several Western speakers announced in the SPIEF program will not take part in the forum – Kommersant

The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), which will be held from June 14 to 17, among other guests included former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, reports Financial Times (FT) with reference to the unpublished SPIEF program. However, Mr. Schmidt does not plan to attend the forum and has not even received an invitation to it, FT reports, citing a source familiar with the matter. In addition, the forum will not be visited by several other Western speakers announced as guests, the publication reports.

According to the FT, among the guests are also mentioned, in particular, Lucid Motors CEO Peter Rawlinson, as well as Stanford professor and former Yandex shareholder Ilya Strebulaev. They told the publication that they would not visit the forum.

According to the SPIEF program, according to the FT, British physicist and programmer Stephen Wolfram and US artificial intelligence researcher Eliezer Yudkowsky should also take part in the forum. They are announced to participate in the discussion on AI along with Messrs. Schmidt and Strebulaev, the publication reports. The researcher and scientist told the FT that they had received an invitation from SPIEF, but would not take part in the forum.

The program also reports on the participation in SPIEF of Sloan Gibson, the former Deputy Secretary of State for Veterans Affairs in the administration of President Barack Obama, the publication reports. Mr. Gibson was unable to immediately respond to the FT’s request for comment.

The publication also reports that the list of forum guests is dominated by dignitaries from countries such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, India and China. According to the FT, there is not a single foreign official “above ministerial rank” in the program, even from countries that Russia considers friendly, with the exception of the first lady of Burundi, Angeline Ndayishimiye.

April 13, Press Secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov declaredthat many business representatives from unfriendly countries are showing interest in participating in SPIEF in 2023. He added that he could not name these companies because “they will just be eaten alive.” April 23, Cuban Prime Minister Manuel Marrero Cruz informedthat will take part in SPIEF. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during his visit to Brazil handed over an invitation to SPIEF to President Lula da Silva.

In 2022, the forum was held from June 15 to 18, it was attended by representatives from 131 states. The forum was attended, among others, by a representative of the Taliban movement (a terrorist organization banned in the Russian Federation) and Afghan Chargé d’Affaires in Moscow, Jamal Nasir Garwal. By words Adviser to the President Anton Kobyakov, 691 agreements worth 5.6 trillion rubles were signed on the sidelines of the SPIEF last year.

Erdni Kagaltynov