Nebeznya drew attention to the fact that the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), currently underway in Russia, has attracted more visitors this year than in 2014.
"And the number of investors and [representatives] of business who came here this year is higher than the year before and previous years. So, in spite of what is happening in geopolitics, the economic interests and investors' interests towards Russia are not weakening," Nebeznya told RIA Novosti.
The SPIEF aims to bring together senior officials and business leaders from both Russia and abroad to discuss issues of nuclear energy, transport, international trade, employment and hi-tech industry development.
Moscow's relations with the West became strained after Western countries accused Russia of meddling in Ukraine's internal affairs, which Russian authorities have repeatedly denied.
International credit rating agencies, including Fitch, Moody’s and Standard & Poor’s, have downgraded Moscow's investment ratings in light of the situation in eastern Ukraine. Russia's Finance Ministry stressed that the downgrades were influenced by political motives and hardly reflected the real state of the Russian economy.
According to the Russian Central Bank, the country's GDP is expected to grow in the next few years.
