SecondOr since 2015, the “Eastern Economic Forum” has been held every year in Vladivostok in the Russian Far East.It aims to attract investors, especially those from the Asia-Pacific region, to Russia. It was not created accidentally a year after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine: the forum is part of the Kremlin’s propaganda “turn to the east”, looking for new business partners. , Which has led to an increase in China’s trade share with Russia, but remains the most important trading partner I.
Unlike previous years, there is almost no major investment commitment in Vladivostok this time: only the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi India announced through a video message that India hopes to help Russia expand the Northeast Passage through the Arctic Ocean-due to global warming, it should become an alternative to the Southern Passage through the Suez Canal. Modi said that the Indian shipyard Mazagon Dock Limited will cooperate with the Russian shipyard Zvezda to build one of the most important merchant ships in the world.
In contrast, China does not have such an offer. In 2018, President Xi Jinping pledged to help build industrial capacity in the Far East. This year, Xi Jinping only talked about the coronavirus in a video message.
Main information: Nord Stream 2
The trade relationship with Japan also did not play an important role. They have long been hindered by the Kuril Islands dispute, a group of Pacific islands occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945. Therefore, Moscow and Tokyo have not signed a peace treaty since World War II.
Putin has now announced that he hopes to establish a special economic zone on these islands, where foreign entrepreneurs will not have to pay taxes for ten years. Obviously, Japanese investors will also be attracted in this way. However, only a few people may be involved-because of island disputes, and because Japan has joined Western sanctions on Russia.
The most important message of the Russian Economic Forum was not announced by foreign heads of state, but by Alexei Miller, head of Gazprom, announced: “soon” the completion of the Beixi 2 pipeline, Miller in Vladivostok Ke said. He had previously announced that Gazprom would be able to send the first batch of natural gas to Europe via pipeline “this year”.
However, once the pipeline is completed, certification is still required; in addition, according to EU regulations, third parties must also be able to enter the pipeline. Since Gazprom has an export monopoly on natural gas, it has not yet planned. In Vladivostok, it is well known that the government is currently reviewing whether to allow the state-owned oil company Rosneft to export natural gas to Europe.
