June 11, 2007	Monday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 25, 1428

ST PETERSBURG: Chief executives from top global companies, ignoring Moscow’s strained relations with the West, hailed Russia’s prospects at a weekend investment forum and signed some $13.5 billion worth of business deals.

Officials said the 11th St Petersburg International Economic Forum, with some 9,000 participants, achieved the Kremlin’s aim of showcasing Russia’s growing economic might to a high-level world audience on home territory.

“The economic forum is becoming more powerful every year,” presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “The interest from heads of state and leading businessmen in this forum shows more than anything else how attractive Russia's economy is.”

CEOs from global titans such as Shell, Pepsi-Cola, Deutsche Bank and Arcelor-Mittal flocked to President Vladimir Putin’s home city along with hordes of investors, diplomats, the presidents of ex-Soviet republics and 1,400 journalists.

A rival conference in London, hitherto the main annual forum for investors in Russia, was crushed this year when the Kremlin instructed Russian business leaders at the last minute not to attend, saying such meetings should be held in Russia.

—Reuters