6th Annual Russian Economic Forum
The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London, 2-4 April 2003
The 6th Annual Russian Economic Forum, on 2-4 April 2003, attracted record delegate numbers of over 1400. It also featured a broader programme than ever before, exploring a diverse range of economic, political and social issues related to Russia's continuing integration into the global economy.
Pre-registration and a welcome drinks were held at the Hotel Intercontinental on the evening of 2 April, with the conference sessions themselves at The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre on 3 and 4 April. The official gala reception was held at Lancaster House on the evening of 3 April.
The conference opened on the morning of 3 April with a packed, standing room only session in the Fleming Room, the main hall at the QEII. The opening plenary featured many key personalities from Russian and international business and politics. HRH Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, made some welcome remarks, and Sir John Egan, President of the CBI, chaired a session that included presentations from HE Grigory Karasin, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Court of St. James; Ilya Yuzhanov, Minister for Anti-Monopoly Policy and Entrepreneurship of the Russian Federation; Don Cruickshank, Chairman, London Stock Exchange; Roger Munnings, President & CEO, KPMG Russia/CIS and Chairman, KPMG Global Energy Practice; Peter Aven, President, Alfa Bank; Brian Wilson MP, Minister of State for Energy and Construction of the United Kingdom; and Anatoly Chubais, CEO, RAO Unified Energy System of Russia.
This was followed by a specially focussed session on Corporate Re-Structuring, chaired by Francois Veverka, Executive Managing Director, Standard and Poors Credit Ratings (Europe), and sponsored by Sberbank. In a departure from the traditional format of the plenary, this section of the programme targeted a particular theme, as would a session on Oil and Gas the following day. Mr. Veverka conducted a discussion on the dynamics of managing Russia's largest companies, in the form of a frank dialogue that dispensed completely with prepared presentations. The panel featured many of the country's most influential CEO's: Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Chairman, Yukos Oil; Andrei Kazmin, Chairman of the Board and CEO, Sberbank; Aleksei Mordashov, Chairman, "Severstal-Group" Holding; Alexander Lebedev, President, National Investment Council, and Andrei Klishas, CEO, Interros.
Afternoon sessions on 3 April covered a variety of themes, from sector-specific topics such as telecommunications and mining/metals to international politics and the modernisation of Russia. A media roundtable chaired by Vladimir Pozner produced an unexpectedly lively debate between many well known Russian and international journalists, including Aleksei Venediktov, Chief Editor, Ekho Moskvy; Mikhail Leontiev, Director and Presenter, "Odnako" TV Programme; Yulia Latinina, Presenter, "Yest Mneniye" TV Programme; Xan Smiley, Europe Editor, The Economist; Chrystia Freeland, Weekend Editor, FT, and Andrei Zolotov, Media Reporter, The Moscow Times.
The gala drinks reception on 3 April, sponsored by National Investment Council, was held at Lancaster House, one of London's most magnificent town houses. Situated just opposite Buckingham Palace, it is reserved exclusively for royal and government functions.
The opening plenary on 4 April was chaired by the British Ambassador in Moscow, Sir Roderic Lyne KBE CMG. He set the tone for an interesting lineup of speakers, with a candid assessment of the current business climate, before moderating a session that featured strong presentations from Alderman Gavyn Arthur, The Rt Hon The Lord Mayor of the City of London; Jean Lemierre, President, EBRD; Andrei Kostin, Chairman, Vneshtorgbank; Charlie Ryan, CEO, United Financial Group, and Boris Nemtsov, Leader, Union of Right Forces Party.
The second part of the plenary was devoted to oil and gas supply, security and investment. Roger Munnings, who, apart from acting as President and CEO of KPMG in Russia, is also Chairman of their Global Energy Practice, moderated the session. A significant share of the discussion was devoted to the landmark BP-TNK deal, with strong presentations from Bob Dudley, Group Vice President of BP, and Stan Polovets, Vice President for Strategic Development for Tyumen Oil Company, both of whom played active roles in the background work for the agreement. Other speakers for the session were Dr. Burckhard Bergmann, Chairman of Ruhrgas, and Stephen O'Sullivan, Head of Research at United Financial Group.
The final afternoon on 4 April featured many new themes, such as Small and Medium Sized Business Development, and Social Issues and Corporate Responsibility. The programme also focussed on a number of topics that had been covered in previous years, as a way of charting progress, such as Electricity Reform, and Russia's accession to the WTO.
