Oriental landmark: the amount of contracts for the WEF has broken a record
The jubilee X Eastern Economic Forum has set a new record for attracting investments. This year, 283 agreements were signed totaling 6.04 trillion rubles, which will help create new jobs and contribute to the emergence of a new economy in the Far East. Business representatives declared their willingness to invest in the region, while the authorities acknowledged that problems remain. These issues have become one of the main topics of the forum. What the participants discussed is in the Izvestia article.
What investments and resources did the WEF manage to attract
At the Eastern Economic Forum, 283 agreements worth 6.04 trillion rubles were signed, which is significantly more than a year earlier (at that time, a record total volume of contracts was recorded — almost 5.5 trillion rubles. — Izvestia). This was announced at the final press conference by Deputy Prime Minister, Presidential Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District Yuri Trutnev.
"A significant part of the signed agreements will turn into projects and open doors for people: they will create new jobs and a new economy," the Deputy Prime Minister stressed.
Among the regions where they will be implemented, he named the Khabarovsk Territory, Buryatia and Yakutia.
According to him, a total of 3,000 investment projects worth 10.6 trillion rubles have been initiated, of which 5.1 trillion have already been invested.
"The tenth anniversary Forum was a turning point for us. When we reported to the president what we had achieved in each territory, we found that a significant number of values had already emerged in the piggy bank that would be in demand by the population and improve the economic and social situation in the regions," said Yuri Trutnev.
Alexey Chekunkov, Minister for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic, in turn, said that the authorities were preparing for this forum not just as an annual event where representatives from 75 countries meet, but as a starting point for the next decade of the development of the Far East. According to him, at the plenary session, everyone saw that Russian President Vladimir Putin highly appreciated the development of the Far Eastern Federal District and proposed new solutions to continue this dynamic.
"These are important decisions that should create new meanings for the Far East and make it even more interesting, primarily for young people and partners from friendly countries. Therefore, work on the advanced development of the Far East will continue," the minister said.
However, it was not without its thorny moments. Yuri Trutnev said that the president's order to create a program for the development of energy in the Far East until 2050 has not been fulfilled.
"That is, there is no such program. This is the first one. Secondly, there is a [general] allocation scheme until 2042, but it does not fulfill those requests," the Deputy Prime Minister said, noting that a very difficult meeting on this issue had been held in Vladivostok the day before with the participation of Energy Minister Sergei Tsivilev.
At the same time, according to Yuri Trutnev, it is not easy to develop this program, but to start implementing it as soon as possible, and not in 25 years.
"We need operational measures that will urgently change the situation, because our electricity shortage starts next year and then it increases every year," the Deputy Prime Minister said.
Business believes that the government has heard it
The authorities at the WEF heard the business and went to meet it halfway, said Alexander Kalinin, head of the public organization Support of Russia.
— President Vladimir Putin, speaking at the forum, confirmed that the Far East is a priority for Russia. It was important for us to hear that preferential business regimes would be maintained and the tax burden would not increase. This is a very important signal, given the state of the economy, which is projected to grow at 1%," a business representative told Izvestia.
According to him, this will give a good signal for investments, the flow of which to this territory will become even higher after the Central Bank reduces the key interest rate.
Evgeny Etin, Director of Government Relations at RVB (united Wildberries & Russ company), added that many important topics were discussed at the forum: the contribution to the development of small and medium-sized businesses, as well as new niches for digital platforms, such as, for example, state and municipal procurement in the field of education.
— We continue to see a significant increase in interest in the topic of digital platforms. In this sense, the WEF proved to be very fruitful," he told Izvestia.
Unexpected for business was the statement by Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov at the session "Freedom of Entrepreneurship in Russia" that the confusion in the calculations of non-tax deductions leads to real extortion from entrepreneurs. According to him, it is necessary to create a single electronic register of all mandatory payments for businesses in order to make the process transparent. This idea has already been supported by the government of the Russian Federation, and practical work is currently underway to develop and implement such a mechanism, he stressed.
The main results of the anniversary forum
An important outcome for the Far East and the Arctic was the conclusion of large-scale investment agreements. In 2026, a bridge will be opened in the DPRK, which will serve the development of economic contacts between the countries, said Vadim Kovrigin, associate professor at the Institute of Economics, Management and Law of the Moscow State Pedagogical University.
— The main event of this WEF, of course, was Vladimir Putin's speech. He outlined the key task of the Russian economy — to become a high-wage economy. For this, of course, technological re—equipment and the transition to a new way of its construction are necessary," the expert explained to Izvestia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin during the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum
According to him, it is important that the authorities and business pay attention to the development of the infrastructure of the Far East: the modernization of railways and bridges.
— The carrying capacity of the railway infrastructure should increase by one and a half times in seven years. The Far East and the Arctic can become not just a point of attraction for capital, but a zone of advanced development — for 15 years from 2027, a single business preference regime with large—scale benefits and unchanging rules of the game will be launched there," Leonid Kovrigin said.
He also drew attention to the fact that the authorities are thinking about personnel for business development: they plan to extend Far Eastern and Arctic mortgages at 2% not only to the primary, but also to the secondary housing market.
— The Jubilee WEF will be remembered for the high level of interaction between leading Russian companies and colleagues from more than 70 Asian, African, Latin and South American countries. The Forum has once again proved that economic cooperation with Russia is a significant development factor," Mikhail Khachaturian, PhD in Economics, Associate Professor at the Department of Strategic and Innovative Development at the Financial University, told Izvestia.
He believes that the main results of the forum are that the Far East and the Arctic are becoming key investment and development targets for the country. It is here that it is planned to develop logistics projects based on the new logistics center in Yakutia from RVB, expand the banking infrastructure by expanding the presence of VEB.According to the expert, Russia should increase the volume of wind generation in the Amur Region and build new nuclear power plants.
— The most important outcome of the WEF is investments in the national economy and the economy of the Far East and the Arctic. This is a priority for Russian business, which is increasingly realizing that only targeting the domestic market creates the foundation for attractiveness for the development of foreign projects. For the Far Eastern Federal District and the Arctic, these results mean a new stage of development, new jobs, an increase in GRP and the well—being of citizens," Mikhail Khachaturian emphasized.
The key focus of the WEF-2025 was the topic of international cooperation with the ASEAN, SCO and BRICS countries, which are of particular importance for both the eastern part of the country and for Russia as a whole, said Lidia Roy, head of the Creative Industries Laboratory at the Skolkovo School of Management. According to her, the topics of interaction were investments and economic cooperation in the fields of energy, digital transformation, healthcare, sustainable development, tourism and culture.
In addition, the expert noted that a Forum of Creative Industries was held within the framework of the WEF. The topic of investment, as well as the export of creativity, became important at it.
— This is both the growth of the economy and the strengthening of the image of Russia as a country capable of creating a sought-after and competitive cultural product. Our strategic goal is to bring the volume of exports of content and services to the level of the world's leading players," Lidia Roy emphasized, noting that such exports are also a tool of "soft power": promoting Russia as a confident cultural brand in the international arena.
In addition, the expert believes that the Far East is now going beyond the usual context and is becoming a flagship in such areas as urbanism, cultural events and mass formats.
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