'Russian Davos' to Take Place in Perm at End of February

An international political forum will be held in Perm from February 26 to March 1. It will provide an opportunity for Russian and Western politicians and political analysts to mingle, and will allow discussion of the most pressing political processes in Russia and abroad. According to the Perm Regional Governor's press office, the forum should become a kind of copy of the international economic forum in Davos.

The event is being organised as part of a regional targeted programme to develop a political and legal culture among the Perm Region's population. The forum will include a seminar called 'Federalism, regional politics and local rule', a seminar run by the Moscow School of Political Research's Centre for Enlightenment called 'How to make democracy work', and also an international conference on 'Liberalism in Russia', which is devoted to the memories of Pyotr Struve and Mikhail Osorgin.

The 'Perm Davos' is expected to be attended by US Ambassador Alexander Vershbow, the European Commission's envoy, Richard Wright, Dutch Ambassador Tiddo Hofstee, and David Gowan, a minister from the British Embassy. Richard Pipes, a professor in Russian history at Harvard University and a former advisor to the US president on the USSR, will also attend. The Perm forum will be visited by political experts from over 30 Russian regions and foreign countries. This is the first time such a forum is being held in Perm, but the organisers hope to make it an annual event.