ST. PETERSBURG, June 14 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's economics minister said Wednesday he was satisfied with an international economic forum in St. Petersburg that had resulted in the signing of contracts worth $1 billion.
"Some ten contracts [were signed] with foreign and Russian investors, and we can talk about investments worth at least $1 billion," German Gref told the forum's final news conference, calling the event Russia's "key international economic forum."
The main deals signed during the forum include a contract with Japan's carmaker Nissan on industrial assembly in Russia, to be launched in 2008; agreements on the construction of a new Moscow-St. Petersburg highway and a mountain ski resort in southern Russia; and a governmental program to allocate $7 billion for the Black Sea resort of Sochi if it wins the right to host the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said on the sidelines of the forum that his ministry would draft proposals on additional taxation of energy giant Gazprom's profits.
"The government has not ordered us to do this, so we will do it ourselves," he said. "We will conduct an analysis and draft proposals."
St. Petersburg governor Valentina Matviyenko also praised the results of the forum, saying that her city presented major projects worth $8 billion during the event.
Matviyenko also said the start of construction of a GM plant in St. Petersburg was an important result of the forum.
