St. Petersburg International Economic Forum: The Definitive Platform on Russian and Emerging Market Economic Environments

ST PETERSBURG, Russia, June 1, 2011 -

One of the key issues to be discussed at this year's St
Petersburg International Economic Forum on 16-18 June is the financing of
Russia's modernization. A number of sessions will be devoted to this subject,
in particular the session 'Raising Capital for Russia's Growth' on June 18,
in cooperation with UBS and televised by Bloomberg TV.

To view the Multimedia News Release, please click:

multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/prne/spbforum/48925/

As the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev,
noted at a news conference held at Moscow's Skolkovo management school on May
18, 2011, "The investment climate is vital for our success…I will certainly
return to this issue shortly, including at the Forum in St. Petersburg". The
investment climate in Russia will be the topic of a number of briefings, and
will feature in most of the sessions under 'Building Russia's Creative
Capital' during the Forum.

This year's Forum is not solely focussed on the business
opportunities in Russia however; another key topic is the growing role of
major emerging markets in defining the post-crisis economic environment.
There are number of relevant sessions in the programme, such as the CNBC
co-produced and televised session, 'BRIC Bucks and Beyond: How Emerging
Markets are Reshaping Global Finance'. The importance of emerging markets is
further underscored by the confirmation that Hu Jintao, President of the
People's Republic of China, will attend this year's Forum, and a large
delegation of Chinese and Asian business leaders from a wide range of
industrial sectors are expected to participate.

The Forum is placing particular emphasis this year on
broadening representation from key emerging markets. In addition, a number of
technological enhancements and new session formats will be introduced in
order to improve interaction and networking opportunities, as well as to
improve the overall participant experience.

In addition to general networking opportunities, the St.
Petersburg International Economic Forum provides participants with an
opportunity to meet key representatives from the Russian Government at both
federal and regional levels, as well as to engage with top executives of
major Russian and key emerging market companies, such as Gazprom, Sberbank,
Rosneft, Federal Grid Company, Rusnano, Mail.ru, MMK, Severstal, Sistema,
MTS, Polyus Gold, RusHydro, Lukoil, Rusal, and Svyazinvest and many
others. To enhance networking opportunities, this year SPIEF is introducing a
new service - the Personal Schedule/Business Networking Platform (BNP) -
which will allow participants to make contact and manage schedules for
business meetings within the framework of the Forum with greater ease.

Highlighting the importance of European-Russian ties, the closing plenary
session at SPIEF 2011 - moderated by Robert Thomson, Managing Editor of The
Wall Street Journal - will feature a discussion involving the President of
the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister of Spain, José Luis
Rodriguez Zapatero, and the President of Finland, Tarja Halonen.

For more information on the Business Networking Platform:

forumspb.com/userfiles/files/BusinessNetworkingPlatform.pdf

More information:

forumspb.com/en/

Media Contact: St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, +7(812)680-00-00, media at forumspb.com