MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The CEO of the largest Russian bank noted that a forum's success cannot be measured by the number of agreements signed at the event because a lot of work precedes any deal and a forum is only used as a platform for signing the agreement.
"As a whole the forum, the organization of the forum is on a good level. The founder and head of the Davos World Economic Forum professor Schwab… said that if before we were transferring experience to the St. Petersburg Forum, now we can state that we are the two equal forums. It is a very high appraisal from a person who had created the largest forum in the world," Gref said.
"The success must be measured in terms of the number of participants and the effectiveness of the negotiations held, the potential of the negotiations, the potential deals," Gref added.
"This year the interest to Russia, to the investment in Russia is obviousely higher than the previous [year]," Gref noted.
According to the Sberbank CEO, the bank held a lot of events and meetings as part of the forum.
The 21st annual SPIEF is a major global platform for business representatives where crucial economic issues are discussed. SPIEF is held between Thursday and Saturday. Sputnik is an official media partner of the forum.
