A group of German business figures is set to attend Russia’s flagship St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) which kicks off on June 3, marking a return of top German companies to Russia’s flagship event since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Die Welt reported on June 1.

The four-day forum, dubbed “Russia’s Davos”, is hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin and will be attended by all of Russia’s leading companies. In the past it was Russia’s premier event and attracted the CEOs of top western companies and leading international politicians, such as French President Emmanuel Macron in 2018.  

Germany has long been Europe’s most active investor in Russia, boasting literally ten-times more representative companies working in Russia than any other European country. Following the start of the war, many international companies pledged to leave, but ultimately only 9% actually left and German companies disproportionately decided to remain.

Among the German attendees are Thomas Bruch, chief executive of Globus Holding; Berlin publisher Holger Friedrich; conductor Justus Frantz; Stefan Dürr, whose EkoNiva Group operates one of Russia’s largest dairy businesses; Alternative for Germany (AfD) politician Jörg Urban; and filmmaker and journalist Hubert Seipel.

Matthias Schepp, chairman of the board of the German-Russian Chamber of Commerce, said German companies continued to see strategic value in the Russian market despite the sharp deterioration in economic ties since the war began.

“Like other major Western countries, we want to maintain the economic bridge with Russia and protect the over €100bn ($114bn) of German assets there, not only in the post-armistice period,” Schepp said.

Around 1,600 German companies continue to operate in Russia, he added. “The West should not permanently cede Russia, its large market, and its raw materials to Asia,” Schepp said, noting that Chinese businesses had established 1,400 new companies in Russia during the first quarter of 2026.

The German delegation comes in the context of an increasingly dysfunctional European economy as the boomerang effect of sanctions does more damage to Europe than it does to Russia. That has led to increasing disunity in the EU as some start to call for reengaging with Russia and reopening commercial ties.

Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever has called for the EU to restart talks with Russia to end the war in Ukraine, calling it “the only option.” “Since we are not capable of threatening Vladimir Putin by sending weapons to Ukraine, and we cannot choke him economically without the support of the US, there is only one method left: making a deal,” he told the Belgian newspaper L’Echo in March.

German-Russian trade has contracted sharply under sanctions imposed by the EU and its allies. According to the report, bilateral trade fell below €10bn ($11.4bn) last year, compared with €59.7bn ($68bn) in 2021, before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and a record €80bn ($91.2bn) in 2012.

A survey of 750 members of the German Chamber of Commerce found that almost all companies planned to remain in Russia. Of the 265 respondents, 75% said they were satisfied with business performance in the country despite losses linked to sanctions.

Two-thirds said Western sanctions were having a serious or very serious impact on Russia’s economy. When asked whether Germany should resume imports of Russian gas and oil, 65% answered “yes, the sooner the better”, while 31% said “yes, but only after the fighting in Ukraine ends”.

The forum is also expected to draw leaders from countries maintaining close ties with Moscow, including Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, China’s President Xi Jinping and India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi, according to the report.