MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th January, 2019) Russian Economic Development Minister Maxim Oreshkin, who will head the Russian delegation to the upcoming World Economic Forum (WEF) in the Swiss city of Davos, said on Wednesday that he planned to hold many bilateral meetings on the sidelines of the event.
The 2019 edition of the forum will be held on January 22-25.
"It is important for Russia to participate in the Davos forum, as well as in any other major international event. For example, during my trip, I will hold many bilateral meetings, we will have a meeting of the World Trade Organization ministers and many other important events that can be held in one place in the presence of all those parties with whom it is important to maintain communication," Oreshkin told the business FM radio station in a interview.
The minister added that the situation was complicated by the ill-conceived behavior of forum organizers, who initially banned some Russian businesspeople from participating.
"The WEF positions itself as an independent platform. If they are independent, they should not, of course, be under the influence of sanctions and other issues. I managed to explain it to them ... I told them that they are behaving incorrectly, damaging the reputation gained in recent years, the reputation of independence ... They realized this, changed their position, so the situation has changed," Oreshkin said.
In early November, the forum organizers denied three Russian businessmen who had been sanctioned by the United States last spring the right to participate in the event. The ban on the Russian businessmen was later lifted and a number of restrictions were imposed instead. The forum organizers have said they would take steps to ensure that the presence of the sanctioned Russian nationals was fully compliant with current legal conditions.
