St Petersburg summit angst in anniversary year 

THIS week’s 25th annual St Petersburg international economic summit was originally scheduled to be a big anniversary celebration, yet Russia’s invasion of Ukraine means the champagne has been put on ice.

The event, which runs from Wednesday to the weekend., has previously been a major networking forum, akin to a Russian Davos. Take the example of the 2018 summit which enjoyed perhaps the biggest international lineup since before 2014 -- when Moscow was hit with sanctions over its annexation of Crimea -- with keynote speakers including not just French president Emmanuel Macron and then-Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe, but also then-managing director of the IMF Christine Lagarde. According to Russian authorities, some 500 new business agreements worth around US$38 billion were signed.

This year is different with key speakers reportedly including an Afghan Taliban representative, the investment minister from Myanmar’s military government, and the head of Venezuela’s central bank, all heavily-sanctioned countries. It is also reported that some business tycoons are worried about being seen attending the forum because of the threat of Western sanctions, while other executives have apparently requested that organisers remove their names from their badges so they can't be identified.