MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin on Thursday urged Russia’s billionaires and business elite to invest in new technology, manufacturing facilities and enterprises to help Russia overcome what he said were Western attempts to destroy its economy.
Putin also said that Russia had so far defied those attempts, and that the Western companies that had decided last year to stay in Russia rather than flee in a corporate exodus had made a smart decision.
He met face-to-face with Russia’s leading billionaires for the first time since February 24 last year, the day he launched his “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Putin then told them he had no choice but to send Russian troops, effectively forcing them into a public show of agreement. Many of the magnates, known as oligarchs, were subsequently placed under sanctions by the West.
More than a year later, Putin is pressuring them to ramp up domestic investment and support the economy in the face of an unprecedented barrage of Western sanctions.
Billionaires Oleg Deripaska, Vladimir Potanin, Alexei Mordashov, German Khan, Viktor Vekselberg, Viktor Rashnikov, Andrei Melnichenko and Dmitry Mazepin — whose interests range from metals and banking to fertilizers — were among those in attendance on Thursday, according to footage from the gathering.
Putin told business leaders that Russia was facing a “sanctions war” but was quickly reorienting its economy towards countries that had not imposed sanctions on Russia, and thanked them for their efforts to help the Russian state.
Putin also said that Russia had so far defied those attempts, and that the Western companies that had decided last year to stay in Russia rather than flee in a corporate exodus had made a smart decision.
He met face-to-face with Russia’s leading billionaires for the first time since February 24 last year, the day he launched his “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Putin then told them he had no choice but to send Russian troops, effectively forcing them into a public show of agreement. Many of the magnates, known as oligarchs, were subsequently placed under sanctions by the West.
More than a year later, Putin is pressuring them to ramp up domestic investment and support the economy in the face of an unprecedented barrage of Western sanctions.
Billionaires Oleg Deripaska, Vladimir Potanin, Alexei Mordashov, German Khan, Viktor Vekselberg, Viktor Rashnikov, Andrei Melnichenko and Dmitry Mazepin — whose interests range from metals and banking to fertilizers — were among those in attendance on Thursday, according to footage from the gathering.
Putin told business leaders that Russia was facing a “sanctions war” but was quickly reorienting its economy towards countries that had not imposed sanctions on Russia, and thanked them for their efforts to help the Russian state.
