Russia's Search for Foreign Investment

The three-day St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Moscow’s answer to the World Economic Forum at Davos, wrapped up June 18. Though Russia and its companies have signed hundreds of agreements worth tens of billions of dollars with foreign firms at the forum in recent years, participation by European and U.S. firms had fallen off sharply because of Western-Russian tensions stemming from the Ukraine crisis. Now, however, many Western government members and business leaders have returned, even though U.S. sanctions remain in place and EU sanctions are likely to be renewed in the coming weeks....