Russia House, the official residence of the Russian business community at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, has successfully completed its activities. The majority of WEF participants have acknowledged the Russia theme as one of the central for Davos this year. Ulmart, Russia's leading e-commerce company, and Roscongress, the largest foundation hosting business forums in Russia, welcomed a record number of high-profile guests as the organizers of Russia House and produced sought after events.
Russia House aimed to demonstrate that the country is open for dialog and cooperation, as well as highlighting successful business stories from Russia, a goal fully achieved as evidenced by high level of interest and turnout.
Over 3,000 people including government officials, heads of international and Russian businesses, representatives of investment community, renowned economists and bankers have attended Russia House events. Among the guests were: Rustam Minnikhanov, President of the Republic of Tatarstan; Kirill Dmitriev, CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund; Alexey Mordashov, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Severstal; Dmitry Konov, Chairman of the Management Board of SIBUR; Dr. Joerg Reinhardt, Ph.D., Chairman of the Board of Directors of Novartis; Sir Suma Chakrabarti, President of the EBRD; Shahar Waiser, Founder and CEO of Gett; Pavel Durov, Founder of Vkontakte; Carmine DiSibio, Global Managing Partner of EY; Shiv Khemka, Vice Chairman of SUN Group; Cees 't Hart , CEO of Carlsberg Group; Christian Sewing, a member of the Management Board of Deutsche Bank AG; Gary Coombe, President, Europe Selling & Market Operations of Procter & Gamble; Ramon Laguarta, CEO, Europe Sub-Saharan Africa, PepsiCo; Alanna Abrahamson, Senior Vice President of ABB.
The Russian government was represented in Russia House by Maxim Oreshkin, the Minister of Economic Development of the Russian Federation.
"WEF is highly important to us as it enables us to meet international colleagues and foreign companies that invest in Russia," Maxim Oreshkin said.
On 19 January 2017 in Russia House, the minister held a meeting with members of Russia's Foreign Investment Advisory Council, attended by heads of Russian and international businesses and NGOs.
Alexander Ivlev, Managing Partner of EY in Russia, said that the participants suggested that FIAC should help intensify Russia's efforts to enhance its image abroad as many international investors are still not aware of the country's potential. "Russia House has become the perfect platform in terms of format and content for such a discussion," he said.
Commenting on the results of Russia House's activities, Dmitry Kostygin, Chairman of Ulmart, said: "We have noticed great interest towards Russia and the potential of its market, as well as readiness for dialog on behalf of the international business community. Ulmart and our partners - Roscongress and large innovative companies - managed to demonstrate that Russia is actively participating in the global technological progress and opening new prospects for global cooperation."
Alexander Stuglev, Chief Executive Officer of the Roscongress Foundation, said that the objective of all events was to draw attention to Russia as an investment destination: "The business panels and meetings helped provide access to information on business opportunities in our country for our international partners and guests. We aim to demonstrate that Russia is open for dialog and create with our partner, Ulmart, projects such as Russia House."
Andrey Kuzyaev, President of ER-Telecom, said: "Participation in the WEF gives us an opportunity to understand global economic trends, study industry best practices and discuss them with our colleagues. Projects such as Russia House help create a communication platform to discuss major economic trends and new strategic opportunities."
On 17 January 2017, the first day of WEF, Russia House became the center of international dialog. The Digital Revolution Breakfast arranged by Ulmart gathered leaders of the technological industry to discuss the participation of major companies in technological progress and the development of digital economy. "Russia-USA: Dialogue After the Election" was one of the best attended panels of Russia House. Over 120 people participated in the discussion of prospects for economic development and opportunities for business between the two countries.
Day 2 opened with the discussion panel "Digital Disruption - 10 Years On" organised by EM, a financial and corporate communications consultancy. The participants discussed changes in culture, media, banking and other areas, which will be driven by technology in the near future. Tom Blackwell, CEO of EM, moderated the discussion which gathered Brian Pallas, Founder of Opportunity Network; Hanna Aase, Founder of Wonderloop; Tatiana Lysova, Editor-in-Chief of Vedomosti; Michael Hecker, Managing Director of Redline Capital; Andrey Kuzyaev, President of ER-Telecom, Egor Yakovlev, Founder of Tvigle; and Fekla Tolstoy, Development Director, Leo Tolstoy Museum.
Day 3 of the WEF was key for the Russian delegation in Davos. Dmitry Kostygin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ulmart, represented the interests of the Russian business community in the live debate "Russia's Role in the World," whose key speaker was Igor Shuvalov, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation.
"I have been an investor for many years and believe that Russia is currently undervalued. I am confident that 2017 will be successful for business and that means for the economy too," Dmitry Kostygin said during the debate.
For the duration of the event, guests of the official Russian residence were able to take a virtual tour of the venue of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) to be held on 1-3 June 2017. Over 400 Russian and international guests have watched the cutting edge presentation of the SPIEF.
Russia House's informal events included an official reception and traditional hockey match featuring renowned politicians, corporate leaders and professional hockey players including Stanley Cup stars.
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