Moderator of the plenary session of the SPIEF. "I thought the man was sorting out" and other vivid statements on pmef

17.05.17 in the world

There are two weeks left before the opening of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. It will be held in our city from 1 to 3 June. The motto of the forum this year is: "In search of a new balance in the global economy." The guests of SPIEF-2017 will be representatives of many states and large corporations. In particular, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern confirmed their participation. For India and Austria, the forum will become a platform where problems that are important for both states and for Russia can be solved.

Russia and India: Prospects for Cooperation

India and Russia intend to expand cooperation in the field of railways, inland water transport and the production of civil aircraft. These topics will be touched upon during the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to St. Petersburg.

According to the Indian media, new topics will also be at the center of discussion - technologies for deep sea research to use rare earth elements in the Indian Ocean, the IT sector (robotics and big data arrays) and cooperation in the Arctic region in the field of natural resources.

Russia's vast territory is criss-crossed by rivers, which means faster and more efficient inland water transport is possible, and India wants to learn from our country's experience. This experience, experts believe, can be replicated on the Ganges River, which is planned to transport goods to reduce the load on the roads.

Likewise, cooperation in the railway sector is of great importance to both parties. It is known that Russia has developed and uses technologies for high-speed railways. Delhi and Moscow are negotiating the introduction of Russian technologies to increase the speed of railway communication between the Indian cities of Secunderabad and Nagpur to 200 km / h.

Another area of ​​cooperation is aircraft construction. According to the Indian press, Delhi would like to develop and produce civilian aircraft together with Moscow. It is assumed that the Sukhoi concern will be involved in this.

In the Indian Ocean, there are unexplored sites with rare earth elements. As the largest country in the region, India is committed to harnessing these resources. Russia has vast experience in the field of deep sea research technologies, therefore, according to the Indian press, the biotechnology department and other departments are negotiating with the relevant authorities in Moscow in order to take advantage of these technologies.

The central Indian Ocean is rich in nickel, copper, cobalt and rare earth minerals, which are very profitable and widely used in electronics manufacturing such as mobile phone batteries.

Rare earth elements are found at the deep seabed. The push for deep sea exploration is of great importance to India as it aims to limit Chinese dominance in this area.

The IT sector is also considered as a very important area of ​​cooperation. “Russian technologies in robotics, artificial intelligence and big data, as well as Indian knowledge in software and marketing, will provide a win-win for both sides,” the Indian media quoted experts as saying.

Prime Minister Modi will be the guest of honor at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. This will be Modi's third visit to Russia since 2014.

Russia and Austria: search for new solutions

Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern will also take part in SPIEF-2017. His visit will take place against the backdrop of a government crisis. There have been several high-profile resignations in the Austrian cabinet, and officials are talking about the inevitability of new elections. In this situation, confirmation of Kern's intention to come to St. Petersburg is of particular importance. Due to the government crisis, the Austrian delegation did not go to China for the One Belt, One Road summit. It is possible that the issues of Austria and Russia related to major transport projects will be resolved at the economic forum in St. Petersburg.

"One Belt - One Road" is a project of a network of roads, railways, pipelines and sea routes. Austrian Infrastructure Minister Jörg Leuchtfried was scheduled to attend the Chinese summit along with a delegation of businessmen. But this did not happen.

For the Austrian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the cancellation of the visit was a cause for concern, since such a move could represent a serious blow to relations between Austria and China. “The Chinese place great importance on trust and harmony, so it's a matter of courtesy. It is impossible to cancel visits in such a short period of time,” says Walter Koren, head of the department for foreign economic activity of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

For countries where the state significantly influences the economy, as in China, the visits of foreign government delegations are extremely important. "The function of politicians is to open doors," they say in China. The Chinese even keep statistics on which politicians and from which states often visit their country.

Koren hopes that, despite the turmoil associated with possible upcoming elections, at least the planned visit of a business delegation led by Chancellor Christian Kern to Russia will go ahead as planned. Austria at the forum in St. Petersburg, in his opinion, will play an important role as a link between Russia and the West.

The cancellation of a trip to China is "an overreaction," says lawyer Georg Zanger, chairman of the Austrian-Chinese Business Association. Nobody was ready for such a step, as well as for resignations in the Austrian government. Austrian politicians, according to Zangger, still do not understand the importance of the economy. So the "Silk Road" can bypass Austria and pass, for example, through the neighboring Czech Republic. "Prague has become the European center of economic relations with China," Zangger said. In fact, things are even worse: the Chinese are creating a coalition with 16 countries of Eastern Europe to develop the Silk Road infrastructure, and Austria has only an observer status in it.

The Chinese Ambassador to Austria very diplomatically answered the question why the Silk Road bypasses Austria. "The initiative is open to everyone," he said. And he added that Austria is "well located" in the space between East and West in Central Europe.

Indeed, many maps of the new Silk Road are now circulating in the media. In fact, it is not a strictly fixed route. Rather, it is the participants who contribute to its construction. Therefore, Austria's refusal to visit China may adversely affect its participation in the project.

However, Austria is one of the founding states of the Asian Investment Bank established by Beijing. In addition, a feasibility study for the construction of a Russian broad-gauge railway from the Slovak city of Kosice to Vienna was recently carried out.

Trump critic to moderate discussion

The plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum will be moderated by American journalist Megyn Kelly. She will be on the same stage with the Russian president. In addition, the American TV channel announced Kelly's interview with Vladimir Putin.

The discussion at the plenary session of the forum will cover a range of global political and economic topics, including international trade agreements, cyber security and the consequences of growing military tensions.

Kelly's participation in SPIEF-2017 was supported by the head of the NBC News channel Andrew Lack, who traveled to Russia at the end of April and met with Putin.

This year's forum will be held against the backdrop of partisan investigations underway in the United States: the American intelligence community is trying to prove that Russia interfered in the American elections for the benefit of President Donald Trump, and the FBI continues to look for links between members of the Trump campaign and Russia.

Megyn Kelly is very popular in the USA. Her name is associated with a well-known scandal during the presidential election campaign. It was Kelly who asked Trump a question about his attitude towards women, and also reminded the American politician of his own impartial remarks about the weaker sex. Trump even demanded that Kelly be taken off the air. However, this request was denied to him.

NBC News officials hope that Kelly's participation in the forum as moderator of the plenary session will provide an opportunity for a one-on-one interview with the Russian president.

Lana VLADIMIROVA,

specially for the online magazine "Interesant"

Based on The Economic Times, Kurier, Hollywoodreporter, May 2017

Megyn Kelly, a 46-year-old spectacular blonde who previously worked for Fox News for 12 years, is now a presenter for NBC. At the end of May, she announced her new weekly show "Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly". In a post on her microblog Twitter In the promo video, she promises that viewers will "laugh and cry." In the first episode of the program, which will air on June 4, Kelly plans to show an interview with Putin recorded on the sidelines of SPIEF.

Got sick with numbers

The theme of the digital economy ran like a red thread through the entire forum, not bypassing Putin's keynote speech. First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said at one of the sessions that the head of state was "sick" with this issue and even holds meetings on it until late at night.

"The digital economy was first born as something that was the responsibility of Nikolai Anatolyevich (Nikiforov, head of the Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communications - ed.) and his smart colleagues. And today, of course, this is the task of everyone. And I can tell you that our president is a small group of government members "At the beginning of the second, I just let go of the morning. And we discussed exclusively new technologies and the digital economy. And without embellishment, I can tell you that the president is completely ill with this and understands that this gap and significant growth rates are based on the digital economy and technological leadership," Shuvalov said.

The plenary session of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, for the most part, was held in a serious and businesslike atmosphere, but it was not without a dose of sarcasm. Russian President Vladimir Putin succinctly greeted the assembled forum participants:

"At ease!"

When the conversation turned to the U.S. withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement, Vladimir Putin noted that Trump and American imperialism in Russia blew cold:

"Trump and American imperialism - such a cold"

"The question is, are we able to prevent climate change. What is it about? About preventing a two-degree rise in temperature. Somehow, we here do not yet feel that the temperature is rising much. But, by the way, we must be grateful to President Trump.Today in Moscow, they say, there was even snow, here it is raining, it's so cold.

Now you can blame everything on him and on American imperialism, that it is all their fault. But we will not do this. ".

The session moderator, NBC host Megyn Kelly, learned that she would also be entitled to maternity capital if she were a Russian citizen:

"And you would have been paid family capital" [To NBC moderator]

“We have a lot of such tools, for example, supporting families with low incomes by paying housing and communal payments - these are, at first glance, boring things, but they are very important for people, this is the so-called maternity capital, which we pay to families with two or more children. You have, I know, three. If you were a Russian citizen, we would pay you family capital."

Shortly thereafter, a representative of the American media began to ask Vladimir Putin about whether Russia interfered in the US presidential election or not. "Are the pockets sewn on? And the buttons?"

Vladimir Putin: Have you read these reports? M. Kelly: I have read the public version, which is not classified.

Vladimir Putin: The public, public version, that is, none. “And who sewed the suit? - Are the pockets well sewn on? - Good. - Buttons okay? - Good. - Any complaints about the buttons? - No, they are sewn on tightly. But you can't wear a suit." It happens? One of our satirists had Arkady Isaakovich Raikin.

The question of the "Russian trace" arose again and again. Vladimir Putin asked if the US had real evidence of Russia's accusations, not conclusions based on speculation. "Addresses, appearances, surnames" - I used to work in one organization

“And now you also tell me: “The public version.” I read these reports. Even in these reports there is nothing concrete, there are only assumptions and conclusions based on assumptions. Everything! You know, if something is concrete, then there will be a subject of discussion. As in one organization in which I used to work, they said: “Addresses, appearances, names.” Come on, where is it all?

The President of Russia noted that at the current stage of technology development, cyber attacks can be carried out under the guise of other IP addresses.

Portal "Vesti. Economics”, previously reported on information about similar actions by the US CIA, which was published by Wikileaks.

"Hoofprints, horns. Whose prints are these?" M. Kelly: So one of the reasons why the question is relevant is because the Americans believe that they have their own national sovereignty to consider this issue in the same way as the United Kingdom, France, Germany. And this question comes up again and again. They say, when asked where is the evidence that this is disinformation, the disinformation campaign was deliberately launched. And it is said that it is difficult to find evidence in this campaign. And experts say that these factors cannot be invented. There are hundreds of facts against Russia: there are IP addresses, fingerprints, some kind of codes - all this points to Russia, and no other evidence points to anyone else but Russia.

Vladimir Putin: What kind of fingerprints? Hoof prints, horns. Whose prints are these? IP addresses - you can generally invent them. Do you know how many such specialists? They will make it so that it is also from your home address, your children sent it, your youngest child is three years old, they will organize everything so that it is your three-year-old girl who carried out this attack. There are such specialists in the world today in the field of these technologies that they will come up with anything for you, and then they will blame anyone.

Vladimir Putin also paid tribute to the effectiveness of the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, who managed to find a common language with American voters:

Trump is a man

“Trump’s team turned out to be more effective during the election campaign. I myself sometimes thought: the guy is sorting out, honestly. It’s true! But it turned out that he was right, that he found an approach to those groups of the population and to those groups of voters on which he made a bid and they came and voted for him.

At the same time, Vladimir Putin also noted that the logic of the representatives of the US Democratic Party, whose candidate lost the presidential election, does not hold water. The President said that it is easier for Democrats to blame the Russians than to admit their mistakes.

"He's a moron, he can't do anything, and the Jews are to blame!"

“And the other team miscalculated. I don’t want to admit this mistake. I don’t want to say that we are like that, sorry, we haven’t caught up with something, we haven’t thought of something. It’s easier to say that we are not to blame, it’s the Russians’ fault, they intervened in our elections, and we are good. Anti-Semitism reminds me: the Jews are to blame for everything. He's a moron himself, he can't do anything - and the Jews are to blame!"

In response to another statement by Megyn Kelly that Russia allegedly interfered in the American elections, Vladimir Putin said that the US authorities have long been using soft power against Russia, interfering in its internal affairs. "They sat on our heads, their legs hung down and they chew gum"

M. Kelly: Yes, I think he said, "I think Russia did it, but I don't think it will do it again." Vladimir Putin: It seems to her! Listen, these are very serious issues of world politics, but it seems to you. It's not just some kind of interview to conduct or write an article in the newspaper.

As for interference, you should see what your colleagues are doing with us. Yes, they just got into our internal politics with their feet, they sat on our heads, their legs hung down and they chew gum. Just having fun! This is a systematic, for many years, rude, absolutely unceremonious, including even at the level of diplomatic departments, interference directly into our domestic politics! Let's finish - and it will become easier for you, and for us.

Excessive fixation on the “Russian trace” in the US presidential campaign by the moderator of the plenary session led to several more replies from Vladimir Putin

"Here it is!"

M. Kelly: Even President Trump has said that he thinks Russia is behind this. That is, these are not those who do not want Trump to lead the country ...

Vladimir Putin: Here you are. "Give me some pill"

“Well, don’t you need to think about how to build relationships? Do everything with a tip, it’s generally thoughtless, or what? Nothing concrete, just zero, zero, nothing at all. Surprisingly simple. It’s just some kind of hysteria, and you just can’t stop. I should give you a pill or something. Does anyone have a pill? Give me a pill. (Laughter) Really, honestly, it's amazing."

Broadcast

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Thank you for following the plenary session with us!

And on this positive moment, the plenary meeting of the SPIEF of the current year ended.

We have many unifying agendas, Putin concludes. If we focus on them, then, "without any doubt, the world will change for the better."

Putin talks about migrants and the problem of poverty. “If such a socio-economic situation continues there as it is now, nothing will stop this flow of people, nothing will stop their desire for a better life.” We need to think about how to provide these people with a normal life.

We have a lot in common, says the president. For example, the fight against terrorism, the spread of nuclear weapons, that is, the presence of a common threat. “We need to understand what is happening and where it can lead us.”

Time for common values. Putin recalled Dodon's thesis that the world has ceased to be unipolar. “No, an American sits and commands everyone,” the president ironically.

Promise the last question! We talked a lot about what separates us, so we need to end up with what unites us, Kelly says. The final word was entrusted to the head of the host country of the event.

Kelly decided to finally talk about something closer to the economy - about the Silk Road. And bring Modi into the discussion. “India has been fighting cross-border terrorism for 40 years. For many years, many countries thought that this was a problem of individual countries, and only after September 11, the whole world realized that this is a problem of an international scale,” Modi said. According to him, for 40 years the UN has had a resolution defining what terrorism is. “Everyone speaks against terrorism, but the project is not being discussed. I am glad that Putin has publicly stated that this issue will be discussed at the UN.”

The political agenda inevitably overshadowed the economic one. Which was predictable. Participants in the Russia-US business dialogue held before the plenary session also spoke of the need to strengthen political stability in Russia and in the world. One of the businessmen even spoke in the spirit that he was not going to leave Russia and was ready to continue investing in Russian projects, but on the condition that there would be “serious political will” and a desire to soften the political confrontation.

The American journalist stubbornly refuses to change the subject. Putin again says that Russia does not deny the use of sarin. But the question is, by whom was the strike delivered? “Assad didn’t use it,” the entire video is a provocation, the Russian president believes. It could have been deliberately used by someone to blame the President of Syria. “What is not clear here? I think it's absolutely clear."

Why Russia sent troops to Syria: According to intelligence agencies, 4,000 Russians are in Syria and another 5,000 are from the CIS countries. “This is a real threat for us,” Putin said. “We started the operation in Syria because we understood what was going on.”

Has Assad made mistakes? Yes, probably a lot. And those who oppose him, are they angels, or what?

About Assad: "Do you believe that Assad is an evil person?" Putin recalls that Assad has been more often in Europe than in Russia since he was elected. Russia is not protecting Bashar al-Assad, but Syrian statehood. Against the background of discussions of politics, businessmen and economists in the hall again reached for the exit.

We really started about politics - about Syria and the Minsk agreements. About Donbass: Russia cannot fulfill the Minsk agreements, but can contribute. At the same time, Putin stressed that the Kyiv authorities are doing "everything not to do better." “They say that they are shooting there, but it is not clear who,” he added. He recalled that the radicals blocked the movement of goods, and Poroshenko shot in the air, but could not do anything, and then officially joined the blockade, while the 8th clause in the Minsk agreements was the lifting of the blockade.

Let's live in peace. Kern about sanctions: “We lost about 0.3% of our GDP from sanctions. It's a lot. We all need cooperation."

Question about sanctions. “I had to use my brains, not just petrodollars,” Putin replied. He acknowledged that there is nothing good for us from sanctions. “The rumors of my death are somewhat exaggerated,” he quoted Mark Twain.

“I didn’t even know anything about it: who they met, what they talked about - just general words. Nothing specific. They just talked about how we should build our relationship. It's just hysteria. We must stop. I need to give this lady a pill. Does anyone have a pill?" the president worries.

Lavrov censored. “I saw what happened. For me it was a big surprise. Such nonsense is carried - where did the people who spread such information come from? Our ambassador met with someone. He has such a job. What should he do? Its' his job. And he is accused of meeting someone there. Well, are you completely crazy? The President is on a roll today.

Putin's emotional remarks about the alleged interference of Russian hackers in US politics returned part of the departed audience to the hall. The skirmish between Putin and Kelly is even more interesting to watch than her war with Trump.

“Prek-ra-ti-te,” Putin summed up.

love is. Regarding interference: “You should have looked at what your colleagues are doing with us: they got into our politics with their feet, their legs dangled and they chew gum.” “Finish,” Putin said, “and it will be easier for you, and for us.”

Master Class. Trump's most disliked journalist now asks Putin almost exclusively about America. In response, the Russian president is trying to teach the basics of political propaganda.

The other team miscalculated, they do not want to admit the mistake that they "did not catch up." It is easier to say that Russia is to blame and interfered in the elections. “It reminds me of anti-Semitism. That he himself is a moron, he cannot do anything, therefore the Jews are to blame. Sergei Ivanov bursts into laughter.

This is where the problem turned out to be. And the Trump team during the election campaign simply turned out to be more effective than its competitors. “I myself sometimes thought that sometimes a man sorts out, honestly, it’s true,” Putin described Trump. Hall supports.

“This is not proof. This is an attempt to shift from a sick head to a healthy one, and the problem is not in us. The problem is within American politics,” Putin concludes.

These experts can substitute anyone. “They will make it so that it was sent from your home address, that it was your children who sent it, your youngest child is three years old. They will make it so that your three-year-old girl committed the attack. There are such specialists in the world today in the field of these technologies that they will invent anything for you and blame anyone.

Kelly interrogates the Russian president about Russian hackers and "evidence" of their guilt. “Prints of hooves, horns, tell me, whose prints are these? IP addresses can be invented at all, do you know how many such specialists? Putin asks. Indeed, what is your evidence?

Stirlitz. “As in one organization in which I used to work, they said: names, passwords, addresses, appearances. Give us your last names - where is it all? Putin presses.

Megyn asked Putin about Russian interference in the US elections. Putin again asked the presenter if she had read the report. “Only the official public version,” she replied. “That is, none,” the president concluded. Then he remembered one of the speeches of the satirist Arkady Raikin about the suit. “The suit is well made - good, the buttons are well sewn - good, but it is impossible to wear a suit. It happens? It happens,” Putin said. "I've read those reports - there's nothing concrete, there's just speculation and conclusions based on those speculations."

Dodon said that in its current form, Molavia will never be able to become a member of the EU, since there is a dissenting Transnistria. He said that without the Russian Federation, Moldova would never solve its complex internal problems, including the Transnistrian one.

Kelly asks Modi to talk about her relationship with Russia. Today the world is interconnected, the prime minister replies. Every country in the world has a couple of friendly issues with others and a couple of controversial issues. But cooperation is not going anywhere. Tomorrow India will sign a 24-page declaration with Russia, everything will be said there, "the whole world will read every word."

We cannot speak for the way of thinking of Western officials, but the audience in the hall was drawn to the exit.

Putin said that many representatives of the American continent who came to the conference of the Russian Defense Ministry admitted on the sidelines that they were discouraged from going - both in Washington and in Brussels. “Well, who does this, what place does he think?” Putin said

The states demand higher spending from the allies and at the same time say that they will not attack anyone. And again the question is: why? This approach cannot but worry Russia, says VVP. The absence of cooperation tools is bad, there is no opportunity to work constructively on the current agenda.

“I have asked the question many times and put it publicly. NATO was created as an instrument of the Cold War in the fight against the USSR and the so-called Warsaw Pact. Now there is neither the Warsaw Pact nor the Soviet Union, but NATO exists. The question arises: why? The only answer is a US instrument of influence, Putin concluded.

“Are they helping Russia? In the sense that NATO could fall apart? Then help."

The traditional question about NATO. Megin asks: are squabbles around NATO helping Russia? Vladimir Vladimirovich answers a question with a question.

Indeed, it got warmer. “Don't worry, be happy,” Putin wished to all those present

“Have you read the Paris Agreements (on climate change) yourself? - Putin asks the presenter and immediately answers himself: - No, I see, they didn’t read it. He continued: "The Paris Agreements are a good, correct document aimed at one of the main problems of today - global climate change." Putin said that now the bad weather in Moscow and St. Petersburg can be blamed on Trump and American imperialism. We have long suspected.

Kelly asks Modi about the climate. Is it criminal to ignore climate change? For some reason, Modi talks about the Vedas and milking. Three days ago, the prime minister noted, in Germany he said that, with or without the Paris Agreement, India is convinced that we cannot take away nature and fresh air from future generations.

Putin defends Trump and offers to “keep quiet” about the Paris Agreement, which US President Donald Trump withdrew from last night. “We need to create some kind of work on this issue in a constructive manner,” the president said, noting, however, that it was not necessary to withdraw from the Paris agreements, because they are of a framework nature.

Dodon was brief. A series of questions and answers began.

“It is important to get away from globalization, in which Moldova has no place. We will simply be ground to powder,” Dodon warns.

“When the paths are not the same, they do not make plans together,” Dodon quoted Confucius. And then he added another quote: “It was smooth on paper, but they forgot about the ravines, and we have to walk along them,” Dodon said about the disappointing results of the last years of Moldovan European integration. He also noted that the country has lost two-thirds of Russian exports, and foreign investment in the country's economy has decreased several times.

The visit of Moldovan President Igor Dodon takes place against the backdrop of an escalating conflict between pro-European and pro-Russian movements in his country. Passions do not subside after the decision of the parliament to expel five Russian diplomats from the country. In the morning, opposition supporters staged a rally outside the office of the ruling Democratic Party. “Hundreds of thousands of our migrants, as well as the export of Moldovan products to the Russian Federation, may suffer from this fight against the mythical “Russian tanks,” Dmitry Chubashenko, one of the leaders of the opposition Our Party, told reporters. The representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, has already compared Moldova with the United States, which, on the eve of the New Year, declared 35 Russian diplomats persona non grata.

The head of Moldova, Igor Dodon, takes the floor

Kern hints that Trump, who announced the withdrawal from the Paris Agreement the day before, is wrong. Everyone must fight together against climate warming, and American workers too.

The policy of closing the borders is wrong, says Kern. What about terrorism and security? The fight against terrorism will succeed only if all possibilities of cooperation between the EU and Russia are sought.

When Kern said that unemployment was declining in all countries and the economy was growing, the camera grabbed Olga Golodets, Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs, who for some reason hid her eyes from the hall.

But everything will work out. Rumors, quoting the classics, about the death of Europe are greatly exaggerated, Kern said. A values-based Europe will come to a process of reform that will help Europe and the EU take their destiny into their own hands.

On the broadcast, during Kern's words that some countries decided to leave the EU, a characteristic sound was heard, similar to a knock on the door. Coincidence?

“Europe is facing serious challenges. The UK's exit from the EU has created a completely new situation for us. For years, we thought that Europe was driven only by integration and only by improved cooperation between countries. But now we see that more and more people in Europe do not believe in this, and some of them have decided to leave the EU.”

Society must not be divided into winners and losers. Such a society would be unstable, Kern notes. To ensure social balance, it is necessary to create prosperity, which, in turn, is possible only with the full interaction and cooperation of countries. Thus, Kern leads the idea of ​​the benefit of European integration. “This is the maximum economic openness. We are convinced that it is economic openness that is the precondition for political openness,” he said.

Kern talks about social balance, it is impossible, he says, to allow 1% of people to have what 99% of the rest have in aggregate.

Together with a huge number of new opportunities, they bring threats to some people and cause negative thoughts among the European middle class.

The second driving force: the development of technology, robotization there, digitalization, medical developments. Third: climate change.

Globalization has led to a decrease in infant mortality and an increase in life expectancy

What is driving the “incredible” changes in the world? asks Federal Chancellor Christian Kern. First, globalization. It has brought "tremendous progress" over the past 25 years. “The number of people living in poverty has dropped dramatically. Previously, people living on $1 a day were 40%, and now 10%.”

The Chancellor of Austria takes the floor.

Meanwhile, Russia and India intend to develop cooperation not only in the oil industry, agriculture and the military-industrial complex, but also to make films together. The corresponding agreement was approved by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev today. “The signing of the agreement will expand the distribution opportunities for films of Russian-Indian production, will contribute to the development of Russian film production, and the strengthening of cultural ties between Russia and India,” the Russian Cabinet is sure.

But there is nothing surprising in this. “There are no people in Russia who don't know Bollywood,” Modi says, referring to famous Indian actors like Raj Kapoor. Hey ho! Everybody is dancing!

There is a feeling that the whole event and in general the whole forum is dedicated to India.

Some statistics In 2016, the Russian-Indian trade turnover amounted to 7.7 billion US dollars, having decreased by 1.6% compared to 2015, while Russian exports to India amounted to 5.3 billion US dollars (-4.7% ), imports - USD 2.4 billion (+6.2%). In the first quarter of 2017, the volume of Russian-Indian trade increased by almost 30%, to $1.955 billion. Russia exports pearls, precious stones, machinery, equipment, vehicles, chemical industry products, rubber, mineral products, timber and pulp to India. paper products, shoes and textiles. In the three quarters of last year, according to the Central Bank, India invested $19 million in the Russian economy, direct investments from Russia to India amounted to $17 million.

Modi captured the attention of the audience. In this regard, I recall how last year the participants of the forum were captivated by the speech of the then Prime Minister of Italy, Mateo Renzi. He was applauded as he spoke. And at the end they gave a standing ovation. True, now he is no longer prime minister, but he will not disappear. He will also return to St. Petersburg, to the forum.

But in general, the speech is spectacular, with theatrical pauses. Modi says that in the course of reforming the tax system in India, all the states of the country will have a single system of taxation. Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov also spoke at the Sberbank breakfast today about the need for tax reform.

Modi speaks slowly. With difficulties. Maybe acclimatization is difficult? In St. Petersburg it is +6, it has been raining, hail and snowing for two days in a row.

Posted by Sam (@mrss__clumsiness) Jun 2, 2017 at 12:22pm PDT

The Indian prime minister boasts of 7% GDP growth. It was possible to learn about the high dynamics of the country even before this speech - the entire Expoforum was hung with the corresponding posters. “We are moving forward,” the politician assured.

Indian media wrote about the meeting between Putin and Modi in a positive way

"During the talks, Putin stated that India is the only country with which Russia has 'close cooperation' in areas such as missiles." (Hindustan Times)

“The strategic objective of the meeting between Putin and Modi at the summit is the development of what was previously perceived as a “special relationship”. There is no doubt that when Moscow was the capital of the USSR, this relationship meant a lot to India. It was a mutually beneficial relationship, and the USSR also helped develop relations with India in the second half of the Cold War, when the US and China began to strategically rapprochement. (Daily News and Analysis India)

The partnership between Russia and India is at a particularly privileged level. Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi is considered almost the main guest of SPIEF. He himself spoke warmly of St. Petersburg, he was here for the first time 16 years ago, at the dawn of his diplomatic career, and met with Putin.