During his first visit to St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2019), Ambassador D. B. Venkatesh Varma participated in the Energy Panel on June 06, 2019. He highlighted the important role played by India in the global energy ecosystem and the close cooperation between India and Russia in this sector.
Later, Ambassador met with Mr. Dmitry Mironov, Governor of the Yaroslavl Region. The sides discussed the investment potential of the region and the prospects for its cooperation with India. The sides agreed that the major promising areas for cooperation are in the fields of science and education, industry and tourism. Ambassador also noted the possibility of attracting new residents from India to the Yaroslavl pharmaceutical cluster and prospects for cooperation in the field of shipbuilding. At the end of the meeting, Ambassador and Governor of the Yaroslavl Region indicated the possibility of preparing and signing agreements on the development of mutually beneficial cooperation between the territories.
The same day Ambassador met with Mr. Vasily Orlov, Governor of the Amur Region. The sides discussed various options for cooperation between India and the Amur region in agriculture and mining, as well as the possible visit of representatives of the Amur region to India during the visit of Mr. Yury Trutnev, Presidential Envoy to the Far Eastern Federal District.
After that, Ambassador met with Mr. Yury Vorobyev, Governor of the Moscow Region. During the meeting the sides discussed the development of cooperation between India and the Moscow region.
During the first day of SPIEF-2019 Ambassador also met with Mr. Dmitry Lelikov, Deputy Director General, Rostec, Mr. Lev Feodosyev, First Deputy Chairman, NOVATEK, Mr. Valentin Makarov, President, Russoft.
On June 07, 2019, His Excellency attended the Sberbank Business Breakfast, where the members of the Government of the Russian Federation discussed the main challenges for Russia in the coming years.
Then, Ambassador participated as a speaker in India-Russia Business Dialogue on the sidelines of SPIEF-2019. He highlighted the immense opportunities that exist between the countries and urged companies to focus on stronger mutual cooperation. Ambassador noted that such areas as defense, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, energy will still be considered by India as key areas of interaction with the Russian Federation, but it is also necessary to consider other opportunities that will allow both the counties to cooperate in digital economy and to participate in various national projects. During his speech Ambassador also announced that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi expects to hold a series of meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin from June to September.
After that, Ambassador met with Mr. Aysen Nikolaev, Governor of the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia). The sides discussed the prospects of cooperation in the field of the diamond complex, culture, sports, tourism, and education in IT.
Later, Ambassador had a meeting with Mr. Sergey Nosov, Governor of the Magadan region. The sides discussed the potential for cooperation between India and the Magadan region in the mining of precious metals and minerals. Ambassador paid special attention to the possibility of extracting stone and brown coal in the Magadan region, as well as copper.
After the meeting, Ambassador visited the Vladimir region stand, where Mr. Vladimir Sipyagin, Governor of Vladimir region, told him about the potential and achievements of the region.
Later the same day, Ambassador attended the signing of agreement between MTS and Invest India on introduction of technology projects from India into the business of the Russian operator.
