As Russia Goes, So Goes State Capitalism?
Its economic implosion under Western pressure offers a cautionary tale for China and other state-dominated economies.
No more partying hearty at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Photographer: Mikhail Klimentyev/AFP via Getty Images
In the halcyon days before Russia invaded Crimea in 2014, I was a frequent guest at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) — or “Davos on the Neva” as it was dubbed. The usual suspects were there. The heads of McKinsey and Co. and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. networked with other global panjandrums. Mercedes-Benz and PepsiCo Inc. sponsored lavish entertainment tents. Panels discussed worthy subjects such as sustainability, crowdsourcing and corporate social responsibility. Henry Kissinger and Gerhard Schroeder were feted by all and sundry.
But SPIEF was also much more fun than the Swiss original — and much edgier. Gazprom PJSC and Sberbank PJSC put on the most lavish entertainment. (Sberbank got the prize for the most vulgar display by filling a vast glass ball with 500-euro notes and applying a wind machine to them.) Cossacks wandered around in traditional costume. Retired cosmonauts propped up the bars. Vladimir Putin kept everyone waiting for an hour before sweeping into the hall to deliver a speech on the case for speeding up market reforms.