Yalta Economic Forum in 2023 will be moved from Crimea to Moscow

The Yalta International Economic Forum (YIEF) is scheduled to be held at the end of September 2023 in Moscow, the head of the Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, said on Tuesday.

“We are moving the Yalta Forum to September. Most likely, we will hold it in Moscow together with new regions,” Aksyonov told reporters (quoted by RIA Novosti). According to him, the forum can be held on September 29-30, it will be timed to coincide with the anniversary of the entry of new regions into Russia.

On September 30, 2022, President Vladimir Putin signed agreements on the accession to Russia of the Donetsk, Luhansk People’s Republics, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions.

Aksyonov explained the transfer of the forum from Crimea to Moscow with logistical difficulties. The new format of the forum will be presented before April 1, he specified.

In early February 2023, Aksyonov announced on his Telegram channel that from February 5, a high (“yellow”) level of terrorist threat would operate in a number of municipalities and infrastructure facilities in Crimea. In particular, on the territory of the urban districts of Armyansk, Dzhankoy, Kerch, Krasnoperekopsk, Dzhankoysky, Krasnoperekopsky and Leninsky districts. Since October 19, 2022, by Putin’s decree, the border regions, including Crimea, Sevastopol, the Kursk and Belgorod regions, have been subject to a medium level of response. Martial law has been introduced in the DPR, LPR, Kherson and Zaporozhye regions.

YIEF began to be held in Crimea in 2015, traditionally it was held in April. It is organized by the Government of the Republic of Crimea, the Yalta International Economic Forum Foundation with the support of the presidential administration. It is one of the four largest economic forums in Russia (along with the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the Eastern Economic Forum and the investment forum in Sochi).

The last time the event took place was in 2019. “For five years, YIEF has proved its effectiveness as an important instrument of public diplomacy. The Yalta forum is a tool that allows you to break through all political barriers. Friends of Crimea in many countries help to break propaganda myths and convey to the international community truthful information about the Crimean Spring, about the historic referendum of 2014, about the current situation in the region,” Aksyonov said at the opening ceremony of the forum. Then more than 4,500 people took part in it, 102 agreements were signed for a total of 215 billion rubles.

In 2020–2021 The forum was not held due to the coronavirus pandemic. In early 2022, the Crimean authorities postponed the sixth YIEF from spring to the fourth quarter “due to the unstable international situation,” and later to the second quarter of 2023.