Russian economy minister to lead country’s delegation to Davos

The Russian delegation to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland will be led by Economic Development Minister Maksim Oreshkin, Russia’s Energy Minister Aleksandr Novak said on Wednesday.

Novak is also planning to take part in the annual business event. Last week, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Russian President Vladimir Putin hadn’t decided whether he’d attend the WEF.

Oreshkin is expected to take part in the session called “Russia’s Economy – A Step Forward,” as part of Russia House, which is organized by the Roscongress Foundation.

FILE PHOTO Maksim Oreshkin at the WEF annual meeting in Davos, 2017

US President Donald Trump canceled his planned trip to the forum, citing the ongoing impasse with congressional Democrats that’s keeping parts of the US government closed for a third week. French President Emmanuel Macron said he was not planning to attend amid the ongoing Yellow Vest protests across France.

In November, reports emerged claiming that Viktor Vekselberg, the owner of Renova group, aluminum tycoon Oleg Deripaska, and the head of VTB Bank Andrey Kostin would not be allowed to attend the 2019 Davos meeting due to being included on the list of US sanctions. Back then, Moscow lambasted the possible ban and threatened to boycott the forum at state level. However, the WEF backtracked on the decision.

One of the world’s largest business events, scheduled for January 22–25, the WEF in Davos plans to welcome participants from some 50 countries. This year’s forum is dubbed “Globalization 4.0: Shaping a New Architecture in the Age of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”

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