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Russia’s isolation from the global economy caused low attendance at Putin’s economic forum in St. Petersburg.
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The event previously attracted big names from the West, but this time was mostly populated by lower-level politicians.
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Experts have sounded the alarm over the Russian economy amid wartime sanctions against Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin’s flagship economic forum this year has seen low attendance – another sign that Russia’s war on Ukraine is isolating it from the global economy.
Although Russia’s annual event in St. Petersburg has already attracted big names, such as French President Emmanuel Macron and then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel, the event failed to attract such big names. numbers on Wednesday.
Western politicians were largely absent, and even countries that were once neighbors of the Soviet Union were absent, Bloomberg reported.
Most of the attendees were lower-level politicians from the Middle East, Latin America and Asia – regions Russia has moved closer to economically as Western sanctions cut it off from traditional trade routes.
The most notable attendees were Chinese officials, including Zhang Hanhui, Chinese Ambassador to Moscow, and Zhou Liqun, Chairman of the Union of Chinese Entrepreneurs in Russia.
Russia has significantly stepped up its trade relationship with China over the past year, with officials pledging to build a ‘limitless’ partnership and lift trade volumes between the two countries to a new record in 2023. .
But experts have warned that the rift between Russia and the Western world could be deadly for Russia’s economy. Despite the nation’s stubborn defiance, the sanctions are weighing on Moscow’s finances, with oil and gas revenues collapsing by 50% while the nation’s budget deficit widens. And while Russia has stepped up trade with China and other allies, some experts say it could sacrifice its independence to do so.
Although some forecasters see Russia’s economy posting weak growth this year, those estimates are largely based on ‘chosen’ statistics from the Kremlin, according to two Yale researchers, who recently argued that Russia’s economy is struggling much more than Putin implied. so far. The nation could even become a failed state within the next decade, a think tank has estimated.
Read the original article on Business Insider