Valdai Club

On September 18, the Valdai Club hosted a discussion dedicated to the technological gap between developed and developing countries, titled “How to Avoid Inequality in Access to the Digital Future.” Igor Ashmanov, President of Kribrum JSC, Member of the Presidential Council for Civil Society and Human Rights; Jacques Sapir, Professor of Economics at the Paris Higher School of Social Sciences (EHESS) and Lomonosov Moscow State University; Rasigan Maharajh, Chief Director of the Institute for Economic Research on Innovation at the Tshwane University of Technology (South Africa); Radhika Desai, Professor, Faculty of Political Studies, Director of the Geopolitical Economics Research Group, University of Manitoba (Canada); Arvind Gupta, Chairman and Co-founder of Digital India Foundation; Konstantin Pantserev, Professor at the Department of Theory and History of International Relations, Faculty of International Relations, St. Petersburg State University, participated. The event was moderated by Oleg Barabanov, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club.

On September 14, the Valdai Club hosted a discussion dedicated to the fate of the property of Russians abroad, titled “Confiscation of Russian Assets: Limits of Aggravation.” The participants also discussed Russia’s possible response in modern conditions. Dmitry Timofeev, Director of the Department for Control of External Restrictions of the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation; Anastasia Likhacheva, Dean of the Faculty of World Economy and International Politics, Higher School of Economics; Konstantin Simonov, General Director of the National Energy Security Fund, Professor at the Financial University under the Government of the Russian Federation; Sergey Glandin, partner, lawyer at BGP Litigation, participated. The event was moderated by Ivan Timofeev, programme director of the Valdai Discussion Club.

The Valdai Discussion Club took part in the business programme of the Eastern Economic Forum (EEF) for the seventh time. On September 11, at 10:00 local time (GMT+10), the Club held a session, titled “Open Far East in the World Economy: Achievements and Plans for the Future”. Yuri Trutnev, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation — Presidential Plenipotentiary Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District; Alexander Timchenko, member of the FESCO Board of Directors; Anna Bessmertnaya, Chairman of the Commission for Foreign Economic Cooperation with Chinese Partners of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Wang Wen, Executive Dean, Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, Renmin University of China (RDCY); Sergey Pavlov, First Deputy Managing Director, Russian Railways, participated. Andrey Bystritskiy, Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for Development and Support of the Valdai Discussion Club, made an opening speech at the beginning of the session. The session was moderated by Timofei Bordachev, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club.

On September 4, ahead of the Club's session at the Eastern Economic Forum-2023, the Valdai Club hosted a presentation of a report, titled “Russia and Asia: Paradoxes of a New Reality”. Andrey Rudenko, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation; Alexander Korolev, Deputy Director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies, National Research University Higher School of Economics, co-author of the report; Ivan Zuenko, Senior Research Fellow, Institute of International Studies, MGIMO, MFA of Russia, Associate Professor, Department of Oriental Studies, MGIMO, MFA of Russia; Rahakundini Bakrie Konni, Jenderal Ahmad Yani University expert, analyst in the field of defence, military and intelligence activities of Indonesia, participated. The event was moderated by Timofei Bordachev, Programme Director, Valdai Discussion Club.

On July 25, 2023, St. Petersburg hosted the Russian-African Conference of the Valdai Club, titled “Russia and African Countries: Established Traditions of Interaction and Prospects for Cooperation in a New World”. The participants of the fourth session discussed the Soviet legacy in Africa.

On July 25, 2023, St. Petersburg hosted the Russian-African Conference of the Valdai Club, titled “Russia and African Countries: Established Traditions of Interaction and Prospects for Cooperation in a New World”. The second session was dedicated to the Culture, Education and Human Dimension: How to Bring Russia and Africa Closer to Each Other?

On July 25, 2023, St. Petersburg hosted the Russian-African Conference of the Valdai Club, titled “Russia and African Countries: Established Traditions of Interaction and Prospects for Cooperation in a New World”. The second session was dedicated to the economic relations.

On July 25, 2023, St. Petersburg will host the Russian-African Conference of the Valdai Club, titled “Russia and African Countries: Established Traditions of Interaction and Prospects for Cooperation in a New World”. The first open session was dedicated to the political dialogue of Russia and African Countries.

On July 21, the Valdai Club hosted a discussion on the topic “National Identity as a Form of Geopolitical Struggle”. Oleg Bondarenko, Director of the Progressive Policy Foundation, Editor-in-Chief of The Balkanist Project, and Miša Đurković, Director of the Institute for European Studies (Serbia), participated. The discussion was moderated by Oleg Barabanov, Programme Director of the Valdai Discussion Club.

On July 18, the Valdai Club hosted a presentation of the report titled “Russia and Africa: An Audit of Relations”, prepared especially for the Club’s Russia-Africa Conference, which will be held on July 25 in St. Petersburg. Lora Chkoniya, Research Fellow, Centre for Middle Eastern and African Studies, IMI MGIMO, MFA of Russia; Elena Kharitonova, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Civilizational and Regional Studies, Institute for African Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences; Rasigan Maharajh, Director General, Institute for Economic Research in Innovation at Tswane Technical University (South Africa); Israel Nyaburi Nyadera, Lecturer at Edgerton University (Kenya); Dmitry Poletaev, Leading Researcher at the Institute of Economic Forecasting of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Director of Migration Research Centre; Natalia Zaiser, Chair of the Board of the African Business Initiative Union; Roger Tsafack Nanfosso, Rector of the University of Dschang, Cameroon, participated. The event was moderated by Oleg Barabanov, Programme Director, Valdai Discussion Club.