Russian Economic Forum opens April 18 in London

The Russian Economic Forum, set for April 18-20 in London, will open with a gala evening, dubbed 'Russian Rhapsody,' featuring musical greats Yury Bashmet and Olga Borodina, forum organizers told Rosbalt.

The plenary meetings and topical subsections of the Forum are set for April 19-20. Topics to be discussed include structural reforms in the Russian economy, Russia's stock markets and the strengthening ruble. Special attention is to be focused on Russia's energy sector. The Forum also will consider telecommunications, the question of the social responsibility of business, the relationship of Russia and the European Union and Russian entry into the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Background: The Russian Economic Forum is a major annual event for the representatives of Russian business and their Western partners. The following have confirmed that they will participate in the upcoming Forum: Patricia Hewitt, Britain's state secretary for trade and industry; Supachai Panichpadki, general director of the WTO; Digby Jones, general director of the Confederation of British Industry; Lord Brown, chairman of BP; Pyotr Aven, president of Alfa-Bank; Rod Eddington, chairman of British Airways; Aleksey Mordashov, general director of Severstal; Anatoly Chubais, chairman of United Energy Russia; Tessen von Heidebrek, a member of the management of Deutsche Bank; Andrey Kostin, chairman of Foreign Trade Bank; Chris Gibson-Smith, chairman of the London Stock Exchange; Semyon Vainshtok, president of Transneft; Klaus Kleinfeld, a member of the management of Siemens; Kakha Bendukidze, general director of United Heavy Machinery; Nani Bekalli-Falco, of General Electric; William Fall, president of Bank of America, as well as distinguished economists and political analysts, including Evgeny Yasin, Aleksandr Livshits and Gleb Pavlovsky.