The 16th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), set to host several thousand economic experts, business managers and political leaders, opened Thursday morning with the first session at 9 a.m.

President Vladimir Putin will open a plenary session at 2 p.m., where he is expected to speak about the results of meetings with leaders at the recently concluded G-20 summit in Mexico.

Top topics at the forum this year will include the debt crisis in Europe, the influence of the Arab Spring and the future of atomic energy after the accident at Japan's Fukushima reactor. Participants will also discuss the development of Russia's far eastern regions and the Caucasus, the innovation cluster at the Skolkovo Foundation and the situation on commodity markets.

4:14 p.m., Highlights From Putin's Keynote Address:
On privatization plans: Putin said the plans for privatizing state assets that have been drawn up will be fulfilled and the government will exit a number of sectors of the economy. But he stressed that the privatizations must be different than in the 1990s, when, he said, government assets were given away to those who had connections to the authorities. He said that state capitalism is not Russia's goal but that privatization could lead to private monopolies in place of state ones.

On the investment climate: Putin announced the appointment of Boris Titov, the head of business organization Delovaya Rossia, as the ombudsman for entrepreneurs, a position that will liaise with foreign and domestic business people to address problems faced by companies. He said the General Prosecutor's Office will need to work in this area as well to prevent pressure from being illegally put on businesses. Putin said road maps have been drawn up for eliminating barriers related to insufficient infrastructure, such as electricity hookups, and cumbersome tax procedures. He reiterated his ambition for Russia to enter the top 20 countries in the world in terms of ease of doing business.

On economic diversification: Putin said the Russian economy needs to diversify, moving away from its reliance on the sale of oil, gas and other natural resources. He said Russia must lower its "dangerous deficit" of non-oil-and-gas income. He said the government will end the practice of basing the national budget on the oil price.

On the European economy: Putin said Russia keeps a significant amount of its currency reserves in euros and is not taking steps to make the situation in Europe worse. He said Russia will "support our European partners." He said the current economic problems in Europe show that nations need to have greater fiscal discipline and need to be able to "accept responsibility."

On foreign investment: Putin said Russia is open to foreign investment, including in strategic sectors, and wants to increase the level of foreign direct investment to Russia. He said Russian companies are not always given access to investment opportunities abroad and that Russia wants equal treatment worldwide for all companies seeking to invest in foreign countries' economies.

On Russia's political system: Putin said authorities understand that a modern government cannot be created without a mature civil society. He noted the recent legislative changes simplifying the procedures for registering political parties and the innovation allowing people to become involved in proposing laws, noting that if an idea for a law gains more than 100,000 signatures online it will be considered by parliament.

3:37 p.m., Putin Says Russia Will Support Europe, Invites Investment: The president has concluded his keynote address, which lasted around 50 minutes. Putin, who is known for arriving late to events, began speaking at around 2:40 p.m., 40 minutes after the scheduled 2 p.m. start time. We will collect more highlights from his speech and post them on this blog above.

3:21 p.m., Putin Says Corruption Is Biggest Threat to Development: The president said corruption is an even larger threat to the country's development than fluctuations in the price of oil.

Putin said that rooting out corruption is a difficult problem to solve but that the government "cannot pretend that it doesn't exist" and must look for ways to battle it.

He said way of eliminating corruption was to bring people into government who are not interested in making money through bribes.

Regarding the impact of the world price of oil on the country, Putin said Russia will end the practice of basing the national budget on the oil price. Currently, the budget takes into account a certain market price of oil, basing its projections for a budget deficit or surplus on the predicted price over a given period.

A significant portion of budget funds come from taxes on oil and gas, and it isn't clear how Russia could create a budget without basing it on a predicted market oil price.

2:45 p.m., Putin Giving Keynote Address: President Vladimir Putin has begun speaking at the plenary session. He opened by saying he would share with participants the government's plans "to transform Russia." He said the results of the Greek elections and decisions by European leaders to push for a closer fiscal union among EU states were reasons for reserved optimism.

2:38 p.m., 40% of Siberia and Far East Residents Ready to Pack Up and Leave: Head of state-run pollster VTsIOM said that about 40 percent of residents of Russia's Siberian and far eastern regions are ready to move to another part of the country, while every fifth resident is ready to leave the country altogether.

"Among the working-age population of Siberia and the Far East, only 2 percent have not considered leaving the region. This means that the prospect of departure for Siberians is real, and it is a serious red flag that needs urgent attention," VTsIOM head Fedorov said at a news conference.

Residents listed the regions' biggest problems as the cost of living being high compared with the level of wages (50 percent), alcoholism and drug addiction (40 percent) and poor housing availability (44 percent), he said.

Among European Russians, in contrast, only 17 percent have considered leaving the region, Fyodorov said.

2:27 p.m., Capital Outflow Dipped to Below $6Bln in May, Belousov Says: Economic Development Minister Andrei Belousov said less than $6 billion was taken out of Russia in May, according to estimates, compared to an average of $13 billion per month in the first quarter.

The comparatively high capital outflow numbers over the last nine months has contributed to investor anxiety over putting money into the Russian economy.

Belousov noted that the figure was a decrease from April as well, when capital outflow was around $7 billion, but said it was still high.

"Nonetheless that is a rather high amount, and therefore the issue comes into central focus regarding the significant improvement of the business climate and defense of investments, defense of investor interests," Belousov said at a forum round table, Interfax reported.

2:17 p.m., Finance Minister Says No New Taxes for 5 Years: The Russian government does not intend to raise the tax burden on the economy in the next five years, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said at a Sberbank business breakfast.

"Tax policy should be predictable, and we in government have agreed that if there will be changes in tax policy, they will not be used to increase the tax burden over the next five years," he said. The minister stressed that if there will be changes in tax policy during this time, it will only be in favor of taxpayers....

Keywords: Russia, Economy, G20 - Russian News - Russia

The 16th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), set to host several thousand economic experts, business managers and political leaders, opened Thursday morning with the first session at 9 a.m.

President Vladimir Putin will open a plenary session at 2 p.m., where he is expected to speak about the results of meetings with leaders at the recently concluded G-20 summit in Mexico.

Top topics at the forum this year will include the debt crisis in Europe, the influence of the Arab Spring and the future of atomic energy after the accident at Japan's Fukushima reactor. Participants will also discuss the development of Russia's far eastern regions and the Caucasus, the innovation cluster at the Skolkovo Foundation and the situation on commodity markets.

4:14 p.m., Highlights From Putin's Keynote Address:
On privatization plans: Putin said the plans for privatizing state assets that have been drawn up will be fulfilled and the government will exit a number of sectors of the economy. But he stressed that the privatizations must be different than in the 1990s, when, he said, government assets were given away to those who had connections to the authorities. He said that state capitalism is not Russia's goal but that privatization could lead to private monopolies in place of state ones.

On the investment climate: Putin announced the appointment of Boris Titov, the head of business organization Delovaya Rossia, as the ombudsman for entrepreneurs, a position that will liaise with foreign and domestic business people to address problems faced by companies. He said the General Prosecutor's Office will need to work in this area as well to prevent pressure from being illegally put on businesses. Putin said road maps have been drawn up for eliminating barriers related to insufficient infrastructure, such as electricity hookups, and cumbersome tax procedures. He reiterated his ambition for Russia to enter the top 20 countries in the world in terms of ease of doing business.

On economic diversification: Putin said the Russian economy needs to diversify, moving away from its reliance on the sale of oil, gas and other natural resources. He said Russia must lower its "dangerous deficit" of non-oil-and-gas income. He said the government will end the practice of basing the national budget on the oil price.

On the European economy: Putin said Russia keeps a significant amount of its currency reserves in euros and is not taking steps to make the situation in Europe worse. He said Russia will "support our European partners." He said the current economic problems in Europe show that nations need to have greater fiscal discipline and need to be able to "accept responsibility."

On foreign investment: Putin said Russia is open to foreign investment, including in strategic sectors, and wants to increase the level of foreign direct investment to Russia. He said Russian companies are not always given access to investment opportunities abroad and that Russia wants equal treatment worldwide for all companies seeking to invest in foreign countries' economies.

On Russia's political system: Putin said authorities understand that a modern government cannot be created without a mature civil society. He noted the recent legislative changes simplifying the procedures for registering political parties and the innovation allowing people to become involved in proposing laws, noting that if an idea for a law gains more than 100,000 signatures online it will be considered by parliament.

3:37 p.m., Putin Says Russia Will Support Europe, Invites Investment: The president has concluded his keynote address, which lasted around 50 minutes. Putin, who is known for arriving late to events, began speaking at around 2:40 p.m., 40 minutes after the scheduled 2 p.m. start time. We will collect more highlights from his speech and post them on this blog above.

3:21 p.m., Putin Says Corruption Is Biggest Threat to Development: The president said corruption is an even larger threat to the country's development than fluctuations in the price of oil.

Putin said that rooting out corruption is a difficult problem to solve but that the government "cannot pretend that it doesn't exist" and must look for ways to battle it.

He said way of eliminating corruption was to bring people into government who are not interested in making money through bribes.

Regarding the impact of the world price of oil on the country, Putin said Russia will end the practice of basing the national budget on the oil price. Currently, the budget takes into account a certain market price of oil, basing its projections for a budget deficit or surplus on the predicted price over a given period.

A significant portion of budget funds come from taxes on oil and gas, and it isn't clear how Russia could create a budget without basing it on a predicted market oil price.

2:45 p.m., Putin Giving Keynote Address: President Vladimir Putin has begun speaking at the plenary session. He opened by saying he would share with participants the government's plans "to transform Russia." He said the results of the Greek elections and decisions by European leaders to push for a closer fiscal union among EU states were reasons for reserved optimism.

2:38 p.m., 40% of Siberia and Far East Residents Ready to Pack Up and Leave: Head of state-run pollster VTsIOM said that about 40 percent of residents of Russia's Siberian and far eastern regions are ready to move to another part of the country, while every fifth resident is ready to leave the country altogether.

"Among the working-age population of Siberia and the Far East, only 2 percent have not considered leaving the region. This means that the prospect of departure for Siberians is real, and it is a serious red flag that needs urgent attention," VTsIOM head Fedorov said at a news conference.

Residents listed the regions' biggest problems as the cost of living being high compared with the level of wages (50 percent), alcoholism and drug addiction (40 percent) and poor housing availability (44 percent), he said.

Among European Russians, in contrast, only 17 percent have considered leaving the region, Fyodorov said.

2:27 p.m., Capital Outflow Dipped to Below $6Bln in May, Belousov Says: Economic Development Minister Andrei Belousov said less than $6 billion was taken out of Russia in May, according to estimates, compared to an average of $13 billion per month in the first quarter.

The comparatively high capital outflow numbers over the last nine months has contributed to investor anxiety over putting money into the Russian economy.

Belousov noted that the figure was a decrease from April as well, when capital outflow was around $7 billion, but said it was still high.

"Nonetheless that is a rather high amount, and therefore the issue comes into central focus regarding the significant improvement of the business climate and defense of investments, defense of investor interests," Belousov said at a forum round table, Interfax reported.

2:17 p.m., Finance Minister Says No New Taxes for 5 Years: The Russian government does not intend to raise the tax burden on the economy in the next five years, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said at a Sberbank business breakfast.

"Tax policy should be predictable, and we in government have agreed that if there will be changes in tax policy, they will not be used to increase the tax burden over the next five years," he said. The minister stressed that if there will be changes in tax policy during this time, it will only be in favor of taxpayers....