Published on: 2026-06-06
Source: Government of the Russian Federation –
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Alexander Novak took part in the second day of work of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum
Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak participated in the second day of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Within the framework of the business breakfast of the company “Sberbank” “Development Strategy: Are There Alternatives” with the participation of representatives of government bodies, business, and the expert community, the tasks of the new economic model, monetary-credit and tax-budget policy, as well as the development of technology as an instrument to increase labor productivity, were discussed.
“The economy is cyclical, and it is important here to manage risks, seek drivers that provide additional opportunities for growth along a sustainable trajectory. One of the main vectors here is increasing labor productivity, enhancing its flexibility, shifting employment from unproductive sectors to those where there is greater added value,” noted Alexander Novak.
At the panel session of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives “Presentation of the results of the National Rating of the Investment Climate in the Regions of Russia,” trends and results of investment activities in the country’s regions were discussed, as well as tasks for the future in this area.The event was attended by Minister of Economic Development Maksim Reshetnikov, Director General of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI) Svetlana Chupsheva, Mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin, Governor of Saint Petersburg Alexander Beglov, Governor of Moscow Region Andrey Vorobyov, Head of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, Head of the Republic of Bashkortostan Radiy Khabirov, Director General of DOM.RF Vitaly Mutko, Chairman of Delovaya Rossiya Aleksey Repik.
The Deputy Prime Minister noted that the improvement of people’s well-being depends on economic growth and the creation of opportunities for investment in various sectors. “By directive of the President of Russia, a National Model of Target Conditions for Doing Business was developed and approved by the Government in 2025. It covers the entire business life cycle from registration to export and allows for the continuation of systematic work to improve the business environment.”The key tasks are the removal of administrative barriers, reduction of timeframes and costs, improvement of the mechanism of interaction between the state and business according to clear and predictable rules. Eleven working groups have been established across 11 directions, with 250 specific activities and 42 indicators, based on which the monitoring of the success of the work within the national model will be conducted. This is a live tool that will make it possible to ensure the improvement and enhancement of conditions for entrepreneurial activity,” noted Alexander Novak.
Maxim Reshetnikov emphasized that the issue of the investment rating is a personal involvement of the head of the region, the entire team as a result. “The processes of work in all directions — construction, infrastructure, control and supervision, preparation of special economic zones — must be integrated into the work at the subject level. Competent regions integrate all these procedures into the general framework of investment policy. For the country, it is now extremely important that conditions are leveled for everyone, given that lagging subjects and specific ones have worked on the mistakes,” said the Minister of Economic Development.
During the session, a ranking of Russian regions by the level of investment climate as of 2026 was presented. First place was taken by Moscow and the Republic of Tatarstan, second – Nizhny Novgorod and Moscow regions, third place went to the Samara region, St. Petersburg, and the Republic of Bashkortostan.
Sergey Sobyanin noted that the rating of the investment climate is not about numbers or bureaucracy, but about real work that truly helps improve all processes and attract investors. “A live dialogue with business, with entrepreneurs, with people is very valuable. Over the past decades, the investment climate in the region has improved significantly. And this is very important. I am confident that we will overcome today’s difficulties together with a strong team of governors, heads of regions, the Government, and the Presidential Administration,” emphasized the Mayor of Moscow.
Within the framework of the panel session “Economics of the New World Order: Structural Transformation, Challenges, and Opportunities,” changes occurring in the global economy were discussed – redistribution of trade flows, introduction of new technologies, alternative financial instruments, transformation of global institutions, as well as current trends in attracting investment to business taking into account ongoing processes.The event was attended by the General Director of the Russian Direct Investment Fund Kirill Dmitriev, the First Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic Daniyar Amangeldiev, the Governor of the Chelyabinsk Region Alexey Teksler, and representatives of the domestic and foreign business communities.
Alexander Novak noted that today we live in a radically changing world, where structural changes are taking place in part of the new points of economic growth. The demographic factor plays a role, the introduction of new technologies, as well as turbulence caused by protectionism of some countries, tariff wars, and sanction pressure. “Despite all the restrictions imposed against our country, the domestic economy has demonstrated stability: growth rates over the past three years amounted to 10.3%, that is, on average 3.3% per year, which is above the global average indicators.”The driver is the internal demand due to the supply of foreign companies; there emerged an opportunity to load domestic industry, to engage in import substitution. We have also built partnerships with friendly countries and ensured supplies both as exports and imports, especially of high-tech products,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.
Noting the high importance of investment activity for economic development, Kirill Dmitriev spoke about the importance of creating an appropriate ecosystem within the country. “More active efforts are needed to build our own investment industry. This means more funds from pension funds, insurance companies, including direct investments, because this is a very important potential for development. But it is also important to combine with external sources,” emphasized the head of RDIF.
Aleksei Texler noted that today there is active interaction between the regions of various countries. This can be observed by the example of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. “Such cooperation is expressed along the business line, where representatives trade, conduct negotiations, corporate interaction takes place, and the SCO has actively joined this process. This is a potential for interregional cooperation, in addition to what the government, the Russian Export Center is doing, giving an additional impulse to the development of international cooperation, strengthening our relations with friendly countries.””There is great potential here, and we will undoubtedly continue to engage in this further,” said the governor of the Chelyabinsk region.
Also, at the SPIEF venue, Alexander Novak and Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin signed an agreement on cooperation in the fields of electric power, gas industry, and energy saving, according to which it is planned to create a regional center of competence for technological network connection in the capital.The center will combine the main functions for managing and developing engineering infrastructure, including the creation of backbone networks and main facilities, the determination of priority construction projects taking into account the comprehensive engineering support scheme, and the transfer of networks for maintenance and operation to resource-supplying organizations. The main result of the cooperation will be a new model of transparent and energy-efficient technological connection, which can then be implemented in other regions of the country.
The Deputy Prime Minister also held a series of working meetings. Together with the Chairman of the Government of the Altai Republic, Alexander Prokopyev, they discussed issues of improving the quality of life and well-being of residents through the socio-economic development of the region, issues of energy and fuel security, and improving the investment climate in the region’s territory.
With the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Uzbekistan for Investment, Industry and Foreign Economic Relations, Jamshid Khodjaev, the prospects for cooperation in the energy sector were considered, including the construction of the first power unit of an integrated NPP in Uzbekistan, the start of which on the eve of a videoconference was given by the President of Russia Vladimir Putin and the President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
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