Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has arrived in Davos, Switzerland, for the annual World Economic Forum where he will be the key speaker.
Medvedev was scheduled to arrive on Tuesday but postponed his visit following a deadly bomb attack at a Moscow airport on Monday, which left 35 dead and over 100 injured.
The president's press secretary, Natalia Timakova, said Medvedev's schedule in Davos had been cut down to two events. He will meet with business council members uniting over 100 representatives of the world's leading companies and then deliver a 20-minute speech at the opening ceremony. The president will return to Moscow late on Wednesday.
In an interview with the Vedomosti business daily on Wednesday, Medvedev said his speech at Davos was aimed at "anyone seeking to develop economic relations with Russia, invest money in Russia and set up joint enterprises."
Medvedev had originally planned to attend roundtable discussions and meet with European leaders and business representatives, but the plans were scrapped following the terrorist attack.
Timakova said the Russian delegation, led by First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, would do its best to stick to the original schedule in Davos.
This year's forum is being held under the title Shared Norms for the New Reality.
Russian Presidential Aide Arkady Dvorkovich told the gazeta.ru news site that the Davos forum would give the Russian authorities an indication of how the extended jail-sentence of former oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky has affected Russia's international image.
The imprisoned businessman was sentenced to another six years in jail late in December 2010, after what his supporters described as a politically charged theft and money-laundering trial. The U.S. has sharply criticized the decision.
On Thursday, a plenary session will be devoted exclusively to the modernization of the Russian economy and its key elements. The meeting will gather managers from the world's leading companies, including Deutsche Bank, Cisco, Novartis, and Boeing.
According to Dvorkovich, the ground-breaking deal between the leading Russian and British oil producers, Rosneft and BP, to jointly develop the Arctic shelf reserves will be a central part of discussions at the forum.
ZURICH (Switzerland), January 26 (RIA Novosti)
