Putin Speaks at SPIEF: Economy, Geopolitics, Energy and More
/ Go to the mediabankVladimir Putin participates in 2024 SPIEF plenary session
/ Go to the mediabank
Being updatedThe Russian president is participating in the plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum for the 20th time. SPIEF has been Russia’s flagship business and economic forum since 2006, attracting billions in investments annually. It’s been dubbed the «Russian Davos» by some observers.Russia always remains ready to work with countries to engage in mutually beneficial cooperation on an equal footing, including to collectively resolve global problems such as energy, President Putin said.Europe’s elites are interested in plunging the world into chaos, even as the paradigm of global development shifts, Putin said.The existing «hierarchical model» of global trade and cooperation is undergoing profound changes, and was based on ideas about «universality», but actually designed to extract wealth and resources from certain countries, while excluding others when they start to pursue sovereignty, Putin said.This system is moving toward multipolarity led by developing countries, according to the Russian president. «The world is becoming more equitable, fairer, because economic growth» is extending to «new centers of growth.» The BRICS countries alone account for nearly half of recent growth, compared to less than 20% among the G7.»BRICS has already overtaken the G7…and this gap is increasing,» Putin said. «The G7 is going to grow at best by 1.1% per year whereas BRICS nations are going to grow by 4.4%,» per international institutions like the World Bank, he pointed out.The North-South Corridor, Russia’s new Arctic maritime route, and other new trade routes demonstrate that the global trade system «is ceasing to be centered around the West,» Putin said. Trade between the BRICS bloc countries exceeds $1 trillion annually, and Central Asian countries like Uzbekistan are crucial in this process.»The erosion of the World Trade Organization was set off by…the Western nations. When it benefited them they promoted the WTO, but when the West started to lose this competition…[its rules] became more of a burden,» and they turned to sanctions, Putin said.
