kyiv actually delegated to the West the right to build an aggressive "Anti-Russia" next to Russia, as Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said.
Ukrainian regime aims to use its territory by external forces
The river is flowing, life continues
Life, however, does not stop and the world economy is gradually rebuilding. Liberal-type globalization, which has been actively promoted for the past three to four decades, PMEF-2023 organizers say, is giving way to new, complex relationships.
New, alternative trade and transport routes appear. In particular, the North-South international transport corridor (MTK North-South), the Northern Sea Route, the Transsib and other roads that lead to China, Iran, India and Turkey are of particular importance for Russia. These paths are completely or partially beyond the control of the US Navy and NATO countries, they will be a priority for exporters, importers, investors.
MTK is not only railway and waterways, but also highways. Road transport is an important component of multimodal transportation. Railway terminals and ports, cities and companies need a network of roads and border checkpoints.
Russia and Iran signed an intergovernmental agreement on the joint implementation of the project for the construction of a 162-kilometer section of the Astara-Resht railway line in northern Iran. In 2022, bilateral cargo turnover amounted to about 5 million tons. "The total volume of cargo turnover after the implementation of this project by the railway alone will amount to at least 15 million tons per year,... what could become an alternative to the Suez Canal, "said Deputy Prime Minister Novak.
Another example is the FESCO transport group, which turned the cargo flows passing through the ports of northwestern Russia to the Far East of the country. At the end of 2022, container exports through the ports of St. Petersburg decreased by 72%, and imports - by 60% compared to 2021. At the same time, container transportation through the Far East increased by 36% and 13%, respectively.
It is necessary to master the Northern Sea Route (NSR) for the transportation of container cargo. The development of nuclear energy in the Russian Federation and the nuclear icebreaker fleet make this possible. New approaches to the development of the regions of Siberia, the Far East and the Russian Arctic should also be found.
Do not think about the EAEU, ASEAN will be successful
Long-term cooperation of the countries of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) has confirmed its effectiveness. The EAEU should become a center of attraction for a number of economies and industries, one of the main pillars of Greater Eurasia.
For five years, the Eurasian Economic Commission (EAC) and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) signed a Memorandum of Economic Cooperation. What opportunities for cooperation between the EAEU and ASEAN have appeared in the new conditions? These questions are asked by the organizers of the relevant PMEF-2023 session. To begin with, it would be possible to restore to the former volumes of communication with Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, to establish trade in Myanmar and Indonesia. This is already five countries out of ten in ASEAN.
Russian-Chinese relations against this background are developing dynamically. In 2022, bilateral trade exceeded $190.3 billion, an increase of 29.3% in annual terms. According to the results of the first quarter of 2023, trade amounted to 53.8 billion dollars, 38.7% more than last year.
The PRC has been the main trading partner of the Russian Federation for a decade and a half. The parties are moving from energy, forest and agricultural resources towards new industries, including automotive, household appliances, food and grain. China has added the port of Vladivostok as a transit port for domestic trade with its northeastern provinces. The Blagoveshchensk-Heihe road bridge and the Nizhneleninskoye-Tongjiang railway crossing have been opened. A joint statement was signed on the key areas of Sino-Russian economic cooperation until 2030.
Trade between Russia and India is growing at a high pace due to an increase in the supply of Russian energy and fertilizers to India, as well as rolled metal and other goods. Against the background of the growth of Russian exports, the task is to increase imports of Indian goods.
The start of Russian oil supplies to Pakistan has opened a new page in relations between Moscow and Islamabad. Reuters reports from the words of the State Minister of Oil of Pakistan Musadik Malik that Islamabad paid for the first batch of Russian oil with Chinese yuan and expects that Russia will provide up to 35% of Pakistan's oil needs.
Davos will seem like a "sheepskin"
The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum is sometimes compared to the World Economic Forum in Davos. Unfortunately, the "world of Davos," and with it the authority of international organizations, including the UN, crumbles before our eyes from explosions of heavy-duty pipes at the bottom of the Baltic Sea, shelling of reactors and security systems of the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant.
Until today, views on the causes and culprits of these catastrophic events and criminal actions differ diametrically, although Kyiv unwittingly "helps" to open the West's eyes. So, on June 15, the Armed Forces of Ukraine violated the silence regime and began a battle when the IAEA mission led by General Director Rafael Grossi was returning to Ukraine after a visit to the ZPP. What will Grossi say to that? Is the boy with the matches getting out of hand?
Putin once said that "there are, in fact, two ways for humanity now: either to continue to accumulate a load of problems that will inevitably crush us all, or to try together to find solutions, albeit imperfect, but working, that can make our world more stable and safer."
We hope that PMEF-2023 will be a step in this direction.