Putin to pitch Russia’s economic vision
RUSSIA: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will present to world
business leaders in Davos on Wednesday Russia’s vision of a new economic
order and try to lure investors back to Russia’s crisis-gripped economy.
Putin, a former KGB spy, will become the first Russian official to
open the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, a flagship event
for the elite of free-market capitalism.
The ranks of top Wall Street bankers and chief executives have been
thinned by the global financial turmoil this year, and the West’s former
economic pupils, China and Russia, are the star attractions.
“This is Davos under the Russian flag. Putin’s speech will set a tone
for the discussion,” Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters in
Moscow.
“One of the goals of this trip is to continue talks with investors,
both with those already present in the Russian market and those who are
likely to enter it,” Peskov said.
Putin is scheduled to deliver the opening speech at 1845 GMT on
Wednesday, several hours after Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will discuss
steps his country is taking to tackle its economic downturn.
Putin, who as Kremlin chief presided over eight years of economic
growth from 2000 to 2008, is now heading Russia’s efforts to counter a
deepening economic crisis within Russia. The credit crisis, which began
in the United States two years ago, has engulfed major banks and
triggered a severe global recession.
Russia, which has spent about a third of its gold and foreign
exchange reserves since August to allow the gradual devaluation of the
rouble, is facing tumbling prices for its main exports oil, gas and
metals.
Many investors now expect the $1.6 trillion economy to contract in
2009, after 10 years of growth, a development that could undermine
Kremlin ambitions to claw back some of the geopolitical might lost after
the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.
Putin’s speech at Davos comes a week after the inauguration of U.S.
President Barack Obama, whose administration will be represented only by
a senior advisor.
Putin has previously blamed the United States for “infecting” other
countries with economic crisis.
“In his speech Putin will analyse the crisis and its origin and
express his opinion about what to do next,” Yuri Ushakov, Putin’s deputy
chief of staff, told reporters in Moscow. “He will also describe plans
to modernise our economy.”
The speech is likely to be closely watched for clues about Russian
policy ahead of a meeting of the leaders of G20 countries in April.
MOSCOW, Wednesday, Reuters
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