ST. PETERSBURG, June 10 (RIA Novosti) - A major economic forum in Russia's second city June 8-10 brought deals worth a total of $13.5 billion, the Russian economics minister said Sunday.
Speaking at a news conference in St. Petersburg, German Gref said $4 billion of that amount was direct foreign investment and projects between Russian companies and the state accounted for the other $9.5 billion.
Latest reports from the forum said Russia and China had signed 18 deals totaling over $1 billion, including in timber industry, supplies of gas compressor plants, car manufacturing, construction, power supplies.
Other contracts include a multibillion dollar deal between Russia's largest air carrier Aeroflot and Boeing for 22 B 787 Dreamliner jets. Talks had been reportedly "frozen" amid tensions between Russia and the U.S.
Russian authorities used the forum to court foreign businesses, highlighting their commitment to free market and promising a friendly investment climate.
Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, a close ally of Vladimir Putin seen as his potential successor as president, compared earlier Sunday the event to economic forums in Davos, Switzerland.
"The St. Petersburg forum has become a place to discuss all possible economic issues between Russia and other countries," the Kremlin official said. "St. Petersburg, in my opinion, is a forum not inferior to that held in Davos."
