A three-day international forum on Russian investment projects is getting underway in Moscow this week. The Troika Dialog forum will bring together Russian business leaders and foreign investors.
The inaugural forum is seeking to compete among three other major Russia-related events held in Davos, St. Petersburg and London. Business strategy in the face of a looming global slowdown is topping the agenda, with First Deputy Prime Minister Kudrin arguing that Russia is to become an island of stability for investors in the economical storms. At the same time Kudrin admits the government has to put much effort into curbing inflation, which has been a problem recently: “Our anti-inflation measures include stricter macroeconomic and monetary policy and also non-monetary factors. Most importantly, we should switch to targeting inflation and floating the exchange rate,” he said. Sberbank Chief Executive and former Russian economic development minister German Gref pointed to other instruments to manage inflation. “One of the most effective means of dealing with inflation is to develop more effective competition. Supply problems cause inflation. We need more competition and well developed financial institutions which can help develop new sources of supply,” German Gref said. The development of Russia's regions and how to bring them into line with Moscow's growth is also being discussed.